DESTINATIONS — CRUISE
North Star pod, Anthem of the Seas
Family Harbor Suite, Carnival Vista
restaurants, bars, lounges and a large spa. Cruises depart from Barcelona, with embarkation also in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. For families who don’t want
to fly, Royal Caribbean’s new Anthem of the Seas is sailing to the Mediterranean from Southampton this summer. The vessel launches in April with a host of at-sea firsts including a skydiving simulator, dodgems and North Star, a London Eye-style pod that takes passengers on a sightseeing ride 300 feet in the air. A 14-night Italian Mediterranean cruise departing August 15 starts from £3,198, cruise-only. There is plenty of other choice
for families planning a Med cruise this summer. Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and P&O Cruises offer kids’ and teens’ clubs on their ships, while Thomson Cruises is popular with families for its casual vibe and packaged fly-cruises. There’s
waterslide fun on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic, which will be based year-round in Barcelona from April, while MSC Cruises’ Sinfonia and Armonia have been ‘stretched’ and now have new children’s play areas created in partnership with Chicco and Lego (Opera and Lirica will have the same makeover this year).
A seven-night Western
Mediterranean round-trip cruise from Marseille on MSC’s Armonia departing August 2 starts from £1,049, cruise-only. Disney Cruise Line’s Disney
Magic, which is sailing five to seven-night cruises from Barcelona to France and Italy in August, has AquaDunk, a water slide that starts by ‘dropping’ riders into a translucent tube that extends 20 feet over the side of the ship. In 2016, Carnival Cruise Lines will be back in the Mediterranean after a three-year break with new ship Carnival Vista. The 3,950-passenger ship will have a pedal-powered Skyride high above the top deck, the first Imax cinema at sea and new outdoor restaurants. All food in the dining room and self-service is included in the price and all ships sell fizzy drink packages, so kids can stay fed and watered without mum and dad having to dip into their pockets all the time. All have cabins that sleep up to
four people (they use sofa beds and bunks that fold out of the wall or ceiling), with
lower prices for the third and
fourth person sharing. On MSC, children up to the age of 17 sail free on all cruises if sharing a cabin with their parents. Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas has new family-connected cabins with separate bedrooms
Viking Star
and bathrooms for the children so they are not sleeping on makeshift beds, and mums and dads can retain their privacy.
l LUXURY Get ready for major changes at the upper end of the cruise sector in the Mediterranean this year as Viking Ocean Cruises launches its first ship, Viking Star, into the premium segment of the market. The 930-passenger vessel, which makes its debut in the Med before moving to northern Europe, brings Viking’s winning river cruise product to the oceans, with prices that include flights, transfers, drinks with lunch and dinner, shore excursions and unlimited Wi-Fi, a perk that only a couple of luxury cruise lines have just begun to offer as complimentary. Regent Seven Seas Cruises,
acknowledged to be the world’s
most inclusive cruise line, began including unlimited free Wi-Fi within its fares this winter (up to 500 minutes only for passengers in Concierge and Penthouse suites). Now Silversea has followed suit, but only in the Mediterranean. Passengers receive two hours’ free Wi-Fi a day, with unlimited online access for those in Medallion suites or higher. In response to the new competition from Viking, Silversea is now also including shore excursions in its fares (which Regent has included for many years) but, for now, only in the Mediterranean. Ponant has also tweaked its
product, including drinks from this month within its fares for the UK market (Americans have had drinks included in the price for the past couple of years). The line is also launching a sister to its
26 March 2015 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 53
▲
FAST FACT Holland America
Line has kids’ places from £200 when
sharing a cabin with
parents on an 11-night Med cruise in September
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104