Christmas cruises are now a popular festive choice. Sarah Tucker is all at sea
Richard Sidey
The most remarkable Christmas I ever experienced was on board a ship. It was in the Antarctic, two years ago, with my son. We had flown to Buenos Aires and then on to Patagonia, South America’s wild and wonderful foot, before boarding a renovated Russian scientific vessel, the Ivalov.
A varied company of at least a dozen nationalities joined the crew in braving the turbulent ocean, and by Christmas Day we were ensconced upon a beach of snow, pursued by three wise penguins conspicuously devoid of gifts. There we stood in the sunshine, privileged partakers of the ultimate white Christmas, while icebergs, albatrosses and basking seals kept their watch of wondering love. Even the whales were agog, crowding round to see the madcap visitors from afar who insisted on swimming in the Southern Ocean, on Christmas Day in the morning.
We iced ginger biscuits, made paper decorations and feasted upon an international Christmas supper, which the chef managed to cook in a galley so small that even a swung cat would have got bruised. It was a wonderful experience, courtesy of One Ocean Expeditions (oneoceanexpeditions.com). Not the only tour operator covering this part of the world – check out quarkexpeditions.com, gadventures.co.uk, explore.com, exodus.co.uk, responsibletravel.com, auroraexpeditions.com and nationalgeographicexpeditions.com – but certainly one of the best.
For a thorough comparison of all your Antarctic options, check out the website adventure-life.com.
And it’s not just at the extremities of Earth that Christmas cruises are on a rising tide. As baby boomers become empty nesters, the cruise market in general is acquiring waves of potential new customers. For the dual-income-no-kids brigade – to say nothing of the dual-redundancy-megapension-no-kids crowd – a week or two afloat is an idea that holds plenty of salt water.
At the recent Condé Nast Luxury Travel Fair at Olympia – held, interestingly enough, in a building adjacent to the simultaneous Spirit of Christmas Fair – nearly half of the stands displayed information on luxury cruise tours.
All nautical life was on offer: from the fabulous tea ship holidays operated by Star Clippers (starclippers.co.uk), so evocative of times past – you can even go up the mast if you wish – to the bespoke, boutique world of Mundy Cruising (mundycruising.co.uk), which provides unique itineraries with some of the best onboard speakers in the business.
Without doubt the cruise industry has upped its game. Silversea, for example, has just refurbished and relaunched its Silver Cloud vessel as an expedition ship and unveiled its new flagship, Silver Muse. If money is no object, and you fancy a snowy Christmas break, Silver Cloud Antarctica from £14,310 per person could be just your cup of iced tea. Alternatively, for something a whole lot warmer, Silver Muse South East Asia and Australia starts at £6,840 per person. Check out silversea.com.
River cruises are much in vogue: visit fredrivercruises.co.uk for information on some great trips in Europe (including Russia) and Asia (including India) during the Christmas and New Year period. There is also a welcome trend towards smaller ships and longer stops in port, keeping numbers down and enabling the less gregarious to escape the madding crowd aboard their luxury floating hotel.
If uniqueness trumps affordability on your list of priorities, hollandamerica.com, seascapeadventures.com and rssc.com are all worth a visit before you select your Christmas cruise. But for those on a budget – and most of us are – the internet has thrown up a wave of sites (excuse pun) which pool together (sorry) a variety of cruises that won’t hole your bank account beneath the waterline.
On cruisedeals.co.uk I found options from as little as £149 for a Christmas markets cruise from Cruise & Maritime Voyages: two nights aboard Magellan (Dec 13, from £149pp), destination Antwerp. From Cunard comes the Cracking Christmas Markets cruise on Queen Victoria (Dec 12, from £589pp); P&O Cruises has 10 nights on the Aurora taking in Germany, Denmark and Norway (departs Dec 6, prices from £729pp); and £229pp will secure you a three-night festive getaway aboard Columbus, again with Cruise & Maritime, to Amsterdam and Bruges, departing Dec 18. Further options are available via planetcruise.co.uk and cruisenation.com.
Finally, for something even closer to home, check out bateauxlondon.com: a little slice of Seine cruising on the Thames. It’s more supper afloat than full-blown cruise, but for a modest rate you get a meal and several hours afloat.
So enjoy. It certainly gives a whole new meaning to the Christmas sails.
- Always check cruise prices, as they are subject to change
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