Today’s Cruise Wrap is brought to you by five cups of tea, an obscene amount of cold and flu tablets, half a box of tissues, and one very sick journalist.

Crystal Cruises announces reduced deposits for select 2020 European summer voyages

Crystal Cruises is offering reduced deposits of AU$150 for a dozen Crystal Serenity sailings and one Crystal Symphony sailing in 2020.

The select voyages range from seven to 13 nights from April through August and explore some of the most coveted locales along the French and Italian rivieras, Dalmatian Coast, Spanish Coast, Greek Isles and Western Europe.

MSC Cruises launches new global brand campaign

With the new brand campaign, ‘The Sea at Its Most’, MSC Cruises shows how the sea and its many wonders are at the heart of the guest experience and, when combined with the enriching guest experience on board the company’s modern ships, an MSC Cruises holiday is truly unique.

The campaign celebrates the sea’s myriad of elements, existing both as a means of transport – taking us to new places, new shores and new lands – and also a means of discovery.

‘The Sea at Its Most’ centres on the MSC brand’s core promise to offer guests a world of discovery and will be realised through a multi-channel global marketing campaign including TV, out of home, print media, digital and social media.

Scenic Eclipse showcases South Georgia and Falkland Islands

On its inaugural journey to South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, the passengers and crew of Scenic Eclipse have been sharing some incredible images of the voyage showcasing the unlimited wonder of these destinations.

For a limited time, Scenic is offering an exclusive business-class-included offer on select voyages to Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands with Scenic Eclipse.

Starting at $29,565 per person, the offer includes return business-class flights for 20 November and 8 December 2020 departures booked and payed by 31 January (or until sold out).

Singapore slings to African safari with ecruising

If luxury cruising and African safari are high on your ultimate travel bucket list, then you’ll be hard-pressed to beat ecruising’s sensational CRUISE TOUR: Marina Bay to Africa, Kruger & Victoria Falls journey.

Commencing on 24 March 2022, this epic 31-night extravaganza from one of Australia’s leading cruise travel experts combines a cruise across the Indian Ocean on board Cunard’s Queen Victoria from Singapore’s Marina Bay to Cape Town in South Africa, followed by a tour of Southern Africa taking in some of its most iconic destinations.

ecruising’s exclusive 31-night CRUISE TOUR: Marina Bay to Africa, Kruger & Victoria Falls journey commences in Singapore on 24 March 2022 and is priced from $11,959 per person twin share including all accommodation, return economy airfares, and all touring and transfers as per the itinerary.

Evergreen releases preview pricing on 2021 Europe River Cruising program

Evergreen Cruises & Tours has released its latest European River Cruising brochure.

The 2021 preview brochure offers the best deals on Evergreen’s most popular river cruises, and also features remaining cruise dates from its popular 2020 program.

Hurtigruten: explore the world global sale 

Kicking off on Wednesday 15 January, Hurtigruten’s Explore the World Global Sale offers great savings and special offers across a world of destinations.

Whether it’s huge savings on Antarctica expedition suites and Northwest Passage cabins, savings on sailings to the rugged coastline of Alaska and Canada or the dramatic High Arctic and Norway, our Explore the World Global Sale is a great opportunity to secure a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a special rate.

With 2020 expeditions included in the sale, as well as our iconic Original Coastal Voyage, it’s not too late to book an incredible adventure this year.

Cruise & Maritime Voyages welcomes Vasco da Gama to Fremantle for inaugural Australasian season

Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Vasco da Gama will homeport in Fremantle from today, taking guests around Western Australia and up to Asia throughout January and into February.

Vasco da Gama has a 1,220 guest capacity and also cruises from Adelaide, London (Tilbury), Auckland, Sydney, and Singapore. The ship’s inaugural season marks the cruise line’s largest Australasian deployment yet.

The ship offers two pools, the well-equipped Jade Wellness Centre and Spa, a two-tiered theatre, and five inviting bars and lounges. Six dining venues feature cuisine from around the world and the ‘Chef’s Table’ provides a degustation menu plus an insight into the workings of the galley.

In the ship’s 2020/21 season, CMV will make compelling domestic destinations even more accessible to Australians, visiting ports of call that are new to Vasco da Gama, such as Darwin and Port Arthur, while Geelong will be a first for the cruise line.

Drifting down the Danube with Avalon Waterways

The question isn’t to river cruise or not. Cruising along the legendary waters of the world has become one of the most desirable and inspiring ways to travel. The question is where to make your splash?  Do you choose the perfect river cruise by country, by sights or by cities? When travellers choose to dip their toes in the Danube River, they choose all three. This is a river that winds and bends through 10 countries to carve a historic path that unites fairytale villages, capital cities, cliffside castles and forested slopes for picture-perfect landscapes as far as the eye can see.

The sheer amount of countries the Danube River flows through means that it delivers an exceptional diversity in food, architecture, culture and history, as well as unparalleled choices for travellers.  Given this, it’s no surprise that nearly 50 per cent (49 per cent) of Avalon Waterways travellers chose the Danube River as the star of their European getaway in 2019.

Free onboard spending money of up to 400 euros per couple or 200 euros for solos on all eight and 15-day river cruises in Europe

Riviera Travel River Cruises has announced that until January 31, 2020, it will offer an onboard spending credit of up to of 400 euros per couple on bookings made on almost all its sailings across Europe this year.

The sailings cover 12 different itineraries of eight or 15 days in length featuring rivers such as the Rhine, Danube, Rhone, Seine and Moselle and the canals of Holland.

The onboard spending credit will be 200 euros per couple for cruises lasting eight days (or 100 euros for sole occupancy cabins) and 400 euros per couple for 15-day sailings (200 euros for solos). The credit will be valid for all existing or new bookings made before January 31, 2020.

UNESCO World Heritage sites among top attractions on European Waterways’ Hotel Barge cruises for 2020

European Waterways is inviting travellers to experience up close some of the top UNESCO World Heritage sites in Europe aboard their fleet of luxury hotel barges.

Highlights on the World Heritage List include famous attractions such as France’s sweeping Canal du Midi – a masterpiece of hydraulic and structural engineering and one of the greatest constructions of the 17^th century – which enjoyed a renaissance as a popular tourist destination in the 1980s and 1990s thanks, in part, to barging visionaries such as European Waterways.