Enrichment – Best of the Rest

Azamara Club Cruises

www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk
0844 493 4016

Azamara offer upscale boutique cruises within the Royal Caribbean Cruise portfolio. Azamara prides itself on offering guests two or three nights in ports such as St Petersburg, Sorrento, Venice and Monte Carlo. Its two ships, Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey, take just 650 passengers each and are able to enter smaller harbours. Every cruise has a ‘destination specialist’ on board to give in-depth information about the ports of call.

In December Quest will sail from Singapore to Hong Kong and in January it sets out for a 14-night Chinese New Year voyage. In the spring it will sail from Dubai to Athens. In April Journey will make a transatlantic voyage and a seven-night cruise of the Adriatic coast.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

www.fredolsencruises.co.uk 01473 742424

Selected Fred Olsen cruises feature the ArtsClub, a programme of special interest cruises, hosted by lecturers from university professors to diplomatic service personnel. They may not be household names, but all ArtsClub lecturers have a proven track record in their subjects, as diverse as gardening, watercolour painting, dance, music and even computers for beginners. There is no charge for particpation and passengers are free to dip in and out as they choose.

A typical cruise might be aboard the 804-passenger Black Watch to Greenland and Iceland. On board the 15-night cruise, the ArtsClub offers lectures on all aspects of photography. From £1,649 per person.

Noble Caledonia

www.noble-caledonia.co.uk 020 7752 0090

In December, Noble Caldeonia is offering its Christmas ‘Power and Glory of the Roman Empire’ cruise, an 11-night voyage aboard MS Island SkyOne, from Malta to the Levant, including the Libyan coast. Nicholas Reed will lecture, as the ship voyages around the Eastern Mediterranean, visiting some of the most important historical sites, including Leptis Magna in Libya.