River cruising - The naked truth

I recently wrote a post about a swingers cruise on an Azamara ship sailing in 2013, (you can read the post by clicking here), and at the risk of giving myself a bit of a reputation I've just come across another cruise in a similar vein.

Sex n' Drugs n' Onboard Credit

Well two out of three isn't bad. As you may have already guessed todays post is going to be about the slightly darker side of the cruise industry.

A famous luxury cruise brand has just announced that one of their ships has been chartered out for early 2013 to host a swingers themed cruise. (For the more innocent amongst you I'm not talking about dancing either).

How to book a cruise to imaginary places….

One question I get asked a lot from more experienced cruisers is how they can make their cruise holiday 'extra special'.
Obviously all cruise holidays are special, especially if it's your first cruise, but once you've sailed the Med a couple of times you can be left with a feeling of.....
'What should I do next?'
It's at this stage that most cruisers start to look further afield, the Caribbean, the Far East, Alaska, Australia etc. But again they're faced with the same problems of once they've done them, where do they go next?

What are the Northern Lights?

Anyone who reads my blog regularly, (and if you don’t, why not?), will know that I have been writing a lot recently about a company called Hurtigruten. They’re a Norwegian cruise line offering cruises above the Arctic Circle. I’m not, however going to be talking about them today. For anyone who does want to read my blogs on them just click here or here.

What I am going to be talking about is the Northern Lights. It has been impossible to write about Hurtigruten without mentioning the Northern Lights over and over again. They’re one of the main reasons for cruising above the Arctic Circle, but in response to an email I received this morning, today I will be trying to answer the question:
What are the Northern Lights?

Hurtigruten – What can you expect.

I wrote a blog recently about a company I’ve been hearing more and more about recently. Hurtigruten. Since then I’ve received a flurry of questions about this company and the cruises they operate. It’s for this reason that I have decided to start a series of blogs that will take on all aspects of Hurtigruten. Todays blog is going to be about why you should pick Hurtigruten in the first place and what you can expect to do whilst on the cruise.

How far North can you really sail?

A lot further than you used to be able to.

You may have seen this company advertising on TV lately.

Hurtigruten.

 The reason I started investigating them is that a customer of mine wanted to book a cruise that would take him as far north as he could go, well above the Arctic Circle, to give him the best chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis as we could. The best cruise line I could find to take him was Fred Olsen, but they were only operating one cruise that far north.

And it was sold out.

For 2012!

Checkmate at Sea

Following on from my blog reporting that next year Holland America will be introducing a crossword themed cruise, I have just learnt that fresh for 2011 MSC will be offering several chess themed cruises for those looking for a slightly more cerebral experience whilst onboard.

Their press release reads:

Crossword Cruises

Fed up of the normal run of the mill cruises?
Looking for something with a bit of a difference?
Love theme cruisie?

Love crosswords?
If you answered yes to any of the above then you need to take a serious look at Holland Americas new offering for next year.