Bengal Pandaw experiences ‘adventures a-plenty’ on her journey to the Ganges

Pandaw River Cruises’ 28-stateroom Bengal Pandaw has experienced ‘adventures a-plenty’ on her journey to her new life on the Ganges River.

Scheduled to leave Burma for Calcutta last month, a tug sent to pick up the luxury vessel in Rangoon ran into a cyclone on the India coast and had to seek refuge until the storm abated.

 When a second attempt was made to cross to Rangoon, the tug broke down and was forced to return home for repairs.

The tug finally made it to Rangoon on the third attempt, however, coming back across the Bay of Bengal a monsoonal storm hit the tug and Pandaw, and they didn’t reach the safety of India’s Hugli River (a tributary of the Ganges) until May 15.

“The last time a Pandaw river boat crossed the Bay of Bengal was ninety-odd years ago when a number were sent to support allied troops on the Tigris River during the First World War,” a spokesman said.

“But several were lost in a monsoonal storm on the Bay, which probably explains why we couldn’t get insurance for our tow this year!”

 

After storm repairs and a refit, Bengal Pandaw will be put back in service with an iron-clad promise to passengers that they will undergo “one the greatest river journeys in the world.”

Bengal Pandaw will set sail on spectacular 14-night sailings in September from Calcutta to Varanasi in the upper reaches of the Ganges, a luxury experience of over 1600 kilometres via a near-dozen ports.

For full details of her itinerary, daily sightseeing and prices for just 28 pampered couples 800-640-4899

Swan Hellenic’s new River 2010 itineraries

Fresh from the success of their return to European river cruising, Swan Hellenic is extending their river programme in 2010 with the Rhine as a new destination. Swan Hellenic’s River cruises in 2009 featured the Rhone and the Danube – destinations that also feature in the 2010 programme.

The Rhine has a host of surprises in store – passengers on A-ROSA Aqua enjoy a rich array of scenery as they sail a round trip from Cologne past Moselle vines to half-timbered towns and turreted historic castles. A vast array of inclusive excursions are offered, such as a visit to the magnificent Schwetzingen Palace Gardens and a walking tour of Basle that includes of a visit to the Pflaz royal residence.

As with their ocean cruises, Swan’s distinctive approach to discovery cruising allows passengers to gain greater insights and a further appreciation of each destinations history. Through knowledgeable on board guest speakers passengers hear about Roman campaigns to the South of France on the Rhone, whilst along the Danube, an exploration of the origins of Baroque art and architecture and stories behind the Cold War will be on agenda. Whilst on the Rhine hear about finds dating back to Neolithic man, military campaigns fought over the Alsace region or the story behind Martin Luther and the Diet of Worms – all promise to fascinate!

With A-ROSA’s modern vessels matching the style and luxury of ocean-going vessels, passengers will travel in comfort aboard A-ROSA’s sophisticated fleet of river vessels that have been designed with Europe’s great rivers in mind. With less that 200 passengers on each cruise every one will benefit from an outside cabin, which with all the spacious public rooms and decks, allow travellers to soak up the cultural feasts of these three great rivers.

Swan’s River cruising is going from strength to strength as Colin Stone, Swan Hellenic’s Managing Director comments, "We’ve expanded the 2010 programme to include the Rhine due to the success of the 2009 programme. Swan River cruising is popular with passengers as they experience the same ocean-going standard, whilst seeing some of the most spectacular sights that Europe has to offer. A Swan Hellenic River cruise allows passengers to discover the heart of Europe in comfort and style."

An 8 day river cruise starts from just £1325 per person - fares are inclusive of flights and transfers. What’s more, Swan’s price promise means that once a cruise is booked, if prices go down in future brochures, they will refund the difference – plus they guarantee no fuel or currency surcharges.

Uniworld Introduces One Of The Largest Vessels On Europe’s Rivers

Staterooms are outfitted with hotel-style beds with Egyptian cotton sheets, European comforters, terry robes, bottled water, individual air conditioning and flat-screen televisions.

The River Beatrice also features a lounge, restaurant, library, sundeck, massage services, fitness center, sauna, Jacuzzi, gift shop and elevator. Wireless Internet access is available on board the ship. Complimentary use of bicycles is a new feature being offered by Uniworld.

The River Beatrice is scheduled for 33 departures this year along the Enchanting Danube itinerary, a nine-day cruise along the Danube River through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany from Budapest to Passau.

The cruise alternates with a Passau-to-Budapest itinerary. The ship is also scheduled to sail four departures of the nine-day Danube Holiday Markets cruise along the same route, between November 29 and December 20, 2009

Star Clippers Announces 40 New Maiden Calls For 2010

Star Clippers (www.starclippers.co.uk) has added 40 maiden calls to its 2010 and 2011 sailing itineraries, including some of the world’s most remote islands, an ecologically preserved archipelago and lesser known ports and islands in Europe and Central America. The new sailing itineraries are on board the four masted Star Clipper, its twin ship Star Flyer and on Royal Clipper, the tallest full sail ship in the world.



New Star Clippers destinations include the Marquesas Islands in the open Pacific, (the furthest islands from any land mass in the world), the ecologically preserved islands of the Mergui Archipelago (Burma), lesser known European ports, such as Sanary-sur-Mer in Provence, France, the Greek Cyclades islands of Milos and Tinos, and new Caribbean and South American destinations including three of the British Virgin Islands, the Pearl islands in the Gulf of Panama and the Coco Islands off Costa Rica.



New exotic islands:-

In spring 2010, Star Flyer makes the 34-night voyage from Papeete in Tahiti to the Mediterranean, calling at Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva, two of the twelve volcanic islands that make up the Marquesas Islands, the furthest islands from any land mass in the world, 853 miles off the north east coast of Tahiti. Continuing through the Panama Canal during the same voyage, Star Flyer makes calls at the Cocos Islands, off the coast of Costa Rica, and the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama.



New eco-islands:-

In Winter 2010 Star Clipper crosses the Indian Ocean for southeast Asia, where she will sail between Singapore and Phuket and make maiden calls at Bo Cho, Ko Phawt, Nyaung, Shark Island and Great Swinton Island, five of the 800 isolated and virtually uninhabited islands that make up the Mergui Archipelago off the southern tip of Myanmar (Burma). The location is one of the world’s most spectacular diving and snorkelling sites, with beautiful beaches and stunning coastal scenery.



New European ports

From May 2010 new seven-night, western Mediterranean itineraries on board Star Flyer from Monte Carlo include yachting favourites St. Tropez, Portofino and Portoferraio (Elba), as well as new ports such as Sanary-sur-Mer, France, and Lerici, Italy.



In the eastern Mediterranean, new itineraries through Greek and Turkish waters in July and August will include off-the-beaten-track sailing destinations along the Turkish coast such as Olympus, Antalya, Kemer, Kekova, Fethiye, Gocek and Marmaris, while in Greece the ship calls at Kastellorizon, Simi, Amorgos and Elafonisos for the first time.



Royal Clipper, the company’s flagship, will sail a 12-night cruise from Malaga to Civitavecchia (for Rome) in April 2010 introducing the glamorous yacht marina of Puerto Banus. After a summer sailing round trip from Civitavecchia or between Civitavecchia and Venice, the ship repositions to the Caribbean via a maiden call at Essaouira, Morocco.



New Costa Rica itineraries

From November 2010 the four-masted Star Flyer will operate two seven-day, round-trip itineraries from Puerto Caldera on the west coast of Costa Rica. The first itinerary calls at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua; and Cuajiniquil, Playas del Coco/Flamingo, Puerto Carrillo and Islas Torguas, Costa Roca. The second itinerary calls at Isla Coiba, Panama; and Golfito, Isla del Cano/Drake’s Bay, Quepos and Islas Tortugas, Costa Rica. Each itinerary includes a day at sea to enjoy the experience of sailing on board a true tall ship.



BVI in 2011

For the first time Star Clippers has added new sailing for guests to cruise the British Virgin Islands with port calls that include Norman Island, reputedly the inspiration for `Treasure Island’, the yachting centre of Tortola, the `barefoot island’ Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda, the third largest island in the BVI.



The new itineraries represent a total of 40 new destinations and maiden ports, among the most exciting and least featured sailing destinations for any commercial cruising operation, largely due to the ships’ relatively small size.



Commenting on the new itineraries, passionate yachtsman Mikael Krafft, owner and president of Star Clippers, said “We wanted to freshen up our itineraries so that both our loyal past guests and new Star Clippers cruisers would have exciting reasons to select a Star Clippers sailing adventure in 2010. I’m introducing our guests to more of my favourite ports; places I have been fortunate enough to visit while sailing with my family, and these maiden calls truly are spectacular.”

Pearl Mist problems lead to cancellation of remaining 2009

River Cruise New Builds

The market of river cruise ships is also on the move. The Neptun shipyard in Rostock-Warnemunde will deliver one river cruise ship in 2009 and one in 2010 to its customer A’Rosa. Last year Neptun built the river cruiser 'Premicon Queen', a further development of the innovative TwinCruisers, for the Munich based Premicon AG. River cruise specialists, Nicko Tours in Stuttgart, is also expanding its fleet with a 5 Star Deluxe Suite Ship ‘Nile Excellence’, offering cruises along the River Nile, and ‘Century Diamond’, the first German-speaking river cruiser at the Yangtze in China. Viking River Cruises is setting benchmarks with its 14th newbuild: This summer the company will introduce the first river cruise ship with a diesel-electric engine. ‘Viking Legend’ will be characterised by low fuel consumption and low noise emissions.

Scenic River Cruises

Scenic Tours boss set to launch a mini-fleet

Two years ago, Glen Moroney decided to build his own European river cruise ships rather than charter others. Now he has two ships and is launching two more this spring.

Moroney is the creator, owner and chief bottle washer for Scenic Tours. Their new "spaceships," as he calls them, are unique on the rivers of Europe. They are 135 metres long which is the maximum length for sailing rivers like the Main, Danube and Rhine.

Scenic Tours' main cruise is a one-way, 14-day trip from Amsterdam to Budapest. The same cruise is available in the reverse direction. See scenictours.com for more information.

Scenic Tours has grown over the past 20 years from a ground operator out of Australia to a company running trips to many destinations from its offices in England, Canada and Australia.

You get the feeling when talking to Moroney that he has a passion for travel and especially for river cruises. "As of right now we are 93 per cent booked which is good considering the economy. What surprised me was that our suites were selling first, we expected different in this market," he said.

Single cruisers -- who get very few breaks when it comes to cruising -- were offered cabins at the same rate as per person based on double occupancy. Singles being treated as equals is almost unheard of in the cruising business.

We are reaching capacity on some days at Caribbean ports. Do the river cruisers have the same problem? "No net yet," he said. "Amsterdam and Budapest can be a problem so we decided at the outset to leave on Mondays to avoid the other ships."

Is the Industry growing? "Yes, no doubt about it, but we all have some short-term growth problems in this economy. For us this is going to be two record years in a row," he said.

"We find the satisfaction level high. We have a lot of repeat customers and we know our market -- its Boomer plus."

What makes your line different? "The space I've been talking about. We carry 169 passengers but the dining room holds 189. There is room for double tables. The lounge has room for everyone on the ship at the same time. That is unique. Also, we have a five-metre outdoor veranda around the lounge ensuring that our passengers can stay outside when we are traversing low bridges."

Why river cruising? "Where else, except for a few ports, can you pull right into the heart of town? Most cities in Europe were built on rivers and this allows us to land right in the middle of all the activity. In many cases you can see what the city has to offer by just walking."

Contact RiverDiscounts 800-640-4899

Star Princess Live Blog Pre-Cruise Backgrounder

On May 17th, we will be blogging live aboard Star Princess for a week long cruise to Alaska. In advance of our Alaska adventure, here's some backgound on our home-away from-home for a week; Star Princess.

Onboard Experience:
Star Princess entered service in 2002, The Star at 108 gross tons ,has 18 decks, 1,301 cabins and eighty percent of her outside cabins have balconies. She has 28 wheelchair accessible cabins (18 outside, 10 inside). There were 2,800 passengers on board with a crew of 1,200 which is a great passenger to crew ratio. Her crew is listed as British and Italian. High over her stern, fully 18 stories above sea level is the Skywalker's Night Club (Deck 17) accessible by a moving walkway. The moving sidewalk you ride up to Skywalkers is one of the most breathtaking views on any ship. Our group's business meetings will be held in Skywalkers.

Star Princess offers multiple dining venues, four large outdoor deck areas (over 1.7 acres of space), multiple sports facilities, four pools, and nine hot tubs. As a result, Star feels very spacious.

Star Princess décor can best be described as a refined, understatedly elegant atmosphere, with hand-painted murals and etched glass partitions in the dining rooms. Little apparent expense was spared on materials, with rich fabrics, beautiful woods, and marble everywhere, all topped of with a $2 million art collection aboard the ship. The cabins are tastefully decorated in soft, inoffensive shades -- beiges, creams and muted pinks.

Things to do onboard:
The Vista Show lounge presents production shows, cabaret, comedians and magicians. The Wheelhouse Bar and the Explorers' Lounge offering cabaret, trivia competitions, art auctions, and pre-dinner dancing. Churchill's Lounge, is used for the cognac and cigars set.

The main gathering spot, the maple-paneled atrium paneled, has boutiques, cafés and public rooms on each of its three levels, all connected by a circular glass staircase. A string quartet adds to the airy ambiance. There is a Casino with slot machines and gaming tables. You can view live sports on ESPN in the Sports Bar, or recline in leather chairs while perusing any of hundreds of books in the beautiful library.

Restaurants:
The three main restaurants, Amalfi,( for traditional dining 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ) Portofino and Capri Dining Rooms,( for personal choice dining ) seating from 486 to 504 passengers, feature hand-painted murals and etched-glass partitions. The drapes and carpeting in the main dining areas absorb sound efficiently enough to preclude diners having to holler across the table to one another.

Personal Choice Dining offers either traditional cruise dining (In the Amalfi), with a set seating time (6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) and the same waiter and tablemates each evening, or new restaurant-style seating, allowing passengers to dine when and with whom they choose, with each party seated at its own table, as at a restaurant ashore (offered in the other two dining rooms). Restaurant-style diners may be seated in either of the two elegant main dining rooms any time between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m.. Personal Choice is great if you do not want to rush to dress for dinner in the traditional way after a long day ashore.

Sabatini's, (surcharge $20 per person) described above, seats 100, the Sterling Steakhouse features Angus beef and other grilled red meats (surcharge $15 per person). The Horizon Court is open 24 hours per day, with menu service at night, plus casual breakfast and luncheon buffet. There's also a festive pizzeria. For $100 per couple, you can book the Ultimate Balcony Dinner, to be served by a butler who discreetly makes himself scarce behind drapes or out in the hall between courses. The ship's photographer snaps a complimentary photo while you're eating.

Service:
While Princess has a well-deserved reputation for good service securely footed in its British roots, truly personalized service may be too much to expect on a ship this size. That noted, cabin stewards and waiters are both efficient and personable. And rote processes that should be standardized and well executed on other ships but often fail miserably, such as efficient disembarkation, are generally practiced and polished to the point of excellence here.

Tipping:
A charge of $10 per person per day (including children) is automatically added to your stateroom account for dining and stateroom personnel. This applies to all passengers, adult and child alike, whether or not they choose traditional or personal choice dining. The amount may be increased or lowered at the Purser's Reception desk during the cruise. A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to all beverage tabs. Gratuities for spa, casino and other staff are at your discretion.

Staterooms:
710 of the 1300 staterooms have balconies, up to 257 sq. feet. Standard inside staterooms are 160 sq. ft., while outside cabins range from 168 to 210 sq. feet. Mini-suites with private verandas are 325 sq. feet. Vista Suites,range from 515 to 800 sq. feet. All staterooms have color TV with CNN and movies, a radio and small refrigerator, and spacious bathrooms with storage space and hair dryers.

The Ship:

Gala Deck 4 has the Medical Center.

Plaza Deck 5 forward has a laundromat and cabins. Midship are the Art Gallery, Reception and tour offices, the Lobby Bar, library and card room and on board shops. Toward aft is the Capri Dining Room and the galley.

Fiesta Deck 6 forward is the Princess Theater (with stairs to the theater), Shooters Bar, the Video Arcade, the Grand Casino, the Reception desk, boutiques and the Portofino Dining Room, the galley and the Amalfi Dining Room aft.

Promenade Deck 7 forward is the Princess theater balcony with wheelchair access ramps and the last three rows reserved for passengers with limited mobility. The last row had room for wheelchairs and seats for companions. Excellent! When going toward midship there is the Promenade Bar, the Internet Cafe, Tequila's alternative dining, the lovely wedding chapel and the boutiques. These venues are arranged along a serpentine corridor. Toward aft is the Explorers Showroom, the Wheelhouse Bar, Sabatini's Trattoria and the photo shop (there is excellent photography on board with formal and black and white sittings available). All the way aft is the Vista Lounge with an intimate design and stage. All seats here have a great view of the stage.

Emerald Deck 8, Dolphin Deck 9, Caribe Deck 10, Baja Deck 11 and Aloha Deck 12 are all staterooms and there are laundromats on every deck.

Lido Deck 14 has staterooms forward. Toward midship are Neptune's Reef and pool area, Mermaid's Tail Bar, Prego Pizza, Trident Grill and the Conservatory. Midship are the Calypso Reef and pool. Aft are the Horizon Food Court & Terrace and the Outrigger Bar.

Sun Deck 15 forward has the gymnasium with many types of exercise machines, the Oriental Lotus Spa and current pool. Here Vincent enjoyed the whirlpool and Mary the current pool, whose temperature was perfect! This area is decorated with an Asian theme with murals, a statue in lotus position and a huge gong resembling a bell. It is very beautiful, especially in the morning. Midship are the Tradewinds Bar and Princess Links with putting green and golf course simulator. Aft is the Fun Zone and Off Limits, the teen area.

Sports Deck 16 forward is Center Court, the jogging track and the top deck of Fun Zone and Off Limits.

Sky Deck 17 is the Skywalker's Night Club suspended high above the ship.

Dining Hints:

Start out each morning with s continental breakfast in your stateroom: juice, coffee, tea, milk, cold cereals, rolls, Danish or croissants. Then if your real hungry, go to teh Horizon Court for as huge buffet breakfast later in the morning.

Lunch is always available in the dining room or the Horizon Court buffet on Deck 14.

Want to dress casual, choose to have dinner at the Horizon Court Buffet.

Just for Kids:

The Princess Fun Zone has three categories: Princess Pelicans ages 3 to 7 yrs. (enroll from morning to night if you like); Princess Pirateers ages 8 to 12 yrs., with activities such as arts and crafts, sports tournaments, ship board Olympics, Scavenger Hunts, and "Edutainment"); The Off Limits, for ages 13 to 17 yrs., has a teen center with video games, movies, giant screen TV, ping pong, and jukeboxes. There are Teen Only Disco and Dinner Parties, Sports Tournaments and Shipboard Olympics. We have noticed on cruises that the youngsters, like the adults, soon find each other and have a great time.

Money-Saving Advice:

If you are on a tight budget, you will want to keep a handle on onboard spending – the casino, liquor, art sales, jewelry sales, photographs, souvenirs, etc. There are plenty of temptations to spend money – don’t. Other wise at the end of the cruise you will get "sticker shock" when you get your bill!

Viking 2010 Best Discounted Rates Ever

Viking River Cruises announced its 2010 lineup of 20 river cruise itineraries through northern and southern France, central and eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, China and Egypt and is offering an early booking discount through May 31.

Discounts include:

*    Two-for-one pricing on the cruise portion of every itinerary, for every stateroom category (single staterooms receive a 50 percent discount)

*    A $500-per-person discount on international roundtrip air purchased through Viking,

for a total savings of $1,000 per stateroom

*    Complimentary wine with onboard dinners for guests who book and pay in full for a 2010 itinerary by May 31, to "sweeten" the deal even further



Viking is introducing three new itineraries in 2010. Including:

Danube Waltz: an eight-day itinerary sailing through four of Europe's most enchanting countries-Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia-along the storied Danube River, which includes a tour of the 900-year-old baroque Benedictine abbey at Melk and an all-day excursion to the scenic city of Salzburg.

China Discovery: a 10-day cruisetour featuring all the imperial treasures of Beijing plus a six-day Yangtze River cruise through the Three Gorges. Guests on this itinerary enjoy a final afternoon and evening adjacent to Beijing's Olympic Village, where they can see some of the distinctive venues constructed for the 2008 Summer Games.

Nile Explorer: a nine-day itinerary that showcases the highlights of Cairo and features a five-day Aswan-to-Luxor cruise rich with comprehensive tours and experiences.

The 2010 season will also feature Viking Legend, which makes its debut in July 2009 with the largest suites on Europe's rivers and a new, energy-efficient propulsion system. In total, Viking offers 19 ships to the North American market for 2010. In France, guests will enjoy the hospitality of Viking Sprit and Viking Neptune, featuring deluxe staterooms with hotel-style beds; in Russia, the fully renovated Viking Kirov and Viking Surkov set the standard; and the five-star Viking Century Sun is the most sumptuous ship in China, where every stateroom has a river view and private balcony. Contact RiverDiscounts 800-640-4899

Rajang River Cruising

We are delighted to announce the safe arrival of the ORIENT PANDAW in Sibu on 2nd May after a 72 hour crossing from Saigon under her own steam. All is on schedule!

The maiden voyage on the mighty Rajang River is on 1st July. This is an eight day journey deep into the Borneo jungle where few travellers have gone before. Jungle tumbles off the mountains into the muddy eddies of this little explored river. Incredible flora and fauna in this the most bio diverse place on the planet, long houses of ex head hunters, colonial vestiges, all  conspire to make this a very unusual journey.

For the maiden voyage the explorer and travel writer Redmond O'Hanlon will be joining us and will give a series of talks on his own Rajang expedition, described in his classic book INTO THE HEART OF BORNEO.

More info on Borneo Cruises