Last minute cruise down under

Treat yourself to some last minute sunshine this February by joining Voyages of Discovery’s mv Discovery on a 26-day Australia & The Indonesian Islands cruise, from £1,999 per person (based on two people sharing an inside cabin).

Visit the cities of Sydney and Brisbane (Australia) before exploring the magical Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and the stunning islands of Bali and Komodo (Indonesia).

Price includes return flights from a major London airport, transfers and a 26-day voyage departing from Sydney (Australia) – overnight, Brisbane (Australia), Townsville (Australia), Cairns (Australia), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Darwin (Australia) – overnight, Komodo (Indonesia), Bali (Indonesia) – overnight, Semarang (Indonesia) and Singapore. Based on 7 February 2012 UK departure.

Price includes all meals, entertainment and gratuities on board and all relevant cruise taxes/fees, plus onboard lectures from a team of renowned Guest Speakers.

For more information and to book call 0844 822 0820, visit www.voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk

Explorer, author and film-maker, Tim Severin, joins Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Vistas programme

OK So it's not quite Adventure Cruising but the Speaker Is!!

Explorer, author and historian, Tim Severin, is the latest illustrious name to join Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Vistas programme as a speaker. Perhaps best known for his Viking Series of historical novels, Tim’s new association with the cruise line is especially appropriate given the company’s Norwegian heritage.

Tim Severinhas: retraced the footsteps of Sindbad the Sailor, sailing from Muscat to China; steered a Bronze Age galley to seek the landfalls of Jason and the Argonauts and Ulysses; ridden the routes of the first Crusader knights across Europe to the Holy Land; travelled on horseback with nomads in Mongolia to research Genghis Khan; traced the origins of Moby Dick amongst the aboriginal sea hunters of the Pacific; and sailed a leather boat across the Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland, recreating the route taken by Irish monk St. Brendan the Navigator. One of his most recent quests has been to identify the ‘real’ Robinson Crusoe.

Tim will be joining guests aboard a sector of Black Watch’s 2012 ‘World Cruise’, W120112. Departing from Southampton on 11th January 2012, this 32-night sector covers the cruise as far as Singapore. Ports of call are Gibraltar, Ceuta (Spain), Valletta (Malta), Port Said (Egypt), then a transit of the Suez Canal, Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) and Safaga (Egypt). Tim will be joining in Safaga (Egypt), and will be aboard while Black Watch visits Salalah (Oman), Mumbai (India) – for an overnight stay – Cochin (India), Port Blair (Andaman Islands) and Singapore.

Prices start from £2,379 per person, based on two adults sharing an outside, twin cabin, Grade ‘D’. The cost includes return flights from Singapore to London and transfers, accommodation and all meals and entertainment on board, as well as port and airport taxes. There is no extra charge for taking part in Vistas activity.

For more info and booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's luxury cruise specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.