Best cruise deals: Europe, Asia and Broome to Darwin holiday packages

The Silver Shadow goes gourmet with chef Jason Atherton from Hong Kong to Singapore via Vietnam.
Source: Supplied

ESCAPE gives you the best cruise deals this week.

Be fast for flights

MOVE quick for Scenic Tours “fly free to Europe” in 2014 deal, which ends on October 15. Their 14-night Jewels of Europe river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam is priced from $6890 a person, twin share, with flights. Sail from the Danube to the Rhine with shore meals, shore excursions, unlimited beverages, butler service and more.

Ph 1300 723642 or see scenictours.com.au

Airfares are free

EVERGREEN Tours also has a fly free to Europe deal for their 2014 packages that runs out on October 15. Among a variety of river cruises is a 21-day Paris-to-Prague trip priced from $8945 a person, twin share, including flights.

Ph 1300 383747 or see evergreentours.com.au

Extravagant Spain

EXPLORE Spain on a trip of a lifetime on which the luxury inclusions range from a private train to travel insurance. The Captain’s Choice tour departing on April 17 from Sydney – priced from $28,435 a person, twin share – is a 23-day journey though Spain by rail and a cruise on the Sea Cloud II.

Ph 1800 650738 or see captainschoice.com.au

Dining is fine

MICHELIN-star chef Jason Atherton will prepare a four-course gourmet dinner, share his culinary expertise with guests and host a tour of a local fresh food market in Ho Chi Minh City on a trip on Silversea’s Silver Shadow departing on November 25 from Hong Kong and arriving in Singapore on December 4. The nine-day cruise along the coastline will include an overnight stay at the World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay, Chan May, the gateway to Da Nang, a visit to the beachfront town of Nha Trang, and an overnight stay in Ho Chi Minh City, where guests can experience the local markets and immerse themselves in the city’s historical French-colonial architecture. Prices start from $3850 a person, twin share.

Ph 1300 306 872 or see silversea.com

Explore the North

SAIL aboard the 106-guest expedition ship National Geographic Orion – formerly the Orion – on an 11-night package from Broome through the Kimberley next year. Departures are on May 22, June 11, July 21 and August 10, 2014, and packages include a flight to Broome from your nearest capital city, one night at the deluxe Pearle of Cable Beach Resort in Broome, a 10-night expedition cruise from Broome to Darwin along the remote Kimberley coast, a light plane flight over the spectacular beehive formations of the Bungle Bungle Ranges during a visit to Wyndham and a flight from Darwin back to your nearest capital city.

The fly, stay and cruise package is available from $8599 a person, twin share.

Ph 1300 764 509 or see cruiseexpress.com.au

Eastern Experience

VOYAGER of the Seas sails a new 10-night Singapore-to-Tokyo itinerary on April 10, 2014. This sailing will call at Hong Kong, China; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Taipei (Keelung), Taiwan; and Nagasaki, Japan. Fares start from $989 a person for an interior stateroom. The ship features a rock-climbing wall, ice-skating rink, a nine-hole minigolf course, full-size basketball and sports court, and the Royal Promenade – a boulevard that stretches nearly the length of the ship and is flanked by restaurants, lounges and boutiques.

Ph 1800 754 500 or see royalcaribbean.com.au

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Best cruise deals: Europe, Asia and Broome to Darwin holiday packages