THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT US … This month SmallShipCruises.com was featured in an article in SmarterTravel.com about how to cut costs when you're traveling solo. Many publications and websites picked up our story on Is a Ship Charter Right for Your Group?

CHILDREN FREE -- MSC Cruises offers  "Children Cruise Free" on some Caribbean cruises for this year and next if booked by Aug. 31. Youngsters age 17 and under sharing a stateroom with two full-fare-paying adults sail free (government fees and taxes of $31.52 to $56.32 per person are additional) on Lirica, sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale. Rates for adults begin at $579 per person for the Dec. 14 seven-night Western Caribbean sailing and $849 per person for 10-night Deep Caribbean cruises departing Dec. 4, Jan. 9, Jan. 29, Feb. 18 and March 9.

A SINGLES CRUISE ON WINDJAMMER BAREFOOT CRUISES -- The cruise is on the 120-passenger Polynesia, is for singles only, starts on April 6, 2008, goes between St. Maarten and Tortola. Fares are $1,000 to $1,800 per person double occupancy one week. You can stay on for a second week starting April 13 and stopping at different islands. This is filling up fast. If you are interested, call 800-290-0077 or 727-393-4077 and tell them you want to be booked through SmallShipCruises.com (deposit refundable till 2008).

EUROPE BARGE SPECIAL -- French Country Waterways is offering a special Labor Day holiday rate of $3,200 per person double occupancy for its six-night cruise aboard the 18-passenger luxury barge Esprit through Burgundy’s C?te d'Or wine-growing region.  This is a savings of $1,695 or 34% off the normal price of $4,895, and is offered on a space available basis for the September 2 departure. 

EUROPEAN WATERWAYS – Their specials in August include $1,000 off per cabin on several barges in Provence and Burgundy.

MINERVA BACK ON SCENE -- Swan Hellenic has joined the All Leisure Group and will once more operate its former 350-berth vessel Minerva as part of All Leisure. There will be extensive refurbishment prior to re-introduction in May 2008.

EXPEDITION TRIPS, ANTARCTICA – You can sail aboard a Russian research vessel with the opportunity to kayak for 13 days on Akademik Sergey Vavilov and Akademik Ioffe in December at discounted prices from $6,760. Or go on the Polar Staar for 19 days starting from $7,450.

QE2 TO BECOME A HOTEL -- Dubai is buying the QE2 cruise ship to turn it into a floating hotel at a pier on a man-made island in 2009.

2-FOR-1 IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC -- Archipels Croisi?res offers one passenger free of charge for one paying passenger on cruises in September, November and December for 6-night cruises of Bora Bora, Tahaa, Raiatea and Huahine.

BLUE LAGOON CRUISES -- Their new promotion is “Take a Mate For Free,” where one person pays the single rate on a cruise. The offer is subject to availability through Sept. 30 for travel from Sept. 10-Dec. 17 and Jan. 8 through Mar. 31, 2008.

WELCOME TO A NEW SHIP FOR AMERICAN CRUISE LINES -- Next year they will have a new 218-pasenger ship marketed under the name Pearl Seas Cruises with cruises in the Canadian Maritimes, St. Lawrence Seaway, Great Lakes, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New England, Caribbean and Mexico Riviera.

NEW RIVER BOAT FOR TAUCK -- The new luxury riverboat to begin service next spring in Europe will be called the Swiss Sapphire. It will be the sister-ship to their Swiss Emerald launched last year.

NEW CRUISE LINE -- Royal Caribbean has launched a new luxury cruise brand called Azamara Cruises. The first ship Azamara Journey holds 710 passengers.

SPECIAL OFFERS ON AMERICAN QUEEN, DELTA QUEEN AND CONTESSA -- Majestic America has fares starting from $1,180 for 7-night cruises in September and October on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, starting from $1,499 in Alaska from now until Sept. 23, and from $1,700 on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in September and October.

ALASKA -- The 138-passenger Spirit of Yorktown has 20% off their 11-day cruise of the San Juan Islands and Alaska, from Seattle to Juneau, August 30, from $3,694. The Spirit of Nantucket has been renamed Spirit of Glacier Bay and it will be cruising in Glacier Bay in 2008..

BE FLEXIBLE, SAVE 25% -- Cruise West has reintroduced its Stowaway Program on most cruise products in Asia, South Pacific, Sea of Cortes, Costa Rica, Panama, Alaska and the East and West Coasts. The traveler may request, with a $700 deposit, to cruise on a specific itinerary and cabin category within a 30-day window. At least 30 days before departure, Cruise West will confirm an availability within that 30-day window. If the guest cannot be accommodated, the full deposit will be refunded. If the guest declines the offered departure date, the deposit amount is applied to a future cruise.

THE SCHOLAR SHIP -- The semester-at-sea boat is starting an Oceanography Research Program that will provide researchers worldwide data from the oceans. The data will contribute to the Global Ocean Observing System and to the Global Climate Observing System. Participating students will take comprehensive measurements of the ocean and will deploy floats to measure temperature and salinity map ocean surface currents.

OCEANIA 2-FOR-1 -- Several cruises in July and August have 2-for-1 prices. They go between London and Stockholm and stop in Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Gdansk, Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam and Bruges. The 14-day cruises start at $3,699, including air. There are also 2-for-1 specials on their South America cruises this winter.

GAMBIA -- For the first time, the Bremen is sailing to Gambia, located on the west coast of Africa. The cruise starts in October in the Canary Islands, followed by the Cape Verde Islands, Gambia and the Gambia River, disembarking in Dakar, Senegal. Ideal for nature lovers, bird watchers, and the adventurous.

FLY A RUSSIAN MIG WITH SILVERSEA – A new three-day land excursion gives the opportunity to fly a Mig-31, Russia's high-altitude interceptor aircraft. Guests journey to the Sormovo airfield for flight training where they are issued a special flight suit and then board a Mig-31 for a one-hour flight, climbing to an altitude of 80,000 feet.  An English-speaking pilot will assist in letting the guest perform basic maneuvers.  The price for the adventure is $29,815 and is available on voyages of Silver Shadow (Copenhagen to Stockholm) and Silver Wind (London to Stockholm).

AMAZON PHOTO CRUISE -- Photographer Rick Sammon will offer tips on photographing people, wildlife, landscapes and working with digital cameras on an International Expeditions’ voyage in September.

THOUSAND ISLANDS -- The recently refurbished 78-foot Georgian Clipper, with its home port now in Kingston, Ontario is offering cruises in the famous Thousand Islands/Bay of Quinte region of Canada, stopping at Picton, Brockville and Gananoque. The 4-night itinerary goes from now through October.

EXPEDITION TRIPS 2-FOR-1 -- The icebreaker Polar Star has a 2-for-1 on a September 10-day trip of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, including the Viking settlement L'anse aux Meadows.

ANTARCTICA SPECIAL -- Norwegian Coastal Voyage is scheduling its new expedition ship, the 318-berth Fram, for a 13-day Chile and Antarctica program.  There are 12 departures from November to February combining an eight-night voyage with other days in Santiago, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina.

2-FOR-1 ON COLUMBIA QUEEN & QUEEN OF THE WEST -- They are cruising along the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers.

COSTA CRUISES -- Another big ship bargain: Costa Cruises as part of their 60^th anniversary in 2008 has 60% off some cruises, including 7-day Mediterranean cruises for as low as $699.

LUXURY BARGES -- French Country Waterways has increased its Oct. 21 and 28 discounts on cruises in Alsace-Lorraine, Burgundy, Champagne and the Upper Loire Valley. The six-night cruises on 8 to 18-passenger barges, originally cost $4,895 to $5,995 per person, are now $3,495 to $4,595.

GALAPAGOS 20 % OFF -- AdventureSmith Explorations is offering 20% off its 11- day cruise for travel this December aboard a luxury 40-passenger motor yacht.

IRELAND GOLF CRUISES -- There are seven-day golf barging charters available on the Shannon Princess II on Ireland's Shannon River from now through September. Golfers play on five courses -- Lahinch Golf Course, Portumna Golf Club, Galway Bay Golf Course, Athlone Golf Club and Glasson Golf and Country Club. The barge holds eight-passengers.

 BLACK SEA -- Tauck has announced a 7-night cruise aboard Le Levant plus four nights in Istanbul. Guests will visit 6th century mosques, the palaces of sultans, spice bazaars in Istanbul, a winery founded by Tsar Nicholas II to supply the royal family, a Cold War-era Soviet submarine base carved inside the base of a mountain, and a 620-mile tunnel complex beneath Odessa used by revolutionaries, smugglers and WWII partisans. The cruise visits Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Turkey.

SKI SOUTH GEORGIA -- Pelagic Australis has announced two 28-day cruises to South Georgia in October, November and December in which skiers can ski the snowline often down to the beach. For ski randonee (ski mountaineering), guests must be strong skiers with mountaineering experience

Note that fares quoted come from the cruise companies and are for limited times and certain dates.

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