CRUISES FROM BARCELONA AND MALAGALATEST SPANISH CRUISE NEWS! 
LIVING IN SPAIN? There has NEVER been a more favourable time to use your Euro credit card to pay for cruises priced in sterling! Summer 2009 commences with even more 7 night cruises than operated during 2008. Norwegian Cruise Line continues to operate the popular Norwegian Gem on a French and Italian Riviera cruise itinerary, whilst the two major Italian Cruise companies both feature recently introduced state of the art ships - a strong acknowledgement to Barcelona's increasing importance as a cruise departure point. Costa Cruises are deploying the Costa Concordia and MSC the Fantasia with both operating very similar Med itineraries from May until late October. A second Costa ship, the spectacular new Costa Pacifica will join her sister ship immediately after launch in mid June and also cruise the Med until late November. Not to be outdone, MSC have responded by also doubling up from mid July with the equally new MSC Splendida, again cruising until mid November. Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas also features a 7 night Western Med cruise and again departures stretch in to mid October. Although an older ship than the aforementioned Italian vessels - this would probably be a better choice for those accompanied by teens or younger. Two other operators also offer 7 night Western Med itineraries. The Spanish company Pullmantur, owned by Royal Caribbean, are distinctive in offering an "all-inclusive" product. Again, their Summer Med itinerary is the traditional one and the series also extends to mid October. The other company, Louis Lines offer extremely competitive pricing and a slightly different itinerary which includes Morocco - a destination not featured by most of their other Summer season competitors. This would be a good choice for those on a budget but is naturally of a lesser standard than its larger competitors. Finally - those looking for a longer Summer cruise than 7 nights are catered for by Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas with a mixture of 11 and 12 night Eastern Mediterranean itineraries which include Cyprus and Egypt. As the European mainland begins to cool, the Canary Islands and Morocco come in to focus as popular destinations guaranteed to remain warm during Autumn and the Winter months. Cruises tend to be of a longer duration, amongst the ships to look out for are Costa Luminosa cruising mid September to early November and Costa Marina from November to March. In addition, Norwegian Jade features an interesting series of 12 night cruises starting mid November and including Egypt. LINKS
MSC Fantasia Our Port Info link above offers information regarding car parking. |
