Charter the world's tallest single-mast mega-yacht

The Palm Beach Daily News has an interesting article on a mega-yacht you can charter to cruise the Mediterranean. The Mirabella V — the world's longest and tallest single-mast yacht, docked at the Port of Palm Beach recently. The 247-foot supersloop is part of the Mirabella Yachts luxury charter enterprise that you can reserve at rates of $250,000 a week for the boat and crew — provisions are extra. Last summer, the yacht was chartered five times, once for a month, and sailed along the Amalfi Coast, the Cote d'Azur, Tunisia, Malta and Greece.

There are 6 cabins, a 20-soaker Jacuzzi, a wine cellar, a 21-foot swimming pool and spa, a gym and plasma televisions, and movies on a large projection screen under the stars. There's a 30-foot tender and watersports toys from lasers to jet skis, ski boats and kayaks. That $250,000 price tag is beginning to sound like a bargain! Well ... maybe not.

10 best Mediterranean ports of call

Tom Le Bas presents the top-10 ports of call in the Mediterranean, and a guide to getting the most out of independent visits. His 10 are Bonifacio (Corsica), Barcelona (Spain), Hvar (Croatia), Portovenere (Cinque Terre coast of Italy), Venice (Italy), Capri (Italy), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Hydra (Greece), Santorini (Greece), and Istanbul (Turkey).

Minarets, the perfect Greek island, "paradise on earth", soaring cliffs ... that list has it all. Note that some of his choices are only visited by the smaller ships.

Ravello Music Festival

An introduction to the Ravello Music Festival from the Fodor's Travel blog:

No end of artists and celebrities have found inspiration along the Amalfi Coast, from Titian to Noel Coward to Nan Goldin. But Ravello's most famous celebrity visitor remains that genius composer and tyrant-ideologue Richard Wagner, who, in February 1880, paid a visit one day to Villa Rufolo and proceeded to thunder his way through the second act of Parsifal on a crumbling pianoforte in front of nonplussed swells.

It was an inspired moment, and since that day music has played an important part of Ravello's cultural atmosphere. Indeed, Germany's titan composer was the inspiration for the annual Ravello Music Festival, one of the world's great showcases for symphonic and chamber music. This year's musical celebration runs March 9 through mid-October, with a summer break in August.

SeaDream Mediterranean cruises for 2006

SeaDream Yacht Club has set its 2006 itineraries, picking up calls in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean as well as in Albania, Montenegro, Egypt and Morocco.

SeaDream’s two ships -- SeaDream I and SeaDream II -- will sail to the Caribbean, Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan during the winter months. In the summer, both will reposition to the Mediterranean, where they will sail to ports in Croatia, the Ukraine, Romania, Egypt, Cyprus, North Africa and the Greek Isles in addition to ports in Spain, France and Italy.

Photos of the Marseille region

Photos of the Marseille region along the Mediterranean in the southeast of France. By Guillaume at pbase.com. Excellent.

Crystal Cruises Mediterranean review

Crystal Cruise Line is said, even by its rivals, to be oceans ahead. Graham Turner puts its reputation to the test on a 12-day Mediterranean cruise.

A year or so ago, I was chatting with one of the senior captains of a six-star American cruise line that had better remain nameless. To my astonishment, he suddenly said: "In the cruise business, you know, we always say there's Crystal and then there's the rest". The rest clearly included his own highly respected company.

With this endorsement from one of Crystal's fiercest competitors ringing in my ears, I joined its ship, the 68,000-ton Serenity, in Civitavecchia, just north of Rome, for a 12-day tootle around the Mediterranean. Would the Serenity, I wondered, justify such an extraordinary act of obeisance?

Return to Lapari Islands in the Mediterranean

Susan Spano's search for ancestral roots leads back to the Lapari Islands in Italy, a place of deserted coves, pebbled beaches and massive cliffs. Article from the LA Times.

That's it, I thought, emptying a plastic bag of capers, the last of the little hoard I'd brought home last summer from the Italian island of Lipari. I've eaten capers many times without really knowing what they are: the immature buds of a shrub that loves heat and bright sun and grows in rocky crevices around the Mediterranean. I put one in my mouth and rolled it around. Its flavor was earthier and more intense than an olive, and its essence took me back to the island flung into the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the parched, volcanic soil yields little but capers and where my Italian grandfather was born.

Royal Clipper Mediterranean cruise review

ShipParade has a comprehensive review of a western Mediterranean cruise aboard the Royal Clipper. The Clipper combines all the comfort of a traditional cruise with the magic of sailing on a ship that seems to come from the pages of a history book. With her 42 sails, teak wooden decks and five gigantic masts, Royal Clipper draws crowds wherever she goes. This 6-page review includes many excellent photos.

Storm batters cruise ship

Nearly 500 passengers including eight with broken bones disembarked from the "Grand Voyager" cruise ship in Sardinia on Tuesday a day after it was battered by a storm in the Mediterranean Sea. The Voyager lost communications and most of its power on Monday as it was pummelled by force 11 gales and waves up to 15 metres (45 feet) high while en route from Tunisia to Barcelona.

Blown off course on Mediterranean cruise of love

A couple embarks on a Mediterranean cruise to spark their romance.

We embarked on the trip when the travel editor, upon learning that Luke and I had been dating for only six months, wondered if we would like to go on a cruise, one designed for couples with romance in mind. We jumped at the chance to bond while sailing the blue-green waters of the Mediterranean.

Apparently, the travel editor thought something else could happen. In fact, she thought it might be a fascinating ex-periment, of sorts, for a budding romance. It seems she was acquainted with the phenomenon of a couple's first vacation together being something of a relationship tester.

Back in the office, I explained my dismay at the romantic backfire and asked her if she had heard of this happening before.

Celebrity Mediterranean cruises

This new page has an easy overview of Celebrity Mediterranean cruises. Celebrity Cruise Line has three ships in the Mediterranean - the Millennium, Galaxy and Century. All three offer treats like exotic treatments from the AquaSpa and tuxedoed waiters serving savory appetizers by award-winning Master Chef Michel Roux. From adults-only Celebrity Escapes to special children's programs, prepare for a true departure.

Mediterranean cruise: Holland America 2006

The new Holland America Noordam debuts in February of 2006 offering 10- and 11-day, roundtrip cruises from New York to the Caribbean. The newest Vista-class ship will sail 13 cruises to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean Feb. 22 to Apr. 5 and Oct. 14 to Dec. 16; it will also offer two 16-day transatlantic sailings and fifteen 10-day Mediterranean cruises from Rome.

Mediterranean cruise: easyCruise online

The easyCruise website is now taking bookings for Mediterranean cruises along the French and Italian rivieras during the 2005 season. Twin and quad rooms as well as suites are available from £59, £119 and £159 respectively, with prices rising according to demand. The current start date for cruises is 3 June which continue through the Summer until 15 October 2005 but, subject to the timely completion of on-going refurbishment, the start date for cruises may be brought forward to 29 April 2005.

easyCruise is designed to appeal to independently-minded passengers in their 20's, 30's and 40's who have not previously considered going on a conventional cruise. easyCruise passengers can join the ship, easyCruiseOne, at whichever port they wish and stay on board for as little as two nights or up to a maximum of two weeks (which represents two full itineraries). The current itinerary covers St Tropez, Cannes, Nice, Monaco, Imperia (for San Remo), Genoa and Portofino.

Sailing the Greek Isles

Lisa Vorderbrueggen tells the tale of "the glorious September week we sailed the Greek Isles on a 32-foot chartered sailboat, just the two of us and a hired skipper."

We pulled up anchor each morning, set a course across the Aegean Sea and moored at a different harbor every night.

Our days consisted of swimming in clear water the color of jewels, strolling amidst 2,500-year-old Greek ruins and soaking up architectural, cultural and culinary delights.

All told, we landed on six islands in the Cyclades region of the Aegean — Kea, Kithnos, Siros, Mikonos, Delos and Rineia.

Mediterranean cruise review: Seven Seas Voyager

Anthony Torrance took a cruise on the Radisson Seven Seas Voyager from Monte Carlo to Venice. Voyager is new, launched last year, and is an all-suite, all-balcony ship.

The suites are as good as anything in a five-star hotel - with huge beds, full-sized baths and walk-in dressing-rooms (plus every conceivable gadget, from DVD players to ship-to-shore telephones). And, best of all, if you’re tired of rubbing shoulders with the other passengers on the upper decks, you can install yourself on your very own balcony, with something cool in a glass from your very own bar, and watch the world go by.

The inner man gets pretty well nourished aboard the Voyager too: there are lectures on anything from antiques to Venetian history, and the lecturers know what they are talking about. And then there’s the cuisine; it seems to be company policy that every passenger should be encouraged to throw the bathroom scales away, such is the size of the breakfast and lunch-time buffets. For gourmands, there is a choice of four restaurants, including two speciality restaurants.

Shore excursion adventures

Shore excursions have become more adventurous. So forget the shopping and museums ... do somthing great. For example, in Santorini, Greece, Crystal Cruise offers a Nea Kameni Volcano Hike.

Mediterranean cruise: Seabourn

Explore the Mediterranean on Seabourn Cruises. Charmingly intimate and lavishly appointed, each of Seabourn's "yachts" is a private pleasure craft for just 104 couples. With virtually one staff member for every guest, this line offers an unmatched level of service.

Seabourn Cruise Line has three identical all-suite ultra-luxury ships -- the 10,000-ton, 208-guest Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit, and Seabourn Legend. No provision is made to entertain or care for youngsters; these cruises are definitely targeted to couples.

The 3 Seabourn yachts are all-suite, measuring 277 square feet or more. Interiors are sleek and elegant, with large walk-in closets, and an ingenious coffee table that converts to a dining table for intimate meals. Some suites have balconies.

Small ship Mediterranean cruises

Small ship cruises offer a very different experience from the mega-cruise-liners. Time is far less structured. Forget the daily calendars promoting hairy-leg contests at the pool, spa and shop sales, bingo, napkin-folding and other activities on the big ships. You won't find a frenzy of programming on the smaller ships. The emphasis is on what you're seeing off the ship rather than on it.

In the Mediterranean, Sea Dream yachts often spend the night in the bay of St. Tropez so you can be ashore into the wee hours, when the French Riviera jumps to life. In the day, the captain may spy a bay with a swath of uninhabited beach and stop for everyone to swim. While Sea Dream has elegant surroundings and top-quality service and food, it adopts a more relaxed dress code, like country-club casual, with no tux needed. Seabourn Cruise Line, which has three ultra-luxury yachts on exotic itineraries on the seven seas, has some formal nights.

Among the small ships, those with billowing sails most conjure images of the romanticism of cruising into private places. Mixing modern elegance with the bygone era of sails, the Windstar cruisers and the graceful tall ships of Star Clippers seek out the lesser-known islands and still turn heads when they arrive.

Mediterranean cruise: Dubrovnik port improvements

More and more Mediterranean cruise passengers flock to Dubrovnik, Croatia. To handle the growth, basic infrastructure will be modernised, including expansion of berth capacity to accommodate as many as three of the new generation of 300-metre cruise ships at one time. The second phase of the development will involve construction of a passenger terminal, leisure and entertainment facilities and a shopping centre.

Dubrovnik is known for its numerous monuments, and the historic Old town is classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Because of its rich array of history, culture beauty, climate and location between Greece and Venice, Dubrovnik is an ideal cruise port.

Bargains on 3 Mediterranean cruise ships

This article spotlights Mediterranean cruise bargains available on the Seabourn Spirit, the Seabourn Legend, and the MSC Sinfonia. The Spirit's Capitals of Antiquity cruise from Alexandria to Istanbul on May 8 will launch her 2005 European cruising season in the Mediterranean; with stops at Rhodes, Aghios Nikolaos, Mykonos, Kusadasi and the Dardanelles before finishing in Istanbul.

The Legend has three cut-rate Western Mediterranean cruises in April, beginning with the 10-night Springtime in Spain cruise from Lisbon to Monte Carlo. Departure is April 7 with calls to Portimao, Cadiz, Seville, Gibraltar, Malaga, Alicante and Calvi to end in Monte Carlo. For the 7-day Cote Dazur & Spanish Isles sailing from Monte Carlo to Barcelona on April 17, with calls in to Le Lavandou, Cannes, Mahon, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia. The Yachtsman's Riviera cruise departs April 24 from Barcelona and calls at Palamos, Port Vendres, Marseille, Sanary-Sur-Mer, Porquerolles, St Tropez and Monte Carlo.

The Sinfonia will sail from Genoa on March 6 and 13 for seven-night cruises to Naples, Palermo Tunis, Palma, Barcelona, Marseille and back to Genoa.

Top travel destination for 2005: Croatia

The Lonely Planet travel guide staff has selected the "top destinations for 2005", and the winner is ... Croatia! Croatia is, of course, a popular stop for eastern Mediterranean cruises.

Croatia's appeal was its unique combination of culture, history, cuisine, accessibility and affordability. As one staffer wrote, "This is Croatia's year. It appeals to a wide range of travellers with its rich diversity of attractions. And it has not yet been over-touristed, but it has developed an excellent tourism infrastructure -- so that it suits both adventurous travellers and those who need a degree of comfort in their planning." Another staffer wrote, "Croatia's combination of easy accessibility (it's within driving distance of a large chunk of Europe), relative affordability (especially compared to the beach countries like Spain and Italy), and high quality will mean that it will be a 'hot' destination again this year." Other staffers lauded its "stunning beaches and islands," "magnificent food" and "wonderfully preserved towns such as Dubrovnik ." Congratulations, Croatia!

Italy tied for 5th place in the voting.

Mediterranean cruise: easyCruise

The USAToday's take on easyCruise ... the new bargain cruise ship that will soon begin sailing between Mediterranean ports.

But what a soon-to-launch European cruise ship lacks in frills — basically, all of them — it hopes to make up with tantalizingly cheap fares and flexible itineraries to some of the Mediterranean's most expensive destinations.

When it sets sail in late April or early May on one-week itineraries along the French and Italian Riviera, easyCruise, a high-seas version of the British budget airline easyJet, will charge as little as $111 per cabin, per day (single or double occupancy). Ports of call include such glitterati magnets as St. Tropez, Cannes, Monaco and Portofino, and passengers can board and depart anywhere along the route as long as they stay on the ship at least two nights. The cruises include stops in Nice and Genoa, which are served by easyJet and Irish rival discounter Ryanair, respectively.

Cruiser's guide to Venice

CruiseMates.com has a new cruiser's guide to Venice. It covers top sights, getting around, dining, shopping, more shopping, insider tips, the San Polo neighborhood, dining and recommended guidebooks.

Mediterranean cruises for the family

Family cruising is the biggest growth sector in the cruise market. Accordingly, you can now expect family facilities in spades, ranging from kids’ clubs to children’s meals and child-friendly shore excursions.

Costa Cruises is a case in point. Costa Magica, its latest ship launched in November, has capacity for 3,400 people with excellent facilities, including those for children. The Squok Club provides supervised activities for 3 to 17-year-olds (divided into three age groups). Children’s supervisors are also available on port days, and parents with over-3s can leave their offspring on board while they enjoy shore excursions on their own. In addition, the ship has three swimming pools plus children’s splash pool and waterslide, a play room and video games room. This summer it is offering weekly seven-night cruises to and from Savona in Italy, calling at Barcelona, Palma, Tunis, Valletta (Malta), Palermo (Sicily) and Civitavecchia (for Rome).

Mediterranean cruises for poker nuts and nudists?

There are special-interest cruises for nudists, Harley Davidson enthusiasts, fans of "The Apprentice", economic policy wonks, gays, and fans of bluegrass music. Name a hobby, a personality type or a lifestyle choice and there seems to be a cruise geared to serve it.

A Mediterranean poker cruise departs June 8-20, 2005 from Civitavecchia/Rome aboard the Holland America Westerdam. Bare Necessities Tour and Travel has a Mediterranean cruise for nudists from Aug. 3 to 13 on the Royal Clipper beginning in Venice, then proceeding to ports in Croatia, Sicily, Greece and other Italian destinations. Are you ready for a clothes-free vacation?

2 new cruise ships for the Mediterranean

Three new cruise ships debut worldwide this year and two of them will be in the Mediterranean. The Carnival Liberty is a big ship with 1,487 staterooms, 60 percent with an ocean view and 60 percent of those with private verandas. The maiden voyage, July 20, leaves from Rome (Civitavecchia). 12-day cruises to Mediterranean ports such as Naples, Dubrovnik, Venice, Barcelona and Cannes.

On Aug. 10, Norwegian Cruise Line's 1,400-passenger Norwegian Jewel will sail out of Dover, England, on a 13-day Mediterranean itinerary. The ship will have 10 restaurants and 12 "villas" with private courtyards and butlers.

Mediterreanean cruise review: Costa Mediterranea

About.com has a new review of a November 2004 eastern Mediterranean cruise aboard the Costa Mediterranea.

Costa Mediterranea offers a spotless ship, reasonably sized cabins, and lots to do -- in any of five languages, English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. For true pampering, choose another line like Princess or Celebrity. But for getting around inexpensively and comfortably to exotic places, Costa is best. As the largest cruise line in Europe, their ships go to unusual locations like Turkey, Malta, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia.

November, the end of the cruise season, is the best time to go. You'll risk rain but you avoid summer highs of over 120F in Turkey. There are no crowds (except in Istanbul, where there are always crowds) and fares are low. This cruise had only 1700 aboard out of a possible 2200: 86 people from the US and 250 English-speaking overall. Service is attentive, friendly, and responsive. The Captain is a gracious host, and unlike other ships which have dropped this maritime tradition, you can have your picture taken with him.