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Cruise Connections
Our October newsletter comes as we look forward to connecting with hundreds of our valued and loyal clients at our annual customer celebrations in Sydney this weekend and then in Adelaide and Perth for the first time on November 1 and 2. We also joined with many of our cruise-loving customers in Brisbane and Melbourne for the first time last weekend which we enjoyed immensely. These connections are so important to us at Cruise Express where our friendly team shares a commitment to really look after you and your travel plans so that they create happy and exciting experiences to cherish forever. That’s why we always like to hear back from you after your holiday ends. When you tell us in your letters (see the Wake View section further down) you had the time of your life on your cruise – and we hear that a lot – then we know we did our job well. We look forward to connecting with many of you at our upcoming customer celebrations. Until then...
Annual Customer Celebrations & Reunions
Don’t miss our exciting customer celebrations and reunions this month. Book today to reserve your seat...
Sydney – Sunday October 26, 2014, aboard the vessel, Sydney Harbour Ballroom (Saturday October 25 event booked out)
Adelaide – Saturday November 1, 2014, at Sammys on the Marina, Glenelg
Perth – Sunday November 2, 2014, at The Naked Fig, Swanbourne
All lunch events start at noon and are priced at just $69 per person including full luncheon and drinks. See our website for more information and booking details:
 
Pictured above last weekend at our Brisbane Reunion: (left) Hardy Schneider - Cruise Express Director with Col, the captain of Kookaburra Queen, together with radio personality Kim Mothershaw and his wife Maureen; and (right), Hardy with Judy and Rob Carey who were the winners of the lucky door prize!
Cruise Ship Inspections
Cruise Express has more than 300 places for cruise ship lunch tours in Sydney and Brisbane this summer. Register your interest today by clicking here:
 
~ Tours may be escorted or locally hosted, depending on final group numbers.
New Luxury Hosted Cruise Tours For 2015
We can announce that following the great success of our new North America cruise tour last month, Cruise Express will again escort a tour to the Canadian and US east coast in September 2015 with Celebrity Cruises, with an add-on tour of America’s mightiest canyons. If you think autumn trees in Australia are colourful, you won’t believe the spectacle the trees of New England put on in the northern ‘fall’.
For all the details:
 
 
Last month, Cruise Express also hosted a very popular cruise tour in the Mediterranean and on into the majestic Swiss Alps. We will offer this amazing tour again next year with Holland America Line, this time with a pre-cruise tour through Spain. Register your interest today for this soon-to-launched holiday package.
 
Save Hundreds On Our 2015 Escorted Europe Cruise Tours
Book our luxury ‘Treasures of the Mediterranean’ package, our new ‘Voyage of the Vikings’ package to Norway and Iceland or our ‘European Sojourn’ tour that combines both before 10 November, 2014, and you can choose from a complimentary beverage package or an onboard spending credit of up to $US300 (for bookings in Oceanview cabins and above).
 
Enjoy A Royal Affair With Us
Experience the pipes, drums, colours and thrilling spectacle of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo as part of our hosted voyage to the British Isles in 2015 aboard the amazing Royal Princess.
 
Fly FREE To Canada
Book our 2015 cruise, rail and tour package to Canada and Alaska before November 30, 2014, and you will receive free return flights to Canada for your partner and a free night in Vancouver. Ride the famous Rocky Mountaineer, stay in iconic hotels in the Rockies and enjoy the breathtaking splendour of Alaska.
 
Save On Our ANZAC Centenary Cruise
Our special ‘Legends of the Mediterranean’ package will see you cruise off Anzac Cove for the Gallipoli centenary on April 25 next year before stepping ashore to explore the historic battlefields the next day. Book our Celebrity Cruises package before 10 November, 2014, and you can choose between a free drinks package or up to US$300 onboard spending credit (for bookings in Oceanview cabins an above).
 
India In Style
Sail to India aboard the ultra-luxurious Seabourn Sojourn and explore colourful Rajasthan, staying in India’s most opulent palace hotels. This exotic experience will change you forever.
 
World's Largest Nautical Event
Every five years, thousands of boats and tall ships from around the world meet in Holland for the spectacular Sail Amsterdam event and in August 2015 you could be part of this spectacular parade as part of a voyage aboard the world’s largest sailing yacht, 'Wind Surf'.
 
Save $1000 Per Couple
You can save $500 per person if you book one of two special, new Azamara Club Cruises voyages in 2016 before 31 January, 2015. Choose from one of the most comprehensive Mediterranean cruises ever offered, visiting 30 ports in 10 countries, or sail from Montreal to New Orleans along the historic, east coast of America. Both voyages offer unparalleled luxury, value and Azamara's Destination Immersion - meaning longer stays, more overnights and night touring.
For Eastern Seaboard of Canada and USA in 2016:
For Mediterranean in 2016:
 
Cruise Around The World From Australia
Princess Cruises has announced an amazing, new 104-day world cruise from Sydney in May, 2016, visiting 36 ports in 28 countries, with Sea Princess circling the planet via Asia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the Mediterranean, Baltic, UK, North America, Panama Canal, Peru, Pitcairn Island, Easter Island, Tahiti and New Zealand. You can also join the circumnavigation in Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth and disembark at the end of the cruise in Sydney or Brisbane.
To find out more:
Princess Cruises will also offer a 75-night ‘Grand Circle Pacific’ voyage in 2016 aboard Sun Princess. Escape winter and visit Asia, Alaska, the United States, Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand all in the one, destination-rich holiday. Onboard spending credits are also available. For more information:
 
Rhapsody's Farewell Season
Royal Caribbean International’s Rhapsody of the Seas arrived in Sydney earlier this month to begin her final Australian season. The popular ship was the first Royal Caribbean ship to be based here when she began cruising from our shores in 2007. Voyager of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas now also call Australia home every summer and will be joined in 2015 by Explorer of the Seas. Cruise Express will host an 18-day cruise tour aboard Rhapsody from Sydney to Singapore in April, 2015, to farewell this wonderful ship. For more information:
 
Cruise Boom
A record 21 million people around the world took a cruise in 2013, according to new figures from Cruise Lines International Association. That’s 77% more passengers than 10 years ago.
 
World's Best Ships
The 30th anniversary of the Berlitz Guide to Cruising, published this month, votes Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ luxurious ships, Europa 2 and Europa, as the best in the world, each scoring 5 stars plus. The 2015 guide, compiled by serial cruiser, Douglas Ward, and billed as the ‘bible of cruising’ also gave high points to Crystal Serenity, Crystal Symphony and Silver Whisper (each scoring 5 stars) and also Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Riviera (each scoring 4 stars plus).
Why not spend this Christmas and New Year’s Eve aboard Crystal Symphony, which topped the world-wide Berlitz ship rankings with sister, Crystal Serenity, for mid-sized ships up to 2000 passengers. Our 19-day package will see you sail in style from Singapore for Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong where you will stay onboard overnight to watch the spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks:
 
Smart Ships
Be Our Guest
At Cruise Express, we can book any cruise, anywhere, anytime with the exclusive group holidays we host around the world amongst our most popular offerings. Many clients return year after year to travel with us - so here are 10 reasons why a hosted cruise tour might be the ticket to your next dream holiday.
From the cruising experts at Cruise Express
Cruise Express has hosted almost 600 people on our exclusive cruise tours around the world this year, including our tours to the Mediterranean and North America in September. Pictured (top left) is our group in front of the famous Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, with Cruise Express Director and tour-manager, Hardy Schneider (bottom left of picture). Guests on our Mediterranean cruise tour are also pictured (top right) in Positano on Italy’s beautiful Amalfi Coast. Our tour manager, Warren Young, is pictured (bottom left) in front of another of our groups in San Francisco last month whilst Bruce and June Petfield (bottom right) are pictured in New York enjoying lunch at the Soho markets.
 
 
Full photo galleries of all our recent tours will be on our website soon:
Meanwhile, here’s what Allan and Barbara from Ballina in NSW had to say about their recent trip with us:
“To Cruise Express, thank you for the holiday of a lifetime that you hosted in the Mediterranean in September. The trip was so well organised and guided. We are both in our early 70s and were looking for a hosted holiday to reduce our role in organising the holiday. This trip was exactly what we were seeking.”
To see Allan and Barbara’s letter in full along with other new testimonial letters:
Taking Your Cruise home
Last month, we asked our 36,000 Facebook fans to tell us what they enjoyed on a cruise and what they would like to introduce back home. Responses ranged from ‘dinner cooked for me’, ‘waiter service in the backyard’ and ‘cocktail of the day’ to ‘animal-shaped towels on the bed’ and even ‘an affair’! Join our fun cruising discussions on Facebook today.
 
Did You Know?
In rare but exciting news for vintage cruise and liner aficionados, Norway’s Hurtigruten has announced that its classic mv Nordstjernen (meaning “North Star”) will be re-joining the fleet after a three-year absence with a season of cruises from Spitsbergen to the Svalbard Archipelago in 2015. The 150-guest Nordstjernen was built in Hamburg in 1956 and was the longest serving ship in the Hurtigruten fleet when she was withdrawn and sold in 2012 to Bestland Rederi AS who invested some 2.5 million Norwegian Kroners in refitting her at Gdansk.
 
Hurtigruten’s new program of Explorer voyages will call at Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, the research town of Ny-Ålesund and the entire northwestern coast of Spitsbergen. The Nordstjernen will visit such places as Magdalenefjord, Moffen and Liefdefjorden, and sail as far north as 80 degrees latitude (less than 700-miles from the North Pole) on two different itineraries departing from the settlement of Longyearbyen on Mondays and Thursdays between June 11 and August 24, 2015. Fares include your transfers to/from the airport, 1 night pre cruise hotel stay and a tour of Longyearbyen and start at AUD$1,854 pp twin share.
 
Our Cruise Express mascot, the luxe-loving Duck, has been a busy bird this year travelling around the world with our hosted cruise tours. Last month he managed to join our Mediterranean to Matterhorn tour group and also our North America group. What a life! Sometimes we think there must be more than one of him! But Duck loves being photographed wherever he goes on tour so here he is last month in San Francisco (bottom right) with clients, Alison Holland and Yvonne Baker, at the Statue of Liberty in New York (bottom left), at Pompeii in Italy (top right) and the Ephesus ruins in Turkey alongside his rugby league Rabittohs souvenir (top left). Must have worked because not long after this photo was taken, the South Sydney Rabittohs won the NRL Grand Final!
 
 
For more photos of Duck on tour, visit his web page or to join him on tour, choose from our selection of escorted cruise tours in 2015:
Jokes Afloat!
Waves
What do the Indian and Atlantic oceans say to each other when they meet at the Cape of Good Hope at the bottom of Africa?
Nothing – they just wave to each other!
DISCLAIMER: *All fares quoted herewith are subject to change without notice and availability at the time of booking.
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