Sea change: 10 quirky cruises

If a super-luxe liner isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other fish in the sea – try pink dolphin-spotting on the Amazon or a trip round Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay in a wooden junk The small ship Among tour operator Noble Caledonian’s fleet of vessels is the Island Sky , a small, elegant ship that was refurbished last year. Noble Caledonian says: “We promise there will be no organised entertainment, fancy dress, deck games or any of the usual big ship experiences.” We like the look of the Island Retreats trip , a low-key journey from Portsmouth to the Scilly Isles, Channel Islands, Brittany and Normandy. • From £1,895pp for six nights’ full-board, including most shore excursions (020-7752 0000, noble-caledonia.co.uk ) The yoga cruise Star Clippers is offering two one-week yoga cruises in Greece and Turkey this summer on one of its tall sailing ships. The Southern Cyclades trip from 6 August and the Northern Cyclades trip from 13 August will both feature twice-daily yoga sessions on deck with a qualified teacher, plus meditation and lectures on the philosophy and practice of yoga. There will be a focus on vegetarian food. • From £1,295pp for seven nights, including flights from London and full board. Departures on 6 and 13 August (0845 200 6145, starclippers.co.uk ) The anti-cruise Hurtigruten’s fleet of ships has been carrying freight, fish and Norwegian families up and down the coast for more than 100 years, and tourists can tag along too. These days the ships have a few creature comforts, but are still a down-to-earth alternative to super-luxe cruise liners. • From £651pp for a full-board six-day cruise south from Kirkenes to Bergen, calling at 34 ports (0844 448 7654, hurtigruten.co.uk ) The river ride Aqua Expeditions was the first company to offer luxury cruises on the Amazon river in Peru, and it is launching a second vessel on 29 April. Passengers can fish for piranha, and take excursions into the remote Pacaya Samiria reserve, to view pink river dolphins, red howler monkeys and three-toed sloths. • From around £1,460pp (flights extra) for a three-night full-board Amazon Discovery Cruise (+51 1 368 3868, aquaexpeditions.com) The geology journey Aurora Expeditions is celebrating 15 years of exploring the European Arctic with a two-week voyage focused on geology from 2 September. A palaeontologist/geologist will be joining the Jewels of the Arctic trip, which visits Spitsbergen, Greenland and Iceland, to share his knowledge of volcanoes, fjords and rocks. • From around £4,980pp (flights extra)for 14 days, with meals and trips (+61 2 9252 1033, auroraexpeditions.co.uk ) The tropical tour The Tui Tai is a three-masted schooner that sails around remote islands in northern Fiji. The cruise is geared towards adventurous outdoorsy types who want to kayak to remote beaches and giant waterfalls, but appreciate a massage when they get back. • From £4,295pp for seven nights including flights from London, all meals and activities including scuba diving and spa treatments (01494 678400, turquoiseholidays.co.uk ) The gourmet cruise New wine and gastronomy cruises will be plying the Upper Rhine Valley between May and October this year. The four-day, three-night trips on recently built river cruisers are run by CroisiEurope and include a five-course dinner prepared by the ship’s chef, and a wine tasting with master sommelier Serge Dubs. • Around £375pp, starting in Strasbourg, including full board (+33 3 8876 4066, croisieurope.com ) The independent cruise Captain your own river cruiser on the river Sarthe in France, which has 82km of navigable waterways from Sablé-sur-Sarthe to Le Mans. Or try river cruise camping, where you sail by day in a small Skellig vessel and pitch your tent each night at campsites bordering the river. • From £660 for up to four for a week’s hire of a live-aboard cruiser, or £310 for three days on the smaller boat (+33 2 4395 1442, uk.anjou-navigation.com ) The bygone boat Almost 100 years ago, Emperor Khai Dinh sailed around Ha Long Bay in Vietnam in a wooden junk. Now you can too, with a number of operators offering one- or two-night cruises on authentic replica boats. • From around £88pp for a two-day/one night trip, including full board and excursions (+84 933 44 6542, bhayacruises.com ) The Cuban cruise Voyages Jules Verne has a new trip for 2011: a cruise right around Cuba, starting and finishing in Havana. You’ll stop off at four Cuban destinations – Isla de la Juventud, Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba and Cayo Saetie – and one on Jamaica, Ochos Rios. This is the first time that the Cuban authorities have granted permission for this particular itinerary, as cruises have previously only visited Havana and Santiago de Cuba, so it’s a unique holiday. • From £1,295pp for 14 days, including flights, seven nights’ full-board on the ship and six in a five-star Havana hotel (0845 166 7003, vjv.com ) Cruises Wildlife holidays Boating holidays Sailing holidays Cuba Vietnam Fiji Amazon Rachel Dixon guardian.co.uk

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