All aboard

Go Cruise:For anyone who thinks cruise ships are floating old folks homes, buoy do we have news for you! There are options for everyone, writes Sandra O'Connell

Welcome to Fantasia

Cruises can make a great value family holiday option, often in surroundings you’d pay through the nose for in a hotel.

For example, MSC Cruises' flagship, Fantasia, is one of the largest vessels on the water and one of the plushest, with a Swarovski crystal staircase and a transparent ceiling designed for star gazing.

As well as grown-up stuff like five restaurants, four swimming pools and a spa, children get their own play area with a Formula One simulator and interactive 4D cinema.

Staff organise daily entertainment for three- to 17-year olds while 13- to 17-year olds have their own sports and games tournaments, as well as modern dance classes.

There is a also bowling alley and, if you’re worried about missing World Cup matches this year, a multiscreen sports bar.

Opt for some interactive play on the ship’s Wii consoles or family fun in the aqua park.

By night, entertainment ranges from theatre and cabaret to circus, music and even performances on ice. Still think cruising is for oldies?

A seven-night cruise on the MSC Fantasia, departing April 2011 from Barcelona bound for Tunisia, Malta, Italy and France, staying in an inside cabin, costs €1,360 for a family of two adults and two children with Tour America Cruise, touramericacruise.ie.

Fit for royalty

Boats don't get more deluxe than Cunard's Queen Mary 2, which is possibly the most magnificent ocean liner ever built – but not nearly as expensive to sail in as you might think.

As befits such a stately vessel, it takes its leisure seriously, from the Canyon Ranch spa to a “cultural enrichment programme” hosted by literary figures such as (this year) writers Bill Bryson and Joanne Harris.

It has a fitness centre, an 8,000-book library, shops such as Harrods, H Stern’s and Hermes, and five pools, one with a retractable dome, not to mention the only planetarium at sea.

The art gallery has works by Dali, Chagall and Picasso and even cats and dogs on its “kennel programme” get their own gift pack.

Just make sure you pack enough. The double-height ballroom, which is 134ft wide and lit by crystal chandeliers, spans the full width of the ship and is the venue for an endless whirl of afternoon teas and ballroom dancing, all the way from Southampton to New York and back.

A seven-night transatlantic crossing in an inside cabin, departing New York on 7th June for Southampton, starts at €777 for an inside cabin, or €919.45 outside, cunard.com.

Headed to ‘Funville’

If the merest hint of stuffiness is enough to put you off, Carnival Cruises is a great option. These are the guys who invented the “fun ship” concept – the company refers to its boats as such – in a bid to attract the kind of people who think they’re not the kind of people to go on a cruise.

Expect lots of cheery, cheesy Las Vegas-style decor (and casinos) with an unrelenting emphasis on enjoying yourself – from the towels crafted into animals on your bed to its on-board entertainment. Dig that crazy Calypso man.

Carnival’s cruises run from three to 17 days, and almost everything you could want is included in the price, including 24-hour stateroom service.

Depending on your ship, you can while away the hours in the water park or the nine-hole golf course.

It doesn’t matter which itinerary you choose: as management puts it, “We’re headed out to Funville.”

A 12-day cruise aboard the Carnival Magic from Barcelona to Venice, taking in France, Sicily and Croatia along the way, costs from $1,099 (currently €889), departing September 2011, carnival.com.

The finer things

Culture vultures may want more from a cruise than calypso bands and cocktails, which is where Swan Hellenic fits in. If travel broadens the mind, this company supersizes it.

Swan Hellenic provides a small-ship experience – its Minervavessel is designed around a "country house at sea" theme (bizarre as that may sound). Its cruises nevertheless create an intimate, convivial atmosphere with a lot less queuing for shore excursions.

Typical daytime options include painting classes, singing lessons or creative writing workshops, with a little yoga or tai chi to unwind, followed by dinner and, perhaps, a classical concert.

The big draw for Swan Hellenic’s customers are the guest speakers who travel on each ship. The lucky academics who get to sing for their supper here are historians, classicists, archaeologists, volcanologists, geologists and botanists, all of whom give a thorough grounding on what you’re about to see on shore.

There are minor celebrity raconteur types, too, lined up for postprandial entertainment: three or four accompany each trip.

Swan Hellenic’s All Roads Lead to Rome Cruise departs August 26th, 2010 from Dover and takes in Santiago de Compostela, St Peter’s, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Florence, Pisa and Rome. It starts at £1,425 (€1,659) for a two-bed inside cabin. For details see jgt.ie.

Bargain boating

There is amazingly good value available for cruises right now, particularly if you can go at short notice. This week, for example, Costa Cruises was offering a seven-day Med cruise departing from Barcelona and taking in France, Tunisia, Sicily and Malta, for €222 – that’s about €30 a day.

And the bargains stretch all the way to the Caribbean. It might seem a long way to go for a four-night cruise but at cruise-only prices of less than €200 available, the value soon adds up. Head out on Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas, departing Miami in Florida for Key West, Nassau, Cococay and back to Miami.

A stalwart of the cruise industry, the boat has recently been renovated and includes its own rock-climbing wall, two outdoor pools and teen-only areas, as well as a day spa and fitness centre and an open-air basketball court.

A four-day Caribbean cruise from Miami to the Bahamas and back starts at €199 for an inside cabin with touramerica.ie.

Share a passion

Like golf? Love motorbikes? Prefer wandering around in the nip? Whatever you’re into, there’s a cruise to suit.

Different cruise companies do them in different ways.

Theme cruises, such as Carnival’s Nascar voyage, or Holland America’s jazz festival, take over the whole boat.

Alternatively, special interest cruises involve drawing up a special itinerary for certain guests. This can range from soap opera fans getting to meet their idols to people with a shared hobby meeting up for classes.

One of the best-known themed-cruise operators is Fred Olsen, which has everything from food- and wine-based cruises to specialist walking and golf breaks.

It even has, somewhat weirdly, a Titanic Memorial cruise taking place in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of that particular cruise tragedy.

A 28-day Caribbean bridge cruise departing November 12th, 2010, on board the Fred Olsen Cruise ship Black Watch, is €2,879 from Beacon Cruises, beaconcruises.ie.

Deck the halls

For the times in your life when you really want to escape a traditional Christmas there is no better way than with a Christmas cruise.

Follow the sun with a 10-day circuit of the Canary Islands, sailing from Southampton on December 17th, with prices starting at £1,169 (€1,359) with P&O Cruises's boat Oriana.

For something more exotic, Princess Cruises has a South China Sea break flying from UK to Singapore, departing December 20th and heading off to Manila, Xiamen, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City, finishing up in Bangkok (although the itinerary is subject to change). Prices start at £2,979 (€3,463) for an outside cabin.

Or get as far away from Santa as possible by heading to the South Pole, with Hurtigruten’s Antarctic Christmas voyage from Ushuaia to South Georgia and the South Orkneys, including Deception, Half Moon and Petermann Islands.

The 17-day Shackleton’s Christmas in Antarctica voyage departs December 17th and costs €5,950. More information see hurtigruten.com.

Plain sailing

Finally, you can let worries of the ash cloud dissipate entirely by taking this cruise over to the Norwegian Fjords, because there will be no flying involved at all in this holiday.

Board the ship in either Dublin or Cobh and head for the remote shores of Julianehab, Greenland, with its colourful wooden houses overlooked by spectacular mountain peaks.

Visit Nuuk, the world’s smallest capital city, stop off in Reykjavik and head on through the nine-mile long Geirangerfjord – if you’ve ever seen a stunning photograph of a Norwegian fjord, it’s most likely this one. Finish up at Stavanger, cradle of the Vikings, before heading home.

Sailing on board P&O’s Aurora, passengers will also experience the company’s Music Festivals at Sea initiative, hosted by (minor) celebrities of stage and screen.

The ship is pretty cool, too, with a Marco Pierre White “endorsed” cafe, a Moorish-style main restaurant, Raffles chocolate and coffee bars, and a waterfall in the atrium.

The 16- or 17-night Norwegian Fjords cruise departs June 19th from Cork or June 20th from Dublin, disembarking at Southampton. Prices start at £1,149 (€1,335) for an inside cabin. Contact John Galligan Travel for more information, jgt.ie.