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Experience the Ocean Sun Festival onboard the MS Europa

2nd March 2010 Print
MS Europa

Featuring this year’s classical music Ocean Sun Festival, the 15-day Round Britain cruise onboard the Berlitz award-winning MS Europa is an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the world’s finest classical music stars as well as to explore a splendid selection of summer gardens, from northwest Scotland’s Inverewe to the Isles of Scilly and the exotic tropical gardens on Tresco.

Guests booking with The Cruise People in London have the added bonus of an onboard Euro credit courtesy of The Cruise People.

The five-star plus MS Europa provides a perfect venue for the August 2010 Ocean Sun Festival’s mix of classical music artists: a string quartet from the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and several guest musicians and singers including Magdalena Kozena – a recent nomination in the 2010 BBC Music Magazine Awards opera category, conductor Ariel Zuckermann and leading young cellist, Gaultier Capuon. There will be classical concerts onboard as well as exclusive concerts at historical sites ashore as the ship sails from Kiel in Germany to Scotland, the Orkneys, Ireland, Wales, the Scilly Islands and back to Kiel. As free transfers are provided from Hamburg to Kiel and back, passengers can also take the opportunity to explore the beautiful city of Hamburg before sailing day.

For the landscape designers and enthusiastic gardeners onboard there’s a different garden to explore almost every day, all accompanied by the Europa's garden art expert. In Scotland there are the gardens at Tyninghame House, Cawdor Castle, Kierfiold House, Inverewe and Portrack House; in Ireland the Helen Dillon Garden, Powerscourt and Lakemount Gardens. Bodnant Garden in Wales is followed by Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Scilly Islands and England’s Trelissick Garden in Cornwall and Mottistone Manor, Cowes.

Additional highlights on this 15-day day voyage include a visit to the most northerly whisky distillery in the world; Ring of Brodnar and Skara Brae a UNESCO World Heritage site on the Orkney Islands; Rosslyn Chapel made famous by Dan Brown’s bestseller, The Da Vinci Code; and some of Britain’s historic castles highlighted by an evening pipe and drum military tattoo at Edinburgh Castle.

This voyage is one of Hapag-Lloyd’s dedicated 2010 cruises designed to ensure English-speaking passengers feel comfortable from the moment they step onboard. Daily programs, menus, announcements and presentations are all in English. The entire crew is fluent in English and English-language shore excursions are offered on a group or individual basis.

MS Europa – for the tenth time in succession, is the only cruise ship in the world to be awarded the coveted ranking of 5-stars plus by Berlitz Cruise Guide 2010. Europa is the first ‘all-suites’ cruise ship with staterooms never less than 290 square feet, 80% of them with their own veranda. The ship also offers one of the best passenger/crew ratios, with 280 staff for 408 guests.

The Ocean Sun Festival cruise on board the MS Europa departs from Kiel on 24 August and returns to Kiel on 8 September 2010.

Port Transfers are provided free of charge on the sailing and arrival days between Hamburg airport or Hamburg’s main railway station and the Port of Kiel.

Prices start from £4,629 per person sharing a double suite (cruise only). The Cruise People are offering a Euros 110 (around £100) onboard credit for each of their passengers onboard.

The fare includes the voyage with accommodation as booked, all classical music events on board and ashore, all meals on board, port taxes and complimentary port transfers from and to Hamburg. Price excludes shore excursions and international flights. Hamburg is served non-stop by British Airways from Heathrow, Lufthansa from both Heathrow and Manchester, Air Berlin from Stansted, Easyjet from Gatwick and Flybe from Birmingham. British Midlands also code share with Lufthansa from Heathrow and Manchester.

For more information and bookings, visit: Cruisepeople.co.uk

More Photos - Click to Enlarge

MS Europa MS Europa Aerial View