A short-break adventure to NSW Riverina aboard a heritage train

Low supplement for solo travellers

Media Release – April 23, 2019

A new heritage train journey to the NSW Riverina this October will allow food and wine lovers to meet the farmers, wine-makers, chefs, gardeners, artisans and producers that make this region one of Australia’s leading culinary destinations.

Created and hosted by Cruise Express, the exclusive ‘Taste Riverina Food and Wine Adventure’ aims to showcase the Riverina’s fine wines and abundant produce and also the joys of slow travel aboard a privately chartered heritage train.

The unique getaway begins in Sydney on Friday, October 11, 2019, with the heritage rail motor, 621/721, taking guests on a leisurely and nostalgic journey to Griffith, with lunch in Junee and afternoon tea in Narrandera along the way.  The rail motor, built in 1962, features windows that open, allowing passengers to freely connect with the changing scenery, including vast expanses of bright yellow canola fields in bloom. During the trip, guests can also visit the driver’s cab to see how the train operates.

After checking into three-nights’ accommodation in Griffith, guests will enjoy a two-day celebration of the Riverina’s passion for food and wine, underscored by the waves of Italian migrants to the area over the decades. Experiences will include:

* A visit to Randall Organic Rice Farm where the group will tour the tall, picturesque rice paddocks and enjoy lunch prepared by chefs from Hungry Fox Bistro and tastings of local produce

* A visit to Southern Cotton Gin to gain an exclusive insight into how cotton is processed

* A private, wine-paired dinner at the iconic McWilliams Winery, hosted by the chief winemaker

* A morning tea tour of the ornate gardens at Rosewood Park on Stokes

* Tastings with the wine-maker at De Bortoli Winery

* A tour of the orange orchard at Piccolo Farm, followed by a cooking demonstration and Italian lunch hosted by the Piccolo family

* A sumptuous dinner at Zecca Handmade Italian featuring authentic cuisine, local produce and wine

* An opportunity on the Saturday morning to join hundreds of local festival goers at a BBQ breakfast to create orange sculptures in the main street

The final day of the tour will see guests rejoin the heritage train for the day trip back to Sydney, with a stop at Temora to visit Koorambi Winez, for a barbecue in the vineyard, hosted by local growers, Mimosa Valley Lamb.  A dinner stop will also be made in Goulburn before the gourmet tour ends mid-evening back in Sydney.

Including eight meals and daily sightseeing, the four-day ‘Taste Riverina Food and Wine Adventure’ is available from $1,990 per person, twin-share and only $2,190 for solo travellers.

Click here for more information

Cruise Express adds Russia and Iceland to Northern Lights tour of Norway in 2020

Fares from Five Australian Cities

Media Release – April 11, 2019

Interest amongst Australians to see the spectacular Northern Lights continues to shine brightly with Cruise Express releasing a second escorted winter cruise tour to Norway in March 2020.  For the first time, an add-on journey to Russia before the Norway tour and an exploration of Iceland afterward are additional options.  

Cruise Express’ exclusive new ‘March to the Northern Lights’ tour features a Hurtigruten voyage along the rugged, fjord-studded Norwegian coast, billed as one of the world’s most beautiful sea journeys. The picturesque Flam Railway train ride is another highpoint while the itinerary’s shining light – literally – is the chance each night to witness Norway’s famous Northern Lights – the Aurora Borealis – which swirl across the skies.

Hosted by Cruise Express, the 15-night tour begins on March 8, 2020, with a flight from Australia to Norway’s capital, Oslo, for a two-night stay. This is followed by a ride on the famous Bergen and Flam Railways through a winter wonderland of snow-capped peaks, iced waterfalls, wild rivers and brooding pine forests. A half-day cruise through two spectacular fjords –Naeroyfjord and Aurlandsfjord – is also included.

Guests then board Hurtigruten’s coastal ship, ms Trollfjord, for a six-night voyage north from Bergen and across the Arctic Circle around North Cape to the remote town of Kirkenes near the Russian border. Here,  guests will stay in a hotel made of snow, see reindeer, join a husky sled ride and scour the heavens for the Northern Lights. The tour ends with flights back to Oslo and then Australia.

For the first time, Cruise Express is offering an add-on package to Russia before the Norway tour and also to Iceland afterward. The three-night Russia tour focuses on St Petersburg, taking in the magnificent Winter Palace, which was the official residence of the Russian emperors from 1732 to 1917, and the grand Catherine Palace, a striking Rococo building that once served as the summer residence of the Russian tsars in the 18th century.

Meanwhile, after the Norway tour, guests can join an optional, eight-night extension to Iceland, with the itinerary taking guests on an overland tour across the country to see its famous geysers, glaciers, volcanoes, hot pools and waterfalls.

Including return flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth, the 15-night escorted  ‘March to the Northern Lights’ package is available from $7,990 per person, twin-share.

Including connecting flights, the three-night St Petersburg tour is available from an extra $1699 per person, twin-share, and the add-on, eight-night Iceland tour is available from an extra $3,990 per person, twin-share. Guests can also choose to do one or both add-on tours.

Click here for more information.

Suzi Quatro and a Legion of Music Legends

to ‘Rock the Boat’ on Anniversary Music Cruise in 2020

Media Release: April 4, 2019

Rock legends Suzi Quatro, Jon Stevens, Russell Morris and Ross Wilson, and are among a legion of stars announced as the headline acts of a special, new ‘Rock the Boat’ cruise from Brisbane next year to mark the tenth anniversary of music cruises from Australia.

The cruise is expected to sell out quickly, with express bookings available now through Cruise Express, one of Australia’s top sellers of music cruises.

The 2500-passenger ship, Radiance of the Seas, will be based in Brisbane for the first time from November 2020. One of its first sailings from the city’s new International Cruise Terminal will be the seven-night ‘Rock the Boat’ cruise to New Caledonia on November 24, 2020.

The sailing marks the tenth anniversary of music cruises from Australia, with tens of thousands of Australians enjoying a variety of annual, week-long concerts at sea since 2010.

The ‘Rock the Boat’ cruise will boast performances from an array of evergreen, rock’n’roll icons such as Suzi Quatro, Noiseworks singer, Jon Stevens, Russell Morris and Ross Wilson – famous as the frontman for Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock.

Radiance of the Seas will take ‘rockers’ to Noumea and the Isle of Pines.   The cruise is available from $2,799 per person, twin-share.

The cruise will offer artist signings, music workshops and dance lessons with concerts day and night across the ship.  Radiance of the Seas boasts three pools, a rock-climbing wall, nine-hole mini-golf course, a cinema and sports court as well as 18 dining venues, bars and lounges.

Fares are subject to availability.

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A New Royal Rendezvous Cruise Package – Sail aboard two Cunard Queens!

Featuring a historic meeting of the Queens in Sydney Harbour

PLUS – Up to US$630 onboard credit per stateroom

Media Release – March 28, 2019

Australians can sail into Sydney Harbour on one Cunard liner and out on another as part of a record, four-month Australian season for the prestigious cruise company in the summer of 2020/21 which will see a first-time rendezvous in Sydney of two of the company’s luxury ships.

Twin sisters, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, will meet in the harbour twice on March 1, 2021 – early in the morning and again in the evening -with Queen Elizabeth sailing to and from her berth at Circular Quay past Queen Victoria anchored off Bradleys Head.

Cruise Express has used the historic meeting to create a luxury 31-night package that will see guests sailing from San Francisco to Sydney on one of the liners and then cruising to Tasmania on the other, with up to US$630 in bonus, onboard spending available per stateroom.

The exclusive ‘Royal Rendezvous’ package begins with a flight from Australia to San Francisco on February 4, 2021, followed by two nights at the Sheraton Fishermans Wharf, close to the iconic harbourside wharf with its famous amusements, eateries and colony of seals. Guests then sail under the even more famous Golden Gate Bridge aboard the stylish Cunard liner, Queen Victoria, on a 21-night voyage to Sydney via Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand.

Arriving in Sydney on February 28, 2021, guests disembark for a night at the Intercontinental Sydney, waking the next day, March 1, to find sister liner, Queen Elizabeth, docked at Circular Quay. Later that day, Cruise Express guests will board Queen Elizabeth and sail past Queen Victoria out of the harbour on a seven-night return cruise to Hobart and Melbourne.

During both cruises, passengers will be able to enjoy the elegant black-tie balls, chandeliers, sweeping staircases, gourmet cuisine, afternoon teas, spacious teak decks and white-gloved service that have made Cunard famous.

Including the one-way flight from Australia to San Francisco, both cruises, hotel stays and private car transfers in San Francisco, the 31-night ‘Royal Rendezvous’ package is available in Interior Cabins from A$9899 per person, twin-share, from Sydney, A$9949 from Melbourne and Brisbane and A$10,039 from Adelaide and Perth. A bonus onboard spending credit of up to US$390 is available with an Interior Cabin booking.

In Balcony Cabins, the package is available from A$12,999 per person, twin-share, from Sydney, $13,049 from Melbourne and Brisbane and A$13,139 from Adelaide and Perth. A bonus onboard spending credit of up to US$630 is available with a Balcony Cabin booking.

The onboard stateroom credit offer has no booking deadline and is available until sold out. Fares do not include domestic flights home from Sydney after the second cruise.

Save 30% on a one-off exploration of the Kimberley by sea with National Geographic

Join Ponant in 2020 for 14 days visiting places you can’t see any other way

Media Release – March 19, 2019

French cruise line, Ponant, has partnered with National Geographic Expeditions to offer a special, in-depth exploration of the Kimberley, with the one-off cruise taking in remote and rarely visited islands and reefs.

Cruise Express has released special fares that include a 30 per cent saving for the luxury, 13-night expedition voyage, which sails from Broome to Darwin on August 26, 2020. The cruise will feature an expert team of geologists, historians, cultural experts, marine biologists, naturalists, conservationists and photographers aboard Ponant’s sleek, 184-guest expedition ship, Le Laperouse, and is available through Cruise Express.

Twice the size of Victoria, the ancient and pristine Kimberley wilderness encompasses magnificent waterfalls, remote coves, indigenous rock art, abundant wildlife and majestic coastal cliffs that glow red at sunset.
A specially curated itinerary designed for this cruise by Ponant and National Geographic Expeditions will take guests to rarely visited places such as Browse Island – a lonely nesting site for green turtles – the stunning coral reefs at Rowley Shoals, the bird and dugong sanctuary of Ashmore Reef in the middle of the Timor Sea and the indigenous rock art of Jar Island where some of the oldest, detailed descriptions of human figures in the world can be found.

The cruise will also take in majestic King George Falls, Mitchell Falls, Montgomery Reef, mangrove crocodile habitats and the world-famous Horizontal Falls where seawater thunders horizontally at high tide through a narrow break in the cliffs, forming huge rapids – a phenomenon described by David Attenborough as one of the greatest wonders of the natural world.

Launched last year and named after an 18th Century French explorer, the ship features a unique, underwater, multi-sensory lounge where whale-shaped windows, hydrophones and video cameras enable guests to experience life underwater without getting wet. Le Laperouse also boasts two restaurants, two lounges, a theatre, pool, spa sanctuary, gourmet cuisine, personalised service and intimate ambience.
The expedition will include multiple, guided excursions on Zodiacs and informative lectures onboard, and to help toast the magnificent scenery, drinks will be complimentary, including your own stateroom mini bar.

Sailing from Broome on August 26, 2020, the 13-night cruise is available from $13,990 per person, twin-share, including a 30 percent saving off normal fares.