Jetsettersblog

Destination specialist Voyages of Discovery has launched its summer 2010 season with a 20 percent early-booking discount and low-cost air add-ons from 25 North American gateway cities.

The summer 2010 season offers voyages to the Arctic, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, Red Sea and North Africa. Guests who book by Feb. 1 can save an additional 10 percent Launch Offer Savings.

Special rates for single travelers also are available. “Summer 2010 on Discovery will feature a wide range of interesting and eclectic destinations,” said Mark Flager, vice president-sales, marketing and passenger services.

“We’ll begin in Safaga, Egypt, on April 16, and sail the Mediterranean and Black Sea to Syria, Turkey, Spain and Italy before beginning our summer season round-trip from London to Scandinavia, the Baltic, Iceland and the Arctic.”

New ports in 2010 include Sicilian Catania, Nauplion near the Greek citadel of Mycenae, the island of Korcula and the city of Split on the Dalmation Coast.

Each of the itineraries has been planned to maximize time spent ashore exploring sights, many beyond the reach of larger ships. Guests will also be able to visit inland destinations including Berlin and Cairo. Overnight stays are offered in places such as St. Petersburg, Venice and Reykjavik.

Summer 2010 programs on the 650-passenger Discovery include a rare visit to Ilulissat (120 miles north of the Arctic Circle), Nuuk and Qaqortoq, Greenland, on the 17-night “Iceland & Greenland” voyage sailing Aug. 6 from Reykjavik, Iceland.

Cruise fares, with the launch offer savings, start at $4,337 per person.

The “British Isles Heritage Trail” begins June 22 round-trip from Harwich (London) and includes Discovery’s first visit to Liverpool as well as visits to the Scilly Isles, Dublin, Belfast, Oban and Dundee. Fares begin at $3,485 per person.

Also new in 2010 is “A Taste of France,” a 10-night voyage calling at St. Helier, Channel Islands, La Rochelle, Bordeaux (overnight), St. Malo and Rouen. Fares for the Aug. 17 cruise begin at $3,458.

All Voyages of Discovery itineraries feature an enrichment program featuring historians, diplomats, scientists and naturalists. Scheduled guest speakers include Air Chief Marshall Sir Richard Johns; Derek Blundell, emeritus professor of geophysics at Royal Holloway, University of London; and Prof. Richard Wilson, host of the BBC’s “Writers and Places” series.

The company invested $3.5 million to update and improve the vessel over the last two years, and a further $3.5 million will be spent this year.

From late May to late August next year, a majority of Voyages of Discovery’s summer cruises will sail round trip from Harwich, a port near London.

Cruise-tour packages feature two hotel nights in London pre- or post-cruise and a half-day sightseeing tour.

The Discovery repositions to the Mediterranean on Sept. 6 with a 20-night “Grand Iberia & Italy” sailing, with fares starting at $4,708 per person.

Late-summer and fall destinations include the French and Italian Riviera, the Adriatic and the Black Sea.

The season concludes with an antiquities cruise beginning Nov. 6 from Alexandria to Safaga, with calls at Sharm El Sheikh and Port Said for Cairo, and also an overnight onboard in Aqaba for Petra.

Fares for the 12-night “Egypt & the Red Sea” cruise begin at $3,516 per person. The new program also features “Grand Voyages” that combine two or more summer cruises.

Fares start at $6,232 per person for the “Grand Andalucia, Italy & Adriatic” voyage departing Sept. 3, which combines the “Grand Iberia & Italy” voyage with the “Venice & the Adriatic” cruise.

To celebrate the launch of its summer 2010 program, Voyages of Discovery is offering a 10 percent Launch Offer Savings for guests booked by Feb. 1.

For more information, call 866-623-2689 or visit www.voyagesofdiscovery.com