Southampton to Newcastle: cheaper on cruise ship than by rail or air

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Passengers aboard a veteran cruise ship will this week sail from Southampton to Newcastle for much less than the price of a rail or air ticket.

Fred Olsen Cruises has been promoting cabins aboard Balmoral on a “repositioning” voyage from the Solent to the Tyne for simply £99 per particular person. Passengers are promised “two nights of Fred Olsen’s small ship cruising” together with “delicious food, entertainment and service”.

The vessel departs from Southampton at 7pm on Wednesday 28 February and arrives in Newcastle at 6am on Friday 1 March – with passengers pay below £3 per hour.

The worth saves £4 on a brilliant off-peak single on a CrossCountry prepare.

Balmoral is making the voyage between two cruises to view the Northern Lights and the coast of Norway. One completed at Southampton early on Wednesday morning, and the subsequent begins from Newcastle on Friday night. But the voyage additionally provides intercity journey at a discount worth.

All the cheaper cabins have now gone, however a “superior ocean view” cabin remains to be out there at £149. That is £12 much less than Loganair is presently charging for the 70-minute flight from Southampton to Newcastle on Wednesday or Friday. The Scottish airline is promoting some flights on the route for £88 by reserving nicely forward.

On the pilots’ discussion board Pprune, “Rog 747” wrote: “I want to fly up soon from (preferably) SOU [Southampton] to see an old pal in NCL [Newcastle] for a couple of days, taking a small cabin bag.”

He mentioned the return air fare from Southampton was “around £360”. But he later wrote: “I have now done a complete swerve.” He had booked a cabin at £99 on Balmoral, and a flight again from Newcastle to London Heathrow utilizing Avios factors.

Unlike the prepare and aircraft, cruise passengers can look ahead to bathing in one in all two swimming pools and limitless meals within the six eating places. Meals and amenities are included in the price of the cruise; drinks within the seven bars and lounges are additional. But Balmoral doesn’t have six water slides and a rock-climbing wall, as discovered on the not too long ago launched Icon of the Seas – the world’s largest cruise ship,

Fred Olsen says of Balmoral: “Her smaller size is a huge asset when it comes to creating itineraries that go off the beaten track and into less visited ports and waterways.”

The voyage will take passengers east alongside the English Channel throughout darkness, earlier than turning north at Dover into the North Sea. The scenic spotlight is probably going to happen on Friday when passengers might catch a glimpse of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

Balmoral was in-built 1988, making her one of many oldest cruise ships in common use. Her most notable voyage was in 2012, when she was chartered for a “Titanic Memorial Cruise”. The plan was to observe the deliberate route of Titanic from Southampton by way of Cherbourg and Cobh to New York – coinciding with the a hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the White Star liner, which price 1,514 lives.