Press Releases

Oxford

Voyages to Antiquity, the new destination cruise line introduced by former Orient Lines chairman Gerry Herrod, has been named Best Educational Cruise Line for 2010 by Shermans Travel Media, one the largest online communities in the USA. The online travel marketing site announced the list of top 10 cruise lines in various categories on their website and included them in the Top 25 Newsletter sent to over 4 million subscribers, across the world.

Voyages to Antiquity features cruises tracing the classical civilisations of the Mediterranean, Aegean, Adriatic, and Red Seas. The first cruise departs on 4 May 2010, with the company offering nine itineraries with 16 departures through until November 2010 on the newly refurbished Aegean Odyssey.

Itineraries will take guests to well known ports such as Athens, Rome, Venice and Istanbul but also include those better suited to a small ship from where guests are able to experience a myriad of fascinating destinations such as Palmyra in Syria or the small port of Al Khums in Libya for the ancient ruins of Leptis Magna, Croatia's beautiful Kornati Islands and Sicily's architectural and artistic legacies.

Each itinerary has been meticulously planned to provide the very best in cultural travel, including an extensive roster of expert lecturers, supported by a team of classical history graduates. Dedicated lecture topics will bring to life the history, archaeology, art and cultures of the ‘classic civilisations of the Mediterranean. A sample roster of expert lecturers includes:

• JOHN JULIUS NORWICH, renowned historian and author of ‘The Middle Sea', tracing the development and impact of the ancient cultures in Rome, Greece & Egypt
• MARY BEARD, Professors of Classics, University of Cambridge and author of ‘Pompeii; Life of a Roman Town'
• MICHAEL VICKERS, Professor of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Curator of Greek and Roman antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum.

"We are obviously delighted with this recognition by Shermans" said David Yellow, Managing Director of Voyages to Antiquity. "It reflects the growing interest and response from experienced international travellers seeking a destination-intensive cruise experience. And our no single supplement launch offer is proving extremely popular with single travellers".

A Voyages to Antiquity cruise starts from £1995 for a 15 day cruise, including shore excursions, gratuities, wine with dinner and scheduled flights on British Airways.

Voyages to Antiquity are also offering these special launch offers:

• COMPLIMENTARY FLIGHT UPGRADE TO CLUB EUROPE
  when booking in Concierge Class (categories A to G)*
• COMPLIMENTARY CABIN UPGRADE
  on board when booking a cabin in categories N to I
• NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENTS
  in selected categories*

Note: * These special launch offers are strictly capacity controlled, and are subject to availability and exclude our cruises to North Africa and the Red Sea.

For reservations and information call  0845 437 9737.