56-Day World Cruise Liner - Sydney to London (Dover)
Signature touches on voyages of discovery to fascinating destinations
Coral Princess, with more than 700 balcony staterooms, was custom built to navigate the historic Panama Canal.
Credited with introducing millions of Americans to the concept of a modern cruise holiday, Princess Cruises is still innovating to this day.
Sporting a fleet of 17 ships with capacities ranging from 2,000 to 4,300 passengers, the line is best known for its Alaskan cruises, but travels to destinations the world over.
With an emphasis on destination leadership and local expertise, Princess is an excellent choice for the discerning traveller seeking to sail in comfort.
The last port of call on the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage, the seaside town on Ireland’s south coast has a historic maritime legacy. One of the major transatlantic Irish ports, Cobh (pronounced ‘Cove’ and formerly known as Queenstown) was also the departure point for 2.5 million of the six million Irish people who emigrated to North America between 1848 and 1950. While visitors flock to Cobh to learn about its fascinating maritime and emigration history, they will also find the picturesque town blessed with a beautiful cathedral and a burgeoning bar and restaurant scene.
It may not have quite the same wow-factor as the likes of fellow Baltic cities St Petersburg, Riga and Stockholm, but the German town of Warnemünde has still got plenty to offer as a port of call. The seaside resort, situated near Rostock, is known for its long beachfront and marina, where cruise ships dock. Warnemünde is also the gateway to Germany’s historic and bustling capital, Berlin, and various cruise lines offer shore excursions to the city from Warnemünde.
Often referred to as the ‘Paris of the North’ and voted the European Capital of Culture in 2014, Latvia’s capital Riga has become a popular destination among city breakers in recent years. The port city’s charming, medieval old town, a Unesco World Heritage site, draws visitors with its well-preserved Hanseatic and German-style Art Nouveau architecture, world-class museums and quaint pavement cafes.
A city of the sea, Helsinki was built along a series of oddly shaped peninsulas and islands jutting into the Baltic coast along the Gulf of Finland. Streets and avenues curve around bays, bridges reach to nearby islands, and ferries ply among offshore islands.Having grown dramatically since World War II, Helsinki now absorbs more than one-tenth of the Finnish population. The metro area covers 764 square km (474 square miles) and 315 islands. Most sights, hotels, and restaurants cluster on one peninsula, forming a compact central hub. The greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which includes Espoo and Vantaa, has a total population of more than a million people.Helsinki is a relatively young city compared with other European capitals. In the 16th century, King Gustav Vasa of Sweden decided to woo trade from the Estonian city of Tallinn and thus challenge the Hanseatic League's monopoly on Baltic trade. Accordingly, he commanded the people of four Finnish towns to pack up their belongings and relocate to the rapids on the River Vantaa. The new town, founded on June 12, 1550, was named Helsinki.For three centuries, Helsinki (Helsingfors in Swedish) had its ups and downs as a trading town. Turku, to the west, remained Finland's capital and intellectual center. However, Helsinki's fortunes improved when Finland fell under Russian rule as an autonomous grand duchy. Czar Alexander I wanted Finland's political center closer to Russia and, in 1812, selected Helsinki as the new capital. Shortly afterward, Turku suffered a disastrous fire, forcing the university to move to Helsinki. The town's future was secure.Just before the czar's proclamation, a fire destroyed many of Helsinki's traditional wooden structures, precipitating the construction of new buildings suitable for a nation's capital. The German-born architect Carl Ludvig Engel was commissioned to rebuild the city, and as a result, Helsinki has some of the purest neoclassical architecture in the world. Add to this foundation the influence of Stockholm and St. Petersburg with the local inspiration of 20th-century Finnish design, and the result is a European capital city that is as architecturally eye-catching as it is distinct from other Scandinavian capitals. You are bound to discover endless engaging details—a grimacing gargoyle; a foursome of males supporting a balcony's weight on their shoulders; a building painted in striking colors with contrasting flowers in the windows. The city's 400 or so parks make it particularly inviting in summer.Today, Helsinki is still a meeting point of eastern and western Europe, which is reflected in its cosmopolitan image, the influx of Russians and Estonians, and generally multilingual population. Outdoor summer bars ("terrassit" as the locals call them) and cafés in the city center are perfect for people watching on a summer afternoon.
By the 11th century, Copenhagen was already an important trading and fishing centre and today you will find an attractive city which, although the largest in Scandinavia, has managed to retain its low-level skyline. Discover some of the famous attractions including Gefion Fountain and Amalienborg Palace, perhaps cruise the city’s waterways, visit Rosenborg Castle or explore the medieval fishing village of Dragoer. Once the home of Hans Christian Andersen, Copenhagen features many reminders of its fairytale heritage and lives up to the reputation immortalised in the famous song ‘Wonderful Copenhagen’.
Signature touches on voyages of discovery to fascinating destinations
Coral Princess, with more than 700 balcony staterooms, was custom built to navigate the historic Panama Canal.