No dumbing down: a return to high-brow cruising
Not only to look but to see, not only to learn but to understand, not merely to enjoy but to be moved, enlightened, thrilled: that is what we plan for participants on these cruises. Expert lecturers, meticulously planned itineraries and very special events are the distinguishing features.
They are designed for people with intellectual curiosity and an interest in history, archaeology and the arts. We make no apology for the academic emphasis of these cruises. They return unashamedly to the century-old tradition of high-brow cruising: this is a dumbing-down-free zone.
And, self-selected by common interests and endorsement of the MRT style, congenial company can be virtually guaranteed.
The finest guest lecturers
Lecturers are a key ingredient, with at least four on each sailing. We select them with care: their scholarship must be unimpeachable, their communication skills first class. Their brief is to enlighten and stimulate, not merely to inform. They also have to be good travelling companions.
Talks take place both on the ship and ashore. Covering the most pertinent topics, they are carefully planned and co-ordinated to enthral with insight, analysis and narrative.
The advantages of a small ship
Setting our course counter to the fashion for ever larger ships, we have scoured the world for vessels that combine a good range of facilities with an unusually small capacity. There will be no more than 236 passengers on board MS Columbus and only 190 on board Le Diamant.
The advantages of a small ship for this sort of cruising are overwhelming: access to a wider range of ports, speedier embarkation and disembarkation, a more cohesive and congenial atmosphere socially, better opportunity for getting to know the lecturers, single sittings for meals and talks.
Yet these numbers are enough to support several lecturers, a choice of excursions and some special events ashore.
(We should point out that we have chartered the whole ship and everyone on board will have read the brochure or our website.)
Journeys with a purpose
Designed around a theme or a set of themes, the itineraries have a sense of purpose and development. Rather than criss-crossing the sea for contrasting countries and cultures, our voyages have focus and coherence.
There is more time ashore than is the usual cruising convention, and more time at each place visited than is the norm even with ‘discovery’ cruises.
We include less-visited sites as well as major ones. There is a concentration on places near the coast and long drives inland are avoided.
(And with less distance covered, both by sea and on land, the adverse impact on the environment is reduced.)
Meticulous attention to detail
Britain’s leading specialist in cultural tours, Martin Randall Travel is well placed to revive the tradition of lecturer-accompanied cruises.
Meticulous attention to detail, thorough research of the destinations and thoughtful innovation characterise all our tours, events and cruises. We were already familiar with every place visited on these cruises through our land tours; we are now spending two years inspecting them all again.
Original and sensitive techniques of handling groups of up to 300 people have been developed through our pioneering all-inclusive music festivals.
Exceptional special events
Music and theatre in historic locations – theatres, palaces, churches – are a striking feature of some of our cruises. For these events we engage artists of the highest quality.
We sometimes make special arrangements to view places not normally accessible to individual travellers, or arrange exclusive openings of museums at times when they are closed to the public.
Catering for individuals, treating you as adults
We reduce regimentation to a minimum. There will be hardly any announcements (a printed programme provides all the practical details), you can choose where to eat and, to some extent, when, and there is usually a choice of departure time for shore excursions.
Our well-honed systems mean that you rarely have to waste time hanging around. Our staff cultivate the virtue of unobtrusiveness.
For visiting sites and cities you can choose to join a group with a local guide (the best we can find, carefully instructed about the special nature of these cruises) or you are welcome to go independently, with a guidebook or pages from the MRT Cruise Manual in hand.
Differing levels of energy and interest
The shore excursions are planned to accommodate differing levels of fitness and stamina, physical and mental. The keen and fit can take the first coach out and the last back, giving themselves up to twice as much time on the site as those who like to take things at a more leisurely pace.
On the other hand we aim not to exhaust you. There is absolutely no obligation to participate in all the excursions, and often there is the option of starting the day later than is the cruising norm.
No casino, no cabaret, no disco
There is little evening entertainment on board. Bars remain open till the early hours but there is no disco, no cabaret, no casino and definitely no piped music. Sometimes there are chamber concerts, but the major source of entertainment is conversation with like-minded passengers.
All-inclusive prices, and no discounts
Nearly everything is included in the price – nearly all excursions, wine with meals, soft drinks from the minibar, visas, all tips.
We do not levy surcharges for fuel price rises or exchange rate changes.
And there will be no discounts. The prices in this brochure are the prices you pay. There will be no reductions for late bookers, affinity groups or for any other category.
Next: The itineraries