June will mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and there are a host of cruises to commemorate the event. Here’s a selection of what’s on offer
1. Seven-night D-Day Anniversary cruise | Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Fred. Olsen is taking a journey through key World War II sites on its D-Day Anniversary cruise on Braemar departing on 1 June 2014 from Harwich. Visit the D-Day museum in Portsmouth, for an account of the Normandy landings and the Museum of Liberation in Cherbourg to learn about the city’s occupation during World War II, plus Le Havre and Dunkirk. Prices start at £629pp. Visit fredolsencruises.com
2. Seven-night river cruise | Uniworld
Take a river cruise on Uniworld’s luxurious River Baroness and you can explore the Normandy Beaches on a full day trip from Rouen. Visit the D-Day museum in Arromanches and continue to the allied landing sites at Omaha Beach. As this is not a dedicated D-Day anniversary cruise you will also have the chance to visit other spots along the Seine such as the home of Monet, Giverny. Prices start at £2,049pp. Visit uniworldrivercruises.co.uk
3. 11-night cruise | Azamara Club Cruises
Commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June in Cherbourg and take a tour of Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, the cliff of Pointe du Hoc and Gold beach D-Day landing site. Starting in Lisbon, you’ll also sail to Honfleur, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dover, Amsterdam and Hamburg. The cruise departs on 6 June 2014 and prices start at £2,869pp. Visit azamaraclubcruises.co.uk
4. Seven-night French river cruise | Saga Cruises
Sail along the Seine to Rouen and take a trip to the beaches of the Normandy coast. On the cruise back to Paris, you will call at Les Andelys offering views of the Seine Valley’s white cliffs and the hilltop ruins of Château Gaillard. Prices start at £1,699pp. Visit travel.saga.co.uk
5. Seven-night Paris to Normandy’s Landing Beaches cruise | Avalon Waterways
This river cruise on one of Avalon’s sleek Suite Ships starts in Paris for all the famous sites and sails along the Seine calling at Vernon, Les Andelys, Conflans and of course historic Rouen for the Normandy Beaches. The cruise departs regularly from 25 March to 28 October 2014 and prices start at £1,899pp. Visit avaloncruises.co.uk
6. Six-night cruise holiday | Cruise & Maritime Voyages
After a day at sea you’ll visit Honfleur from where you can visit Pegasus Bridge – captured by the men of the 6th British Airborne division led by Major John Howard. Next, in Guernsey, visit an underground military hospital and the Occupation Museum exploring the island’s World War II history. In Cherbourg there’s the option to visit the D-day Museum overlooking the remains of the famous Mulberry Harbour. Discovery departs from Bristol on 1 June 2014 and prices start at £529pp. Visit cruiseandmaritime.com
7. 12-night cruise | Swan Hellenic
Swan Hellenic’s Minerva leaves from one of the many departure points for Operation Overlord (code name for the Battle of Normandy), Southampton. This cruise takes in many of the notable World War I and II sites. Crossing the English Channel you reach Dunkirk where thousands of stranded British troops were evacuated back to England in 1940. Visit Ypres and explore the Flanders Fields Museum, plus Cherbourg, Belle Ile, Lorient, the Isle of Scilly, Dartmouth, St Peter Port and Portsmouth. The cruise departs on 4 June 2014 and process start at £2,335pp. Visit swanhellenic.com
8. Seven-night cruise along the Seine | AmaWaterways
You get to relax in Paris for two days on this river cruise, calling at Roeun for the Normandy Beaches where you have a choice of excursions. You can do a “D-Day Remembered” full day excursion to the US sector, Omaha and Utah beaches or you can tour the Gold and Juno beaches in the British and Canadian sector including the Pegasus Monument, or choose rural Normandy. Calls also include Vernon, Caudebec, Les Andelys and Conflans. Cruises depart from Paris between 27 March and 27 November and costs from £1,749pp. Visit amawaterways.co.uk
9. 10-night river cruise | Scenic Tours
Sail on board a Scenic “Space-Ship” through France and take a tour of the Normandy D-Day landing beaches from Honfleur plus go on a full day excursion to the World War I Somme battlefields from Rouen. The cruise also includes a complimentary private concert at Château-de-Champlâtreux and there’s a butler for every guest on board. Cruises depart between 28 July to 16 October 2014 and cost from £3,745pp. Visit scenictours.co.uk
10. 12-night cruise from Rome to Copenhagen | Holland America
This is a D-Day anniversary cruise with a difference. Before visiting war sites (for both World War I and World War II) you’ll start in Rome and call at Cartagena, Gibraltar, Cadiz (for Seville), Lisbon, Vigo and Portland (England). You’ll call at Cherbourg for the landing beaches and from Zeebrugge you can visit the city of Ypres, located in Flanders Fields, and see the many monuments dedicated to the Great War. Visit one of the British cemeteries and see the Menin Gate with the names of thousands of British soldiers engraved on its walls and the In Flanders Fields Museum. The cruise departs on 29 April 2014 and costs from £1,198.76pp. Visit hollandamerica.com
© Photo: Getty Images/Simon Greenwood
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