Introducing Telegraph’s New Cruise Channel

Move over CruiseCritic.com and kindly step aside Kayak .com – there’s a new kid on the block that’s making it cooler than ever to plan and book a cruise online. The London Telegraph has added a most excellent Cruise Channel to its wildly popular travel section. Located within the pages of the publications online edition — Telegraph.co.uk, the Cruise Channel has several exciting features that are sure to set off the excitement bells long before you board the ship for your cruise vacation.

Before we dive into the Cruise Channel’s top feature, here is a bit of information about the colorful Cruise Channel. This beautifully designed channel offers an abundance of eye-catching visuals and images of everything from cruise ships, exotic locales and landmarks to adventure shots, river cruises and more. Visitors to the channel can read about the many different types of cruises on the market today such as luxury cruises, adventure cruises, family cruises, and river cruises, to name a few. The channel also features brochures, extensive information about destinations, listings for killer deals, and articles and guides to help you decide which cruise is right for you. With accounts and advice from writers, reviewers, and real live cruisers, it will be a cinch for visitors to the site to decide whether they would prefer a Mediterranean cruise aboard one of the luxury Yachts of Seabourn or a Caribbean Cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas.

Yet another invaluable feature is the Cruise Channel’s cruise news links, which offer breaking news about events in the cruise industry, very informative Q&A pieces, and other stories about everything from freighter cruises and island hopping to what to expect on an exotic cruise.

Now, on with the show! The main attraction to the Cruise Channel is the section’s interactive cruise planner. First, if you’re confused about where to go, just click the rotating globe underneath the “Cruise Planner� logo and you will be transported to your country of choice which includes a highly interactive map with facts on every major stop throughout the journey, and a long line of “sailing ships� (literally) that will be traveling to the destination you’re interested in. Simply click one of the sailing ships and you’ll learn all about the vessel (length. decks, cabins, facilities, entertainment, restaurants), and everything you need to know about the actual cruise including dates, description, itinerary, excursions, price, operator, and phone number.

Because the Cruise Planner is highly interactive and quite entertaining, it is not uncommon for visitors to the site to spend hours browsing through cruise news stories, information about destinations and ports of call, cruise ship facts, and more. So, once you’ve loaded up on pertinent cruise information, you will be more than ready to actually plan your cruise. The Cruise Planner allows the user to plan a cruise by date and destination. Once this information is entered, the site will return a list of results highlighting which cruise lines are sailing to your destination and when. Visitors can even check out an animated breakdown of the journey by port stop-off. Simply click the “cruises� tab after selecting your sailing ship, then read through the cruise details. At the bottom (usually after the contact information), you will find a link that says, “Show cruise route.� After this you can find out everything you need to know about each exciting stop on your cruise and you can even read more about cruises to each stop and you can even highlight other ships that call at this port, just to explore any other options – if you choose. How’s that for nifty-cool?

To access the Telegraph’s cruise planner simply visit the London Telegraph website at www.telegraph.co.uk, go the travel section, then click “Cruises.� Happy cruise planning!