Cruise control

JOHN Galligan Travel (JGT) has announced the first cruise from Ireland of the discovery cruise ship Spirit of Adventure.

This intimately designed ship carries only 300 people. Accompanying guests on this 10-day cruise (June 20) to Iceland is a team of guest lecturers who are all experts in their fields.

Cost: €1,746 per person.

For more information, contact John Galligan at 01-2076555, email [e-mail] or see www.jgt.ie.

* TOPFLIGHT, voted Ireland’s leading ski tour operator for 14 successive years, has launched its 2008/9 ski and snow-boarding preview brochure.

Austria continues to dominate as Irelands favourite ski resort and Topflight introduces Scheffau, Ellmau, Magic Mountains Gotzens and Solden and the village of Les Houches in France to an already comprehensive programme.

Flights from Dublin, Cork, Knock and Belfast.

Tel Topflight on 01-2401700 or check out www.topflight.ie. All travel agents will also have brochures.

* FOR those who surf the net in search of holiday offers, check out www.holidayhomesdirect.ie. Since starting early last year, the Irish company has built up a listing of 1,000 rental properties in over 40 countries. There’s a choice of apartments, self-catering holiday homes, villas with private pools and remote farmhouses.

Holiday Homes Direct, which charges homeowners €90 for a 12-month listing, allows people to deal direct with the property owners, therefore cutting out the commission structure.

* KEYCAMP Holidays urges clients to move before April 1 to book some holidays at 30% less than published brochure prices. The discounted holidays are available on a limited number of sites on all chalet, tent and mobile home accommodation (excluding the Prestige) and the biggest discounts are offered for May and June. Tel [phone] or see www.keycamp.ie.

* SAS, which operates from Dublin to Scandinavia, the Far East and the US, have scooped an award for the quality of service in economy class on intercontinental flights. The company scored a higher “excellent” points total than Virgin Atlantic, and ranked significantly above the average of 13 airlines included in a global study. For details of SAS offers out of Dublin, check out www.flysas.ie.

* CANVAS Holidays has expanded its programme for 2008 with eight new campsites and a new mobile home model. Due to customer demand, Sardinia features in the programme for the first time, and new mainland Italian sites are also been added.

Car hire and low-cost flights can be arranged by the company on request. For reservations, tel [phone] or go to www.canvasholidays.ie.