Cruising for a holiday?

THE Cruise Centre, Cork, and MSC Cruises have banded together to produce a series of information meetings as to what is on offer in the coming months.

Tomorrow, the companies will hold a family day at the Maryborough Hotel and Spa in Cork from 12noon to 6pm. The show moves west on Tuesday and Thursday based in west Cork travel offices in Clonakilty and Bandon from 7pm.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet with the Cruise Centre’s experts, along with representatives from MSC Cruises, a company that was formed on the premise of offering Europeans affordable cruise holidays.

For further information, contact Trevor Ryan at 021-4806728 or [e-mail]

- THIS Halloween, one can have a “howl” of a time in the north-west during the Virginia Pumpkin Festival in Co Cavan — really they would think of anything — but it’s neatly fixed for the mid-term break when parents can relax in a family atmosphere that caters for all ages, rounded off by a massive firework display at Lough Ramor lakeshore.

In Cork, the City Gaol hosts the ninth World Ghost Convention where a panel of guest speakers share their knowledge and experiences of the supernatural. Interesting.

The south-west also hosts a night out for all the family at Ballyhoury Forest in Ardpatrick, Co Limerick, but it might not be for the weak willed. The Ballyhoura Spook takes place on October 31 and the woods will be crawling with activity.

Details on these and other Halloween events are on www.discoverireland.ie.

- FOR those not looking forward to the winter chill, it might be worth checking out Escape2’s latest deal to the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic.

Prices start from €1,206 including taxes at the four-star Punta Cana Resort and Spa on an all-inclusive basis. That is based on departures ex-Dublin via Gatwick to Dominican Republic on British Airways, although clients will be required to pay an extra €83 flying on Air France via Paris on services up to October 24.

For more information, visit www.escape2.ie or call 01 8958000.

- ETIHAD Airways is offering customers in Ireland the chance to buy two Pearl Class Business flights for the price of one but the catch is that the offer is only available for booking up to Monday and travel to be completed by November 30.

Still, the promotion means that Irish customers can buy two business class return tickets from Dublin to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane via Abu Dhabi for €3,700, Johannesburg and Cape Town for less than €3,000 and Bangkok for just over that figure. All fares are inclusive of taxes and surcharges.

Etihad operates daily flights between Dublin and Abu Dhabi, with onward flights to over 57 destinations worldwide.

Check it out at any travel agent or online at www.etihadairways.com