The best cruises for 2014

By Jane Archer

With a string of anniversaries coming up next year, pondering where to cruise should be a little easier. You could be celebrating the world’s greatest engineering triumph on a voyage through the Panama Canal, marking the moment the Berlin Wall came down and a divided country was reunited or joining other seafarers on a cruise to remember the millions who died in two world wars. 

From the Irrawaddy to Siberia, Glasgow to Vienna, next year’s cruising hot spots can be combined with world-class art, new hotels and top sporting events, all of which can be visited at the start or end of an ocean or river cruise. 

Germany 

The spotlight will be on Berlin for much of 2014, which not only marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall on November 9 but also 20 years since Allied troops left the city, 49 years after the end of the Second World War. 

A year of cultural events will mark the reunification, including cycle tours along the Wall path, visits to former watchtowers, East Berlin tours in a Trabant car and an exhibition by the artist Yadegar Asisi’s (asisi.de). On the weekend of November 8 and 9, a Berlin Wall will be fashioned from thousands of white balloons. 

Viking River Cruises (vikingrivercruises.co.uk) includes a night here at the end of a seven-night Elbe cruise from Melnik in the Czech Republic to Magdeburg (from £1,745 departing November 1), but it makes sense to add another night or two. Try the Hotel Bikini Berlin (designhotels.com), which opens in January 2014, or the Steigenberger Hotel am Kanzleramt (en.steigenberger.com/Berlin), opening in May with views of the Reichstag. Riviera Travel (rivieratravel.co.uk) has eight-day Elbe cruises, also with a day in the city, from £1,499 departing in October. 

Glasgow 

Come summer, sporting eyes will be on Glasgow, host city of the 20th Commonwealth Games (from July 23 to August 3). Events will be held at 13 venues around the city, while diving will be at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh. Hotel capacity (and prices) are at a premium, but see telegraph.co.uk/travel for our recommended hotels. 

Hebridean Island Cruises (hebridean.co.uk) has voyages around the Scottish Isles from Oban, about two hours from Glasgow, that can be combined with a few nights in the city (seven nights in July from £4,370). You can also visit Greenock, the port for Glasgow, on various round-Britain cruises. Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess will be there on July 28 on a 12-day round-trip voyage from Southampton, from £1,646 departing on July 22. Celebrity Infinity will be there on August 11 and MSC Magnifica (msccruises.co.uk) on August 19. 

Vienna 

An exhibition of the work of Fabergé, the Tsar’s jewellery maker, is one of several events spotlighting Vienna in 2014. It’s at the Kunst Historisches Museum (tourism.khm.at) from February to May. 

At the Lower Belvedere Palace (belvedere.at/en) from February 14 to June 15, there is also a show of 20th-century art from Berlin and Vienna. An exhibition focused on the rebuilding projects that transformed the Austrian capital in the 19th century is showing at the Vienna Museum (wienmuseum.at) from March 21 to September 1. 

A 15-day Scenic Tours (scenictours.co.uk) cruise between Amsterdam and Budapest spends two days in Vienna (from £4,495 departing on April 16), allowing time to see all of the above. The US tour operator Tauck (tauck.com) has a new seven-night Danube cruise between Regensburg and Vienna with two nights at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the Austrian capital (from $4,590/£2,808 departing on August 14 and excluding flights). 

France and Belgium 

With the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June and the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in August, thousands of visitors are expected to visit key sites in both France and Belgium. In Normandy the D-Day anniversary will be marked with historical re-enactments, military parades and exhibitions. The Queen will be guest of honour at the official commemoration ceremony on Sword Beach on June 6. On the same day, there will be a concert for peace at Sainte-Mère-Église. 

Fred Olsen (fredolsencruises.com), Cruise & Maritime Voyages (cruiseandmaritime.com) and Swan Hellenic (swanhellenic.com) cruises commemorate both wars. Swan’s 13-day no-fly cruise from Portsmouth, priced from £2,335, departs June 4 and includes a service of remembrance off the Normandy beaches on June 6. Azamara Club Cruises’ (azamaraclubcruises.co.uk) Azamara Journey visits Cherbourg on June 6, with excursions to the landing beaches, on an 11-night voyage from Lisbon to Hamburg departing on June 3. 

Panama Canal 

On the other side of the Atlantic the Panama Canal is also marking its 100th anniversary, in August. The 48-mile waterway, one of the world’s greatest engineering feats, connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by a series of lakes and locks that shorten by weeks what would be a lengthy journey around Cape Horn. Thousands of cruise passengers will sail through the canal in 2014 – Princess (princess.com) alone expects to carry 67,000 – attracted not only by the anniversary but also because it’s all change in 2015, when new, wider locks are due to open, allowing larger vessels through. 

For 2014, Holland America (hollandamerica.co.uk) has 28 full and partial transits (cruising half-way, then returning the same way) while Princess has 39. The latter has a 14-day cruise from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale departing on September 23 (from £1,318, cruise only). Variety Cruises (varietycruises.com) transits the canal on seven-night voyages between Herradura in Costa Rica and Cartagena in Colombia on the 72-passenger Variety Voyager until March 2014 (from €1,990/£1,662, cruise only). 

Siberia 

Once synonymous with Stalinist labour camps, Siberia is now one of the most sought-after destinations for expedition cruise lines. Unspoilt volcanic landscapes, vast forests and tundra characterise the landscape, and wildlife includes bears, sea eagles and sea lions. 

Both Silversea (silversea.com) and Noble Caledonia (noble-caledonia.co.uk) will be visiting Russia’s isolated Kamchatka Peninsula this year, the former on an 18-day cruise round-trip from Otaru in Japan departing on June 14, from £9,710 cruise-only, the latter on an 18-night cruise from Tokyo to Petropavlovsk departing on May 17, from £8,195. 

Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd is venturing to the even-more remote Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea in the Siberian Arctic. The 18-day cruise, with anticipated sightings of polar bears and whales, departs from Nome in Alaska on July 28 and costs from £7,340, cruise only.