Italy
A house on the coast or in the hills, and a long table.
Land & sea
The ship is half the holiday.
A luxury cruise with the nights before and after planned as carefully as the voyage: the right hotel in the embarkation city, private days ashore, every transfer handled.
Free initial consultation · Personally planned · No obligation
Most people book the cruise and then think about the flight. We plan it the other way round: the whole trip, from your front door to the ship and back, with the days on land given the same care as the suite at sea.
That might be two nights in Venice before a Croatian voyage, a week in Japan before boarding in Tokyo, or a lodge in Alaska after the ship. It is how we introduce nervous first-timers to cruising, and how we make a week at sea into a fortnight's holiday for a family who have flown a long way.
Cruise-curious?
Tell us the kind of holidays you already love. We'll show you how a few days at sea fits into them, and which ship would not feel like a cruise.
Ask a Cruise SpecialistWhy pair land and sea
Four reasons we rarely book a cruise on its own.
Arrive rested, not from the airport
A night or two before embarkation means nobody boards jet-lagged, and a delayed flight never becomes a missed ship.
See the city the ship only touches
Cruise ports are often great cities: Venice, Lisbon, Vancouver, Tokyo. A ship gives you an afternoon. We give you the long weekend.
One plan, one person
Flights, hotel, transfers, private days ashore and the cruise itself in a single itinerary, with one specialist to call before and during the trip.
Built for the whole party
Connecting rooms on land to match the connecting suites at sea, a grandparent-friendly pace, and days that work for the ten-year-old as well as the seventy-year-old.
Cruise & stay
Mediterranean, with Italy and France
The easiest great cruise there is: short flights, famous ports, and a ship for every kind of family.
France
Alpine chalets in winter, a Provençal house in summer.
Courchevel chalet
The Three Valleys from the front door.
Amalfi clifftop villa
A terrace over the sea and a boat below.
French Alps family ski week
Ski school, a nanny, and the Three Valleys from the door.
Cruise & stay
Greek Islands, with Greece
Small ships, island overnights, and a late season that runs into October.
Greece
Island houses, a boat for the day, and dinners by the water.
Cruise & stay
Adriatic & Croatia, with Greece and Italy
Venice, Dubrovnik and Kotor in a week, on ships small enough for the old harbours.
Greece
Island houses, a boat for the day, and dinners by the water.
Italy
A house on the coast or in the hills, and a long table.
Amalfi clifftop villa
A terrace over the sea and a boat below.
Amalfi villa week
A terrace over the sea, a boat for the day, and a chef when you want one.
Cruise & stay
Iceland & the Arctic, with Iceland
Expedition comfort around Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard, without giving up the butler.
Iceland
Glaciers, black sand, and a lodge with the weather outside.
South coast lodge
Hot pools, big windows, and the glacier across the plain.
Iceland family expedition
Glaciers, black beaches, and hot pools, with a guide who makes the weather part of it.
Cruise & stay
Antarctica, with Argentina
The trip of a lifetime, planned a year ahead and done in real comfort.
Argentina
Patagonia's wind and a vineyard to recover in.
Cruise & stay
Japan, with Japan
Kyoto, Hiroshima and the Inland Sea without the trains, hotels and luggage.
Japan
Ryokan nights and slower cities, planned around the trains.
Kyoto machiya
A restored townhouse with a courtyard garden.
Hakone ryokan
A private onsen bath and a kaiseki dinner.
Japan: slow cities and a ryokan
Tokyo, a ryokan in the hills, and Kyoto with mornings left open.
Cruise & stay
European Rivers, with France and Switzerland
Rhine, Danube and Douro: a new town every morning, no sea days, everyone back for dinner.
France
Alpine chalets in winter, a Provençal house in summer.
Switzerland
Chalet weeks with doorstep skiing and quiet evenings.
Verbier chalet
Doorstep skiing, a chef, and a boot room that is warm.
Courchevel chalet
The Three Valleys from the front door.
Swiss chalet week
A catered chalet, a private instructor, and evenings already handled.
Not sure which ship is right for you?
Luxury doesn't mean every ship suits every traveller. We'll tell you if we think a cruise isn't a good fit, even if that means recommending something else.
How it works
What happens after you enquire
No obligation. No pressure. Just a conversation about what would work for your party.
Tell us what you're thinking
Two to five minutes online, or a call. Who's travelling, roughly when, and what matters most.
We call you
A cruise specialist talks it through: the party, the occasion, the budget, and anything that worries you.
We shortlist the right ships
Not forty options. Two or three we'd actually recommend, with the reasons, and the ones we'd avoid for you.
We build the trip
Cruise, suites, flights, hotels before and after, transfers, excursions, dining and any celebration on board.
You approve it
Nothing is booked until you're happy with the plan and the price.
We handle the rest
Documents, confirmations, requests to the ship, and one person to call before and during the voyage.
Good to know
Land and sea: questions we're asked
What is a land and sea cruise holiday?
A luxury cruise with proper time on land built around it: a few nights in the embarkation city before you sail, a hotel or a short tailor-made itinerary after you disembark, and every transfer in between arranged as one plan.
How many nights should we add before a cruise?
At least one, ideally two or three. It absorbs a flight delay, lets everyone recover from the journey and turns the embarkation city into part of the holiday rather than a dash from the airport to the pier.
Can the land part be tailor-made for a family group?
Yes. We plan the hotel, rooms, private guides and days on land around the same party we are putting on the ship, so the whole trip is one itinerary with one person to call.
Is land and sea good for someone who has never cruised?
It is usually how we introduce people to cruising: a week at sea bracketed by the kind of hotel holiday they already know. If the ship wins them over, the next trip can be longer at sea.
Tell us where you're thinking of going. We'll plan the whole trip.
Don't spend thirty hours comparing forty ships, cabins, dates, flights and hotels. Give us five minutes and we'll narrow it down to what is worth considering.