DISCOUNTS

Travelers looking to find low rates can compare prices at www.cruisecompete.com. The Web site works with more than 100 North American cruise aggregators – travel agencies that buy up blocks of cabins at bulk prices – to provide cruise discounts. Through the site’s search tool, customers can request competing quotes for the cruises that interest them from all the different member travel agencies.

SPAS

On-board pampering continues to expand in the cruise industry, particularly with high-end providers. These competitors continually look to distinguish themselves with shipboard indulgences. Increasingly geared toward nontraditional segments such as men, and now, teenagers, spas range from the QM2’s Canyon Ranch SpaClub to Princess Cruise Line’s Lotus Spa.

In the spirit of rest and relaxation, more lines now offer complimentary luggage shipping to eliminate airport and other transportation hassles, too.

MUSEUMGOING

Art lovers may want to check out a two-week riverboat cruise to the annual European Fine Art Fair in the Netherlands in March. Michel Witmer, recently appointed trustee of the European Fine Art Foundation, will be on board the ship and will serve as an art historian and guide. In addition to visiting the fair, the cruise will include visits to private galleries and collections from the castles of Antwerp to the museums of Amsterdam. Stops will include the medieval Castle of Steen, the Rubens house and workshop, the Kroller-Muller Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Vincent Van Gogh Museum.

For more information about the cruise, call Events Around the World, Inc., at 212-462-4970.

ITALIAN GARDEN TOUR

If your idea of a perfect garden involves Italianate columns, stone putti, and Byzantine mosaics, hop aboard Swan Hellenic’s two-week cruise “Dante’s Footsteps,” which takes the Roman and Phoenician trading route from Venice to Genoa, stopping in Padua, Portofino, Bologna, Elba, Livorno, Ravenna, and Naples. One of the garden tours is of Lady Walton’s famous “La Mortola” on Ischia. It will be led by garden historian and expert Sir Roy Strong. He will also conduct onboard lectures on the Italian garden, the Grand Tour, and the impact of Pompeii. The cruise sets off from Venice on April 30 and ends in Genoa on May 14. Rates start at $5,983 a person. Save up to 35% by booking prior to February 28.

For more information, call Swan 877-800-SWAN or visit www.swanhellenic.com.

SINGLES

Singles can cruise the Danube River for seven days aboard the Viking Pride with Singles Travel International, from June 19 to 26. Chef Robert Burcenski and cellar master Tom Alves of Chicago’s Tallgrass Restaurant will co-host the culinary exploration from Nuremberg to Budapest.

Travelers who arrive early, on June 16, can spend three days exploring Prague. “Golden” Prague escaped damage in World War II, so the city’s many squares, spires, and architectural styles remain as they have been for thousands of years. (This optional three-night trip to Prague is available for $633 a person).

If you don’t have a traveling companion, don’t worry – Singles Travel International takes the risk out of having to pay a single supplement by offering a roommate guarantee program. Rates for the cruise start at $1,815 plus airfare.

For more information, call 877-765-5989, or visit www.singlestravelintl.com.