M.V. Yorktown’s 4th July Lake Michigan Cruise From Chicago to Mackinac Island

The Yorktown, shown here at Saugatuck, cruises the Great Lakes by summer

Travel Dynamics International of New York have announced a special celebratory 5-night 4th of July cruise, to depart from Chicago in its 2,354-ton 130-berth Great Lakes cruise ship Yorktown, on which The Cruise People Ltd have an allocation of cabins.

Calls will be made at three Michigan ports – Saugatuck, Charlevoix and Mackinac Island, with fares beginning at $995 per person in double occupancy. This 5-night cruise will include welcome and farewell receptions on board the Yorktown, a complete programme of tours and excursions, on-board lectures and complimentary wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

Departing Chicago on Wednesday, July 3, the Yorktown will visit Saugatuck for the traditional 4th July fireworks. Friday, July 5, will see your ship visiting Charlevoix and Saturday, July 5, the famed Mackinac Island, where no cars are allowed and transport is by horse-drawn carriage and bicycle. Sunday will be spent cruising Lake Michigan and the ship will arrive back in Chicago for Monday morning, with disembarkation taking place after breakfast.

Enjoy Saturday in automobile-free Mackinac Island before spending Sunday cruising back to Chicago

Cabin Code	Cabin Description	Cruise Fares
E	Outside cabins on Main Deck with portholes	$995 (sold out)
D	Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows	$1,195 (sold out)
C	Outside cabins on Promenade Deck with windows	$1,295
B	Outside cabins on Main Deck with windows	$1,495
A	Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows	$1,695
AA	Outside cabins on Promenade or Lounge Deck with windows	$1,995
S	Superior outside cabins on Sun Deck with balcony	$2,395

Click here for further details or call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or Freephone 0800 526 313, or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

In the US or Canada please call The Cruise People Ltd in Toronto toll free on 1-800-961-5536 or e-mail cruise@thecruisepeople.ca.

Two Great Videos: Cruising The Fabulous Great Lakes On Board The m.v. Yorktown

This summer, do something totally different. Here are two great videos for you on Travel Dynamics International and their Great Lakes cruises in their 130-guest m.v. Yorktown. Some space left (see below).

The first covers the passage through the St Lawrence Seaway and some of the sites to be seen:

The second gives you more detail on the nature of  cruising with Travel Dynamics International: On a destination-oriented cruise with Travel Dynamics International your fare includes welcome and farewell receptions on board the Yorktown, a complete programme of tours and excursions, on-board lectures and complimentary wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

There is still space remaining on the following 7-night sailings (click for the links):

Chicago – Toronto , July 8-15, 2013              Chicago to Toronto via the Lakes

Chicago -  Toronto, July 22-29, 2013                Chicago to Toronto via the Lakes

Toronto – Chicago,  August 18-25, 2013       Toronto to Chicago via the Lakes

For bookings please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or Freephone 0800 526 313, or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

In North America please call The Cruise People Ltd in Toronto toll free on 1-800-961-5536 or e-mail cruise@thecruisepeople.ca.

Travel Dynamics International Revives The Traditional Cruise From Chicago to Mackinac

New York-based Travel Dynamics International will revive an old tradition this July the 4th when it sends its 130-berth 2,354-ton Yorktown on a 5-night cruise from Chicago to Mackinac Island.

Cruises from Chicago to Mackinac Island, 1913 brochure

A favourite of summer cruisers from Chicago in the past, Mackinac Island, at the junction of Lakes Michigan and Huron, is famed for being an island where no cars are allowed and transport is by horse-drawn carriage and bicycle.

Calls will also be made at the Michigan ports of Saugatuck, for its art galleries, and Charlevoix, for its sand dunes, with fares starting at $995 per person in double occupancy. Fare includes welcome and farewell receptions, a complete program of tours and excursions, ship lectures and complimentary wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

Travel Dynamics’ m.v.  Yorktown in Charlevoix, Michigan

Departing Chicago on Wednesday, July 3, the Yorktown will be in Saugatuck for the traditional 4th July fireworks celebration. Friday, July 5, will see her visit the rolling hills of charming Charlevoix and on Saturday, July 5, the day will be spent at Mackinac Island. Sunday will be dedicated to a daytime cruise of Lake Michigan, for arrival back in Chicago in time for disembarkation after breakfast on Monday.

Cabin Code	Cabin Description	Cruise Fare
E	Outside cabins on Main Deck with portholes	$995 (sold out)
D	Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows	$1,195 (sold out)
C	Outside cabins on Promenade Deck with windows	$1,295
B	Outside cabins on Main Deck with windows	$1,495
A	Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows	$1,695
AA	Outside cabins on Promenade or Lounge Deck with windows	$1,995
S	Superior outside cabins on Sun Deck with balcony	$2,395

For further details please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or Freephone 0800 526 313, or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk. In the US or Canada please call The Cruise People Ltd in Toronto toll free on 1-800-961-5536 or e-mail cruise@thecruisepeople.ca.

Special 5-night 4th of July Great Lakes Cruise in Travel Dynamics International’s m.v. Yorktown: Chicago To Mackinac Island

The Yorktown, shown here at Saugatuck, cruises the Great Lakes by summer

Travel Dynamics International of New York have just announced a special celebratory 5-night 4th of July cruise, to depart from Chicago in its 2,354-ton 130-berth Great Lakes cruise ship Yorktown, on which The Cruise People Ltd have taken an allocation of cabins.

Calls will be made at three Michigan ports – Saugatuck, Charlevoix and Mackinac Island, with fares beginning at $995 per person in double occupancy. This 5-night cruise will include welcome and farewell receptions on board the Yorktown, a complete programme of tours and excursions, on-board lectures and complimentary wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

Departing Chicago on Wednesday, July 3, the Yorktown will visit Saugatuck for the traditional 4th July fireworks. Friday, July 5, will see your ship visiting Charlevoix and Saturday, July 5, the famed Mackinac Island, where no cars are allowed and transport is by horse-drawn carriage and bicycle. Sunday will be spent cruising Lake Michigan and the ship will arrive back in Chicago for Monday morning, with disembarkation taking place after breakfast.

Enjoy Saturday in automobile-free Mackinac Island before spending Sunday cruising back to Chicago

Cabin Code	Cabin Description	Cruise Fares
E	Outside cabins on Main Deck with portholes	$995 (sold out)
D	Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows	$1,195 (sold out)
C	Outside cabins on Promenade Deck with windows	$1,295
B	Outside cabins on Main Deck with windows	$1,495
A	Outside cabins on Lounge Deck with windows	$1,695
AA	Outside cabins on Promenade or Lounge Deck with windows	$1,995
S	Superior outside cabins on Sun Deck with balcony	$2,395

For further details please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or Freephone 0800 526 313, or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk. In the US or Canada call The Cruise People Ltd in Toronto toll free on 1-800-961-5536 or e-mail cruise@thecruisepeople.ca.

Great Lakes Cruise Ship To Sail Florida Next Spring – 101 Years After First Florida Cruises

The original Evangeline, built on the Clyde in 1912, offered the first cruises from Florida in 1913

One hundred years ago, on January 7, 1913, not long after the completion of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway from Miami across the Florida keys to Key West, the 3,786-ton Evangeline sailed from Key West on her inaugural cruise from Florida. She is shown here in a portrait by prolific Danish-American maritime artist Antonio Jacobsen (1850-1921). The first Evangeline operated a season of eight 11-night cruises, the first such program to be operated from a Florida port. Priced from $110 per person, they were sold as “Winter Outings on Summer Seas“: -

The s.s. Evangeline will leave Key West direct for Colon, Panama, remain at that port two days, and sail direct to Kingston, Jamaica, remain at that port for two days, thence sail for Key West, Fla, via Havana, Cuba. Persons desiring to stop in Havana may do so at will, and return to Key West on any of the P&O ships with no extra charge.

These first Florida cruises were offered between January and April 1913 by the Jacksonville-based Peninsular & Occidental Steamship Company. They were followed by seven similar 14-night cruises in the winter of 1914 from Jacksonville, closer to the main population centres, with fares from $125.

The US-flag Yorktown will offer three “Voyages Round Florida” in Spring 2014

Now what could one think of today to reach something close to this original era of cruising in small ships? One needn’t look far. Travel Dynamics International’s 2,354-ton Yorktown, built in Florida in 1988, will offer a series of three 10-night “Voyage Around Florida” cruises, exploring historic Florida towns, in March and April 2014. She will sail between Savannah GA and Tampa, from where a young Winston Churchill sailed to Havana, and gained his fondness for Cuban cigars, in November 1895.

Two Yorktown cruises will start at Tampa and one at Savannah, operating in the opposite direction. After leaving Tampa, the ship will call at Sarasota,  Sanibel Island, Key West, Key Largo, Miami, Palm Beach, Port Canaveral, St Augustine, St Mary’s GA (for Cumberland Island) and Savannah.  Fares begin at $5,935 (about £3,995) including port taxes. Tampa departures are scheduled for March 15 and April 4 and the Savannah departure for March 25.

For further details please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail us at cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

Plantours Cruises Offers 16-night Great Lakes Cruise From Montreal in September 2014

Plantours Cruises of Bremen have announced a new season of cruises to be operated from Montreal in the autumn of 2014  that will include a 16-night cruise into the Great Lakes from Montreal. This cruise will be in addition to the 2014 season of Great Lakes cruises offered by Travel Dynamics’ Yorktown.

Its 400-guest ms Hamburg will offer an 18-night crossing from Hamburg to Montreal, to depart Hamburg September 8, 2014. This will be followed by two 16-night round-trip cruises from Montreal and a positioning cruise from Montreal to Nassau. The Hamburg is no stranger to the region, having previously operated Great Lakes cruises between 1997 and 2011 as Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Columbus.

 The first cruise, scheduled for September 26, will tour the Great Lakes as far as Lake Superior and the second, scheduled for October 12, will cruise Canada and New England as far as New York. These cruises will be followed by a 14-night voyage from Montreal to Nassau via St Lawrence and East Coast ports, departing Montreal October 28. Ports of call are laid out below for each cruise:

 
September 8-26, 2014: 18-night crossing from Hamburg to Montreal via Torshavn, Reykjavik, five ports/destinations in Greenland, L’Anse aux Meadows, Saguenay, and Quebec.

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September 26-October 12, 2014: 16-night Great Lakes cruise from Montreal to Toronto, Windsor, Duluth, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Mackinac Island, Little Current, Kingston and return to Montreal.

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October 12-28, 2014: 16-night Canada/New England cruise from Montreal to Gaspé, Sydney, Boston, Cape Cod Canal, New York, Martha’s Vineyard, Halifax, Cape Eternity, Quebec and back to Montreal.

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October 28-November 11: 14-night cruise from Montreal to Nassau via Quebec, Halifax, Boston, New York, Charleston and Savannah.

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Fares will be announced shortly but anyone wanting further details should call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk..

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Great Lakes & St Lawrence Cruising Calendar for Travel Dynamics’ m.v. Yorktown in 2013

Cruisers on board the mv Yorktown enjoy the approach to Saugatuck, Michigan

June 10–22, 2013 (12 nights)	Gloucester Mass to Montreal
June 22–July 3, 2013 (11 nights)	Montreal to Chicago via the Seaway
July 8-15, 2013 (7 nights)	Chicago to Toronto via the Lakes
July 15-22, 2013 (7 nights)	Toronto to Chicago via the Lakes
July 22-29, 2013 (7 nights)	Chicago to Toronto via the Lakes
July 29-August 8, 2013 (10 nights)…….	Toronto to Duluth via the Lakes
August 8-18, 2013 (10 nights)	Duluth to Toronto via the Lakes
August 18-25, 2013 (7 nights)	Toronto to Chicago via the Lakes
August 26-Sept 6, 2013 (11 nights)	Chicago to Montreal via the Seaway
Sept 6-18, 2013 (12 nights)	Montreal to Gloucester Mass
Sept 18-30, 2013 (12 nights)	Gloucester Mass to Montreal
Sept 30-Oct 12, 2013 (12 nights)	Montreal to Gloucester Mass
Winter Cruises in Central America	Link to Belize and Guatemala cruises

Travel Dynamics International has been offering small ship cruises since 1969, first in New England and the St Lawrence and later also in Antarctica. The company first offered cruises in the Great Lakes on chartered vessels, then in 2009 and 2010 ran its own 100-berth Clelia II, which it replaced in 2012 with the 138-berth Yorktown, a proven ship that can carry about a third more passengers.

Fares for the 2013 Great Lakes cruises are in US Dollars, as outlined in the links above. All cabins are outside. There are four S Superiors with private balcony; four AA’s with convertible twin/double beds; fourteen A’s and nine B’s with twin beds on corridors; twenty-six C’s and six D’s with twin beds with access to the outside passageways; and six E’s with twin beds, portholes and access to a corridor. All cabins are en suite. All except Category E have picture windows.

Cruise Fares Include:

• Cruise aboard the 138-guest Yorktown
• Complete program of tours and excursions
• Welcome and farewell cocktail receptions aboard ship
• All meals aboard ship
• Wine with lunch and dinner aboard ship
• Educational program of lectures and discussions by accompanying study leaders
• Professional Travel Dynamics International tour staff
• Complete pre-departure materials
• Gratuities to guides and drivers

Cruise Fares Do Not Include

Port and embarkation taxes (as listed with fares); Airfare; visa and passport fees (if applicable); transfers; luggage and trip cancellation insurance; meals, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages other than those specified above; personal expenses such as laundry, telephone calls, faxes, and e-mail service; and gratuities to shipboard personnel.

Deck Plan and Cabin Layouts

For a full deck plan and cabin layouts please click here.

Full details of these m.v. Yorktown cruises are available from The Cruise People Ltd in London, England. Please call  +44 (0)20 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk for further information.

UK and European Travel Agents welcome to enquire.