Joanna Lumley has unveiled four brand new 950-cabin cruise ships in Amsterdam on behalf of operator Viking River Cruises, emphasising the swift growth of this area of the travel industry.

The large cruise operating company asked actress Lumley to be godmother of the ship Odin and broke a record by simultaneously christening of four vessels – Odin, Idun, Freya and Njord.

The unveiling marks £250 million of investment in Viking River Cruise’s fleet across three years.

To make the most of these new 190 passenger-carrying 443ft ships, built from a patent-pending design by maritime architects Yran & Storbraaten, holidaymakers will no doubt be looking to book London airport transfers to Amsterdam as soon as possible.

The vessels include two Explorer Suites, which include a living room, bedroom and private wraparound veranda. They are the biggest (445 sq ft) river cruise suites in Europe.

Space was found for seven two-room suites with a veranda and 29 cabins with balconies by repositioning corridors from the middle of the ship.

Other impressive parts of the ships include all-weather terraces with retractable floor-to-ceiling glass doors for outdoor eating, solar panels for the hybrid engines and an a herb garden for the chefs.

River cruises are often a little more expensive than large ocean superliners because of their smaller size and attract a different clientele.

A Commons committee has criticised policymakers for not taking into account customer evidence when making changes to the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Atol) system.

The reforms to the scheme, which provides cover for travellers from tour companies that go bust, has been launched by the Government and have come into force as of April 30.

It means that holidaymakers who book flights from tour operators that go from UK hubs such as Heathrow or Stansted airport will receive a policy certificate confirming the cover they have been given. Flight Plus bookings are now also covered in the policy.

But a report by MPs in the House of Commons Transport Committee said the amendments “are not widely supported”.

It added: “The Government has not clearly based its reforms to the Atol scheme on evidence from consumers.”

MPs have deemed it “unfair” that holidaymakers who purchase a budget package have to pay the same charge of £2.50 for Atol cover as those who buy luxury holidays.

They advised that the charge should be on a sliding scale according to how much the package is worth.

In addition, the report found that the protection provides cover to less than half of holidays bought with tour companies, and this figure is in fast decline, according to the MPs. It has previously given cover to the majority of holiday packages.

The committee said the Atol system is “in a mess” and requires more changes.

Copyright Press Association 2012

“Overpacking” by wives and girlfriends is causing many men to give up part of their aircraft luggage allowance when going away on holiday, according to a survey.

The baggage limited for passengers is usually capped at 20kg (44lb) per person, but some men are having to sacrifice up to 5kg (11lb) of this to cater for items that their other halves could not fit into their own luggage.

Just over half – 52% – of men revealed that at some point they had given up some space to their partner, while 22% of women admitted to not checking packing restrictions before leaving for the airport.

The survey was carried out by Stansted Airport on a total of 2,000 people and found that a quarter of travellers spend three hours packing their bags. Despite this, 37% of women still owned up to reorganising their suitcases at the check-in desk, while 48% conceded they take much more than they need on holiday.

Stansted terminal manager Mandy Mather said: “The days of saying ‘don’t forget your toothbrush’ are long gone.

“Now the question should be: what can we leave at home? Unfortunately it seems a lot of passengers want to have their cake – and pack it.”

The most common items to get left behind were found to be suncream or sunglasses, with 15% of holidaymakers admitting to have forgotten these on occasion. A tenth of people forgot their phone chargers, while 13% made the costly mistake of leaving the house without their passports or boarding passes.

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An environmentally friendly Boeing jet has been given the once over by representatives from airlines that have placed an order for their own models.

The “green” 787 Dreamliner has been shown off at Heathrow Airport, with Thomson Airways, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic sending reps in to check out the plane before they add them to the fleets.

The new craft will be added by the airlines over the coming months, meaning that holidaymakers can worry less about the environmental impact of their flights. However, there are still many things to arrange before jetting off, and sorting out airport transfers in advance is one less thing to fret over.

The Heathrow visit was the first UK stop on a global tour for the new Boeing plane, which began carrying passengers late last year. It will also make appearances at Gatwick and Manchester.

Both Thomson and British Airways take delivery of the new planes next year, meaning holidaymakers flying via the airlines can look forward to a green journey.

Chris Browne, managing director of Thomson Airways, said: “As the UK’s third largest airline, it is a major coup for Thomson Airways to be the first UK airline to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

“We will be flying the aircraft in our summer 2013 programme from four UK airports – giving holidaymakers from across the country the chance to travel on this amazing new aircraft.”

Flyers wanting the best shopping experience possible would be wise to book their flights from Heathrow as it has been named the world’s Best Airport for Shopping for the third time.

The airport landed the accolade at the 2012 World Airport Awards held on April 19 at Vienna’s Passenger Terminal Expo, reaffirming its position after other recent successes.

Shoppers should take an airport transfer to Terminal Five as passengers voted it the world’s Best Airport Terminal in the Skytrax 2011/12 World Airport Survey.

Heathrow boasts more than 52,000sq m of retail area and more than 340 outlets, including big names like Paul Smith, Mulberry, Harrods, Kurt Geiger, Ralph Lauren, Jack Wills and Ted Baker.

“2011 saw openings by Miu Miu and Spanish chain Zara, which opened its first ever UK airport store in Terminal Three,” a Heathrow statement reads.

The sales figures are impressive too. Retailers in the airport have seen an average 8.8% growth in their turnover thanks to the added spending of passengers from emerging markets.

Heathrow enjoys the largest retail sales of any airport on the planet, which it says totalled £1.7bn or $2.6bn last year. It is estimated that on average each passenger passing through Heathrow Airport spent £4.35 ($7) in its shops, a rise of just over 5% that year.

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The number of passengers travelling through Gatwick Airport has increased for the 15th consecutive month.

The figures for March show an increase of 3.9%, or 93,400, and are very encouraging, especially given that overall air traffic movements were down 3.5% year-on-year mainly as a result of reductions in charter operations.

Gatwick also posted positive results for the year between March 2011 and March 2012, with 6.9% passenger growth to 33.8 million, and chief executive Stewart Wingate is delighted with the airport’s progress.

“This has been a successful year for Gatwick, having achieved passenger growth every single month despite the economic headwinds being faced in our industry,” he said.

“We have been competing vigorously with other London airports including Heathrow, Stansted and Luton and we have been winning new routes to the UK’s key trading partners, providing direct connections between London and high growth economies.

“In this last year, Gatwick has attracted new routes to South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and the Caribbean.”

Gatwick was able to offset the fall in long-haul capacity by charter airlines with an increase in short-haul services by budget carriers and the introduction of new carriers from Asia.

Korean Air will begin flying to Seoul towards the end of April and Air China is starting a service to Beijing in May. Hong Kong Airlines also launched a daily service to Hong Kong in March and low cost Italian airline Air One now flies between Gatwick and Milan twice a day.

May is looking to be a great month for booking cheap last-minute holiday deals, agents and operators have confirmed.

Prices for short-haul breaks in May are dropping in the six week run-up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and booking now should secure the best bargain.

Although you do run the risk of the holiday selling out, it’s been shown that the ‘grab-and-go’ method will probably work out as the cheapest option. And flights are available from most major UK airports, such as Heathrow and Luton.

Mark Atwell, managing director at Dealchecker, said: “In this market, booking at short notice will usually secure the best deal.

“To be exact – you’ll get the cheapest price on a package holiday if you can hold off booking until one month before.”

For example, if you’ve booked a seven-night break to Spain in May around five months ago it would cost on average £300, whereas if you book it now, it’s available for £200.

This actually comes as a surprise with many not expecting the bigger companies to drop their prices.

Maria Whiteman, chief executive at Directline Holidays, said: “I didn’t expect short-haul prices to drop in May because most operators – especially Thomas Cook – dramatically slashed capacity in expectation of a tough year.

“In fact, there are some amazing prices in May, some made possible by bedbanks working with local carriers offering cheap flights.”

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European cities breaks are no longer causing financial headaches for Britons due to improved currency rates, recent statistics show.

The strength of the British pound compares more favourably against the euro than it did this time last year. The pound is also stronger against non-euro currencies, including the Hungarian forint, the Turkish lira and the Polish zloty, making Europe a more affordable holiday destination for British tourists.

Your money will go the furthest in the Latvian capital of Riga, which topped Post Office Travel Money’s poll of 23 destinations for best value in terms of travel, accommodation, food, drinks and sightseeing.

A typical city break in Riga costs around £120. This compares with around £300 for the same stay in Stockholm and more than £330 for a trip to New York.

The second-best city with regards to value for money is Budapest, where the British pound is nearly 20% stronger against the forint than 12 months ago.

Other high-ranking European destinations, which can be reached from major UK airports such as Heathrow and Stansted, include Tallin in Estonia, Belfast and Dublin, where cultural sightseeing is exceptionally cheap.

“Our figures show clearly how the prices tourists will pay on a city break are inextricably linked to the value of sterling against individual currencies.

“In Budapest local prices are level with those a year ago but costs for UK tourists have fallen,” said the head of Post Office Travel Money Andrew Brown.

After the sun, sea and sand of a foreign holiday, more than half of British tourists get a nasty shock when they arrive home to a hefty bill of ATM charges.

According to travel agent sunshine 67% of globetrotting Britons visit cashpoints during their trips abroad. Be it to buy souvenirs, some exotic grub or to pay for some exciting day trips, Britons head to cashpoints five times per trip, on average.

But with each transaction costing an average of £2.75, 53% of British holidaymakers say they’ve had “a nasty surprise” when they read their bill.

So on top of the cost of flights, accommodation and food, Britons are having to fork out to withdraw money also.

The travel agent found that, based on the number of visits made abroad by Britons in 2011, holidaymakers fork out fees of around £260 million a year just to access their own cash.

Sunshine co-founder Chris Clarkson said: “There’s nothing worse than getting home from a nice relaxing holiday, which cost a fair amount to go on in the first place, only to be hit by extra charges like credit card withdrawal fees.”

Mr Clarkson advised jetsetters to consider taking out some spending money beforehand, or looking into a pre-paid card.

Some 2,107 Britons participated in the survey.
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New government-approved airport scanners could see the ban on passengers taking liquids on board aeroplanes being lifted.

The Department of Transport has approved the scanners, which should be installed at every British and EU airport by the end of April 2013. Previous technology had been deemed not fit for purpose by a number of EU governments but this latest generation of scanner has already passed rigorous testing. A number of EU airports have acted as test sites as part of trials for the European Commission’s Liquids Working Group.

Proper implementation of the technology will mean that passengers will no longer be banned from carrying 100ml liquid containers on board their flights. However, they will still have to remove bottles from their carry-on luggage for inspection.

Once in use, the scanners mean that passengers will be allowed to bring their own water bottles on board and toiletries will no longer be subject to confiscation by airport security. Security staff at Stansted Airport alone seize enough liquids to fill 20 household waste bins a day and the figure is even greater at busier airports such as London Heathrow and London Gatwick.

Passengers across UK airports have had everything confiscated from jars of marmite to expensive bottles of champagne. A new survey estimates that liquids worth as much as £10 million a day are seized at British airports up and down the country.

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