Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has announced that, in 2017/18, its fleet of four ships – Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch – will be visiting 220 destinations in 70 countries, plus 118 areas of scenic cruising.

The new 2017/18 itineraries will go on general sale from March 18 2016.

The cruise line will be sailing from ten regional UK departure ports in 2017/18 – Southampton, Dover, Harwich, Tilbury, Falmouth, Liverpool, Newcastle, Rosyth (for Edinburgh), Greenock (for Glasgow) and Belfast.

Nathan Philpot, sales and marketing director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “At Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, we have a very clear vision for our 2017/18 cruise season: ‘It’s all about the experience!’ We are renowned for giving our guests a very different kind of cruise holiday, tailoring our itineraries to celebrate great events and festivals, providing authentic shore tours and creating memories that ‘last a lifetime’.

“For 2017/18, we have worked even harder than ever to create over 100 unique and innovative sailings, which will enable our guests to see the world in a very different, and very special, way.”

Fred. Olsen’s new 2017/18 cruise programme will include nine maiden calls, as follows:

Lipari, Italy; Heligoland, Germany; Amalfi, Italy; Lajes das Flores, Azores; Southwold, England; Ghent, Belgium; Olbia, on the island of Sardinia, Italy; Sorrento, Italy; and Pula, Croatia.

The cruise line will be reconfirming its commitment to the port of Newcastle, offering  13 departures, between May and September 2017, aboard its 1,350-guest flagship Balmoral. Departures include a five-night ‘Norwegian Fjords’ cruise, an 11-night ‘Swedish Waterways’ holiday and a 15-night ‘Authentic Andalusia’ adventure, taking in seven ports of call in Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar.

Boudicca will be setting sail on 10 adventures from the Port of Liverpool in 2017/18, including a 26-night ‘Azores & the America’s Cup’ cruise, which has been specially crafted for guests to be able to enjoy the action of the 35th America’s Cup in Hamilton, Bermuda; an eight-night ‘Lochs of Scotland’ cruise; and a 16-night ‘Glitz & Glamour of the French Riviera’ holiday, with calls into eight locations, including Barcelona, Monaco and Cannes.

It will also have 12 departures from Scotland: three from Greenock (Glasgow) and nine from Rosyth (Edinburgh). Cruise holidays on offer to Scottish guests include a 10-night ‘French Rivers’ experience, departing from Rosyth on October 4 2017, and a 10-night ‘Iceland’ adventure from Greenock, setting sail on May 16 2017.

The company’s Black Watch and Balmoral will be embarking on two ‘Grand Voyages’ in January 2018, visiting 46 ports in 35 countries between them.

Black Watch will be setting sail on a 108-night ‘Wonders of the World’ cruise, whereby guests will experience five of the seven ‘New Wonders of the World’ – Chichén Itzá, the Colosseum, the ‘Lost City’ of Petra, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal – plus the only surviving ‘Ancient Wonder’, the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Balmoral will be cruising to South America on a 46-night ‘Rio Carnival and River Plate’ adventure. Highlights include four days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the famous Rio Carnival, plus calls to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a full day in Montevideo, Uruguay.

It will be offering more river, fjords and scenic cruising, taking guests along narrow sea passages and waterways.

Fred. Olsen will be visiting 118 scenic sea passages and waterways in 2017/18, totalling almost 1,000 hours of scenic cruising.

Highlights of the new 2017/18 cruise programme are as follows:

– For the first time, Fred. Olsen is offering guests the chance to experience a ‘location vacation’, visiting film settings featured in top blockbusters and hit TV series, including James Bond’s Skyfall, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Braveheart, Game of Thrones, Broadchurch and Poldark. It will offer two new ‘UK Set-jetting’ cruises in 2017/18: the first ‘UK Scenes from the Silver Screen’ is a 10-night cruise aboard Braemar, and the second is an eight-night adventure aboard Balmoral.

– Following its popularity in 2016, the company will now be offering its ‘Lochs of Scotland’ itinerary across all four of its ships. This ‘Fred. favourite’ showcases Scotland’s countryside, mountainous landscapes and vastl lochs.

– It will continue to build on its reputation as the ‘Fjords Specialist’, with a nine-night ‘Greatest Fjords of Norway’ cruise, showcasing the Seven Sisters Waterfall and Pulpit Rock, backdrops of Nærøyfjord and Hardangerfjord; and a 27-night ‘Exploring the Fjords of the Arctic’, taking in the destinations of Norway, Spitsbergen, Iceland, Greenland, and the secluded Faroe Islands.

– Go in search of Seals, Orcas, Basking Sharks, Golden Eagles, Dolphins, Minke Whales, Puffins and Shetland Ponies on an eight-night ‘Wildlife of England & Scotland’ adventure from Liverpool, which includes a maiden call to Southwold, in East Anglia, close to Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Ipswich Head Office. Here, guests can enjoy the pretty coastal Suffolk town, famous for its pastel-coloured beach huts and Pier; or take a shore tour to the Minsmere RSPB Reserve, which has been featured extensively at a backdrop for the BBC’s bird-watching series, Springwatch.

– Back after huge demand in 2016 is Fred. Olsen’s five-night ‘Norwegian Fjords’ cruise. Fred. Olsen will be offering two of these in 2017/18, departing on either May 25 2017 or August 23 2017: importantly, they will only require three days’ leave from work, as both sailings incorporate a Bank Holiday.

– It is offering even more rivers and waterways cruises on shallow-drafted Braemar, including two seven-night ‘Waterways of Belgium & Holland’ holidays, with a maiden call to Ghent, in Belgium.

– Discover ‘Authentic Croatia & Venice’ on an in-depth 25-night sailing of the Dalmatian coast, taking in 12 destinations, including maiden calls in historic Pula, Croatia, and Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands, in Italy, plus an overnight stay in Venice. Guests can also experience a full day in the stunning island of Hvar, cruising past Dubrovnik’s Old Town harbour.

– Set sail on a 40-night ‘Caribbean Discovery’ from Southampton aboard Balmoral, visiting 15 sun-soaked destinations.

– Undertake a circumnavigation of Great Britain, featuring many destinations harbouring intriguing links to Royalty, on Braemar’s 10-night ‘The Braemar Highland Games’ sailing. Stroll along the ‘Royal Mile’ in Edinburgh; head to Glamis Castle and the Royal Castle of Mey – both former residences of The Queen Mother; and see the annual Braemar Highland Games, attended each year by The Queen and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

– Enjoy the warm weather along the UNESCO-listed Amalfi Coast, on Boudicca’s 16-night sailing from Falmouth, boasting calls into Rome, Sorrento and Amalfi, plus Palermo, in Sicily, and a maiden call to Olbia, in Sardinia.

Visit fredolsencruises.com or call 0800 0355 242.