There’s little doubt that 2012 will be a good year for British cruise lovers, as an increasing number of cruise lines choose to base themselves in the United Kingdom, some of them offering special cruises to tie in with the upcoming Queen’s Jubilee.

Elsewhere new cruise ships will be sailing the European oceans, the Arctic and the Antarctic are experiencing renewed interest after the Frozen Planet series on BBC Television and even Australia is becoming a hot cruise destination.

In 2012 there will hardly be any need to fly out of the UK to join a cruise, with many cruise lines, including Fred Olsen Cruises, shifting cruise liners such as the Braemar from other destinations to the UK.

Fred Olsen will offer no less than 73 cruises departing from the UK during the 2012/13 season. These cruises depart from a variety of regional ports on destinations as far away as Canada, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and Norway. A 15-day Canaries and Azores cruise on board Braemar, leaving Dover on the 14th April and visiting Lisbon before heading for the islands costs from as little as £1,229 per person sharing.

British cruise line Cruise and Maritime Voyages has two ship sailing from six UK ports. American Princess Cruises will have three ships based in Britain during 2012. Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas will, for the third year in a row, be based in Southampton and three of Cunard line’s ships will be in the UK for the Royal Jubilee celebrations.