Crystal Cruises has released its list of itineraries for 2013 and there are significant changes, for example more short cruises. The company will offer a choice of 64 itineraries next year. In the process 226 ports of call in 62 different countries will be visited.

For those of us who prefer to plan a year ahead, the cruise line’s “Book Now” offer provides substantial discounts on reservations made before the 28th February 2012 and the 30th June 2012, depending on the departure date of the cruise.

Crystal Cruises has had overwhelming success with its Northern European cruises in 2012. As a result the company has decided to make some changes to its initial ship deployment plans. Crystal Serenity will now spend the summer of 2013 in the North Cape, the Baltic and British Islands. Crystal Symphony will be in the Mediterranean during that period.

A few other highlights include:

- Sixteen maiden calls, to among others Langkawi, Jakarta, various ports in South America, Skiathos in Greece and La Spezia in Italy.

- A 75-day comprehensive World Cruise focusing on South America.

- A much bigger selection of short cruises lasting less than ten nights.

- Cruises centred on local events, such as Seville’s La Fiera de Abril and the Grand Prix in Monaco.

- Cruises originating and terminating in Bali, Reykjavík, Dublin, Brisbane and Kobe.

- Fifteen famous waterways, including Doubtful, Milford and Dusky Sounds in New Zealand, Svartisen Glacier and North Cape in Norway, the Chilean Fjords, Glacier Bay in Alaska, the Panama Canal, the Saguenay and Amazon Rivers and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.