Fancy swapping the Cavern Club for a cruise ship? Cruise agent cruise.co.uk has chartered the 670-guest Oceania Nautica for a run of summer 2027 sailings, and the first announced line-up reads like a trip through pop history. The Bootleg Beatles, one of the longest-running Beatles tribute acts around, will perform on a three-night "Iberian Homecoming" voyage that leaves Lisbon on 17 July 2027 and sails into Southampton.
The show is structured as a career retrospective rather than a greatest-hits medley. Expect the early Beatlemania era first — "She Loves You", "A Hard Day's Night" — before the set shifts into the band's later studio years with songs like "Let It Be". Fares start from £699 per person, which for a no-fly UK return is a pretty painless way to catch a full stage production.
The second charter in the programme caters to a very different crowd. The eight-night "No Fly Vineyards, Canvases and Chateaux" sailing departs Southampton on 8 August 2027 and calls at Saint-Malo, Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Bilbao, Gijón and Cherbourg. David Hurrion, former deputy editor of BBC Gardeners' World Magazine and a Chelsea Flower Show judge, will be on board hosting talks and leading an excursion to the Jardines de la Fonte Baxa in Gijón — a cliffside botanical garden known for its camellias, hydrangeas and mature trees. That itinerary starts from £1,999 per person.
Both cruises are adults-only and come with perks that usually inflate a cruise bill: a house drinks package covering complimentary champagne, wine and beer at lunch, dinner and during selected bar hours, plus Wi-Fi and gratuities included in the fare. Cruise.co.uk says chartering the ship outright lets it build these themed extras on top of Oceania's standard luxury product — a notable bit of packaging for a ship usually sold as a conventional premium liner.
Who's it for? Music fans who fancy a short, low-hassle summer break with a big-name tribute show thrown in, or gardeners who'd rather their holiday came with expert-led garden visits in France and northern Spain. Both sailings are no-fly from the UK, which keeps costs down and skips the airport entirely. If either appeals, booking early makes sense — chartered themed cruises like these tend to sell to a niche audience that books well in advance.
