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(8 Guests, Deluxe) > Main

Magna Carta

Cruising the River Thames in England

Passengers: 8	Your Hosts: Captain Dominic Read
Size: 117 feet long	English Speaking Crew of: 4
Last Visited: 2007	Bicycles: 4
Rating: Deluxe	Air Conditioned: Yes

Cruise Rate Includes: 6 nights/7 days in a cabin with a private bath, chauffeured transfers from London to the barge & return, English Cream Tea the Sunday of your departure, all meals, from dinner the first night to breakfast the last morning, all wines with lunch & dinner, open bar, daily escorted excursions and use of onboard bicycles.

Cruise Rate Does NOT Include: Airfare to and from England, cancellation insurance and crew gratuity (suggested minimum amount is 5% of the cruise price)

2013 Value Season rates

Whole-Boat Charter of 6: $27,000
Whole-Boat Charter of 7: $29,000
Whole-Boat Charter of 8: $31,000
Individuals: $4,190 per person double occupancy
Single Supplement: $1,300

2013 Value Season dates

March 31 - April 6	April 21 - 27	October 13 - 19
April 7 - 13	April 28 - May 4	October 20 - 26
April 14 - 20	October 6 - 12	October 27 - Nov 2

2013 Regular Season rates

Whole-Boat Charter of 6: $31,500
Whole-Boat Charter of 7: $33,800
Whole-Boat Charter of 8: $36,100
Individuals: $4,990 per person double occupancy
Single Supplement: $1,550

2013 Regular Season Dates

May 5 - 11	June 16 - 22	July 28 - Aug 3	September 1 - 7
May 12 - 18	June 23 - 29	August 4 - 10	September 8 - 14
May 19 - 25	June 30 - July 6	August 11 - 17	September 15 - 21
May 26 - June 1	July 7 - 13	August 18 - 24	September 22 - 28
June 2 - 8	July 14 - 20	August 25 - 31	September 29 - Oct 5
June 9 - 15	July 21 - 27

Magna Carta offers the “Downton Abbey Cruise” for TWO WEEKS ONLY: August 25 - 31 and Septamber 8 - 14, 2013. Barge guests will join the public tour of Highclere Castle, a Victorian home of massive proportions built in 1878 – and today known as both the inspiration and setting of the Downton Abbey television series. Visit the reception, dining and drawing rooms on the first floor and take a quick peek into some of the 50 bedrooms!

Barge Lady's Kelly and Tim Weiss visited Magna Carta in 2007. Kelly says: "This is a very impressive vessel: spacious, comfortable, and beautiful. The lounge is lined with picture windows; its sink-in couches arranged into intimate seating areas. The four 200 square-foot cabins are among the largest in barging; the king-sized beds heaped high with fine linens. Tiled baths are spacious and modern. Laze in the hot tub on deck and watch amazing scenes float by!"

Presiding over Magna Carta is the experienced Dominic Read, pictured at right, a local Captain well-versed in the sights, scenery, and most of all, historic river tales and local inhabitants of the Thames route. “Guests are surprised to find such a rural area – not that far from London,” he says. “We really do get involved with people: waving to the fisherman, chatting to lockkeepers, visiting in the village pubs.”

The itinerary between Hampton Court Palace and Henley-on-Thames contrasts great historical sites with small slices of life. Major attractions visited are Hampton Court Palace (in fact, Magna Carta moors right there!), the Tudor-style palace of king Henry the 8th; Windsor Castle, home to British royalty today; and Christ Church College in Oxford University, the oldest-surviving university in the English-speaking world. The local and supremely eccentric lifestyle along the river is not neglected – of course, it is eccentric when the swans are said to belong to Queen Elizabeth! Captain Read will take guests to riverside pubs, to a manor house, a boatyard and an artist studio.

Everywhere are villages that look like Miss Marple could pop out at any second, and a bicycle/walking path lines the entire route.

The Magna Carta operates with four in crew. Adding to value offered by Magna Carta is the sumptuous Cream Tea in London – begin your cruise with a delicious and “veddy British” experience!