The Crystal Symphony sails by Cape Town, South Africa. (Courtesy Crystal Cruises)

High-end cruising -- once the domain of the rich and famous -- has become more accessible to the rest of us in these tough economic times.

We're seeing some unbelievable deals offered for luxury cruises on the finest vessels at sea that these days are still sailing through financially turbulent waters.

Many of the common enticements are two-for-one sailings even on world tours, free shore excursions, free airfare and generous onboard spending credits.

While mass-marketing cruise lines have trimmed their "sails'' by finding ways to subtly cut costs and therefore prices, the luxury lines have followed with gusto offering never-seen-before incentives to fill their ships, too.

This resulted in lines such as Crystal, Yachts of Seabourn, Silversea, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas Cruises lopping up to 65% in some cases off their fares.

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Crystal Cruises has taken the biggest step to date by just announcing it has revamped its prices and promotions for all of its cruises next year.

This includes the 108-night world cruise "Explorations of Ancient Empires'' leaving Miami on Jan. 11. Even so, the full cruise at half-price is from $58,245 US along with up to $10,000 in on-board spending credits.

The two-for-one fares are for all destinations with an all-inclusive "As You Wish'' spending credits of $500 U.S. or $1,000 a person for such things as excursions in ports, wine, spa treatments and shopping onboard.

There is also free round trip economy airfare from more than 20 North American gateways for cruises through Australia/New Zealand, Mediterranean, Baltic and New England/Canada. For Europe cruises, there's round-trip business class air transportation for guests in penthouse accommodations.

Crystal also offers round-trip airport/ship transfers while guests can also opt to deduct a credit on cruise-only fares.

Don't fear booking early and losing out as Crystal also has a price guarantee to pass along any additional savings that might occur before sailing.

The promotions are offered in conjunction with Crystal's 20th anniversary of luxury cruising.

This means next year's cruises will be "as much as 15%-to-20% lower than comparable cruises in 2009 whether one takes advantage of the free air/sea package, including transfers, or opts for the cruise-only credit,'' said Bill Smith, senior vice-president.

An example of upcoming Crystal cruise deals are two, seven-day Los Angeles round trip Mexican sailings next month from $2,165 US a person and a "Jazz Exploration'' 10-day Miami round trip Western Caribbean cruise in December from $3,575 US.

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The Yachts of Seabourn offers up to 65% off cruises to "explore narrow waterways and tiny harbours'' where the larger ships can't go.

This includes sailings in the Panama Canal, Asia and the Caribbean as well as up the Chao Phraya River into the heart of Bangkok.

Examples for December sailings include five days in the Caribbean for $1,499 US; 14 days visiting Asian capitals and Vietnam, $4,999; and 14 days to Costa Rica, Panama and Belize for $3,999.

Silversea has cut its fares by half and tosses in $1,000 US in onboard spending credits with free economy airfare and transfers on select voyages.

Oceania Cruises announced its most extensive and exotic lineup of sailings to Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean for the coming winter.

These includes a limited-time offer of free air and bonus savings of up to $3,000 US per stateroom on two-for-one cruise fares, resulting in voyages from $1,499 per guest.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has two-for-one fares, free air fare and free unlimited shores excursions for its 2010 voyages. As well, there are some deals of an additional $1,000 US in savings per guest.

IF YOU SAIL

To learn more about the cruise deals, go to:

- Crystal Cruises (www.crystalcruises.com)

- Yachts of Seabourn (www.seabourn.com)

- Silversea (www.silversea.com)

- Oceania Cruises (www.oceaniacruises.com)

- Regent Seven Seas Cruises (www.rssc.com)

A good source of information about cruise lines and their web links is the Cruise Line International Association's site: www.cruising.org