TRAVEL ALL ABOARD
TRAVEL ALL ABOARD Passengers with Paul Gauguin’s Moorea cruise bicycle through jungle Breaking a Sweat – On Board and Off AmaWaterways (amawater ways.com) has long been at the forefront of active river cruising, and with the launch of AmaMagna this year, the operator is taking fitnessforward to the next level with a built-in Sundowner boat for excursions. Its sevennight Danube itinerary will also debut a concierge golf programme with visits to top-level courses in Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. On Crystal’s 11-night Eastern Danube Discoveries sailings in 2021 (crystalcruises.com), guests will be able to hike the forests of Serbia’s Avala mountain before finishing with a yoga session overlooking Belgrade. For those who want a challenging excursion without the commitment, five of Paul Gauguin Cruises’ itineraries (pgcruises.com) that stop at Moorea, in French Polynesia, will include an optional bike trek to the island’s popular Belvedere lookout point. Guests can switch to an electric motor when the going gets too tough. SPOTLIGHT Continuing Education Immersive, special-interest voyages to book. THE HIPNESS QUOTIENT of cruising has sparked a proliferation of theme cruises from pacesetting companies. Cunard (cunard.com) has created “Special Event Cruises” offering an edifying experience aboard their flagship Queen Mary 2. Departing New York on 10 November 2019, the inaugural “Literature Festival at Sea” has an impressive roster of authors including PJ O’Rourke, Sebastian Faulks and Louis de Bernières. The ship is also staging “Transatlantic Fashion Week” departing New York on 28 July 2019 with a line-up including British milliner Stephen Jones OBE and fashion historian Colin McDowell MBE. For the first time in Cunard’s history, the English National Ballet will perform during a “Dance The Atlantic” voyage from Southampton on 11 August 2019. Seabourn (seabourn.com) is continuing its mission to inspire and inform guests with a fresh line-up of speakers for its Seabourn Conversations programme in 2019. Luminaries include Steve Wozniak, designer of the operating system for the Apple I, who will be on board Seabourn Ovation on 21 December 2019; while the first person to cross the landmass of Antarctica solo, unaided by kites or resupplies, acclaimed explorer Colin O’Brady will join Seabourn Quest’s “Ultimate Antarctica & Patagonia” cruise on 28 November 2019. Down on the river, Crystal (crystalcruises.com) has a series of ten-night “Jewish Heritage” theme cruises aboard Crystal Mozart between April and October. Excursions include a cooking class in Jewish cuisine; Vienna’s Jewish heritage and Arik Brauer Art Gallery; Chatam Sofer Memorial in Bratislava; Česky Krumlov’s sacred cemetery and synagogue; and the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial. Cunard’s Transatlantic Fashion Week Navigator of the Sea’s mindbending aqua-coaster BELLS & WHISTLES Where the Buzz Never Stops 32 DEPARTURES MUCH HAS BEEN written about Celebrity’s Celebrity Edge (celebritycruises.com) since its headline-grabbing launch late last year, but Eden, part culinary experience, part performance venue, is Seaborne Saturnalia. Artisan cocktails made with ingredients from a herb wall are served throughout the day in this venue nestled within three glasswrappeddecks, while as night falls, Eden turns sinful. A troupe of eight “Edenists” – actors and actresses who embody the essence of Eden – playfully interact with the audience, performing acrobatics on a circular stage and from hanging crescent moons. It’s an impromptu Cirque du Soleil with a soupçon of flower-power thrown in for good measure. More reminiscent of the Rat Pack era than Glastonbury, the new Stardust Supper Club aboard Crystal’s Crystal Serenity (crystalcruises.com) takes place on blacktie-optional evenings. During the meal there are performances by Crystal Serenity’s Show Band and featured vocalists, then as coffee is served the ship’s Ballroom Dance Quartet take to the floor to showcase spotlight routines which guests can join in. Upping the tempo, the largest competitive racetrack at sea will be unveiled when Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore (ncl.com) enters service this autumn. More than 335 metres of pedal-to-the-metal action and spanning two decks atop the ship, the electric-car track offers great views while negotiating hairpin bends at speeds of up to 48 kilometres per hour. High-octane adrenaline junkies will love “Blaster” – the world’s longest water slide at sea – aboard Royal Caribbean’s recently amped-up Navigator of the Seas (royalcaribbean.com). The aqua-coaster propels two-person rafts within tubes that extend over the side of the ship. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: RAFAEL SOLDI, © CUNARD, © RCCL
© CRYSTAL CRUISES THE NEXT WAVE Venturing Beyond These next-gen expedition cruises are made for pioneering spirits, with icy adventures, island encounters and more THE ANTITHESIS OF CRUISING clichés, expedition cruises are on trend. To meet this surge in demand, sassy new ships are offering unprecedented levels of comfort on journeys to the furthest corners of Earth. Heralded as the largest and most spacious purpose-built Polar Class ship, accommodation on Crystal’s Crystal Endeavor (crystalcruises.com) will include two Crystal penthouse suites, eight penthouse suites and 90 deluxe suites, all with floor-to-ceiling windows or private verandas as well as private butler service. With its experiential quotient writ large, Seabourn (seabourn. com) is building two innovative, ultra-luxe ships, the first of which is expected in June 2021, the second a year later. Slated to sail in the Arctic and Antarctica, the 264-guest ships will have two submarines as well as kayaks and 24 Zodiac inflatable RIBs. Also setting a course for cooler climes, Hapag Lloyd’s Hanseatic Inspiration and Hanseatic Nature (hl-cruises.com) launching this year are to be joined by a third new-build, Hanseatic Spirit set to debut in 2021. At other times of the year, the natural splendours of the Amazon and South Seas will feature on the ships’ route map. Epitomising the pioneering spirit, Hurtigruten (hurtigruten.com) ships have been navigating Norway’s western coastline since 1893, but recently the company set its compass towards polar regions. Due to launch this year are two batterypowered hybrid expedition ships named Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen after the two most influential Norwegian polar pioneers. Staking its claim as the world’s first Discovery Yacht, Scenic’s Scenic Eclipse (scenic.co.uk) is now scheduled to enter service in August 2019. In contrast, Silversea’s Silver Cloud (silversea.com) has enjoyed a highly successful season cruising the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, so much so that her scion, Silver Wind, is set to appear in November 2020, undertaking a series of Polar cruises which will offer guests the chance to enjoy close encounters with penguins, seals, rare bird species and whales in their natural habitat. Natural selection is what makes the ecological timewarp of the Galápagos archipelago so captivating; making her inception in May, Celebrity’s Celebrity Flora TERRA INCOGNITA Off the Chart The Crystal Endeavor navigates icy terrain (celebritycruises.com) has been meticulously designed to explore this isolated natural haven with unabashed extravagance. Hailed as a leader in sustainable tourism in the Galápagos Islands since 1990, Ecoventura (ecoventura.com) launched its 20-passenger MV Origin in 2016. Such are the exemplary standards on board this boutique craft that it became the first expedition yacht in the Galápagos to become a member of Relais & Châteaux. In March, the identical MV Theory will sail in tandem with her sister ship on carefully curated seven-night itineraries exploring this sequestered sanctuary of biodiversity. NEW TURBOCHARGED itineraries offer a host of destinations that broaden the horizon. With its billowing sails, Star Clipper (starclippers.com) is 110 metres of sheer poetry. In April 2020 this barquentine will set a course for the Cambodian ports of Koh Rong, a wildlife paradise with dense forests, and Sihanoukville, a coastal city with endless powder-soft beaches. Equally sensual destinations are on the chart for Crystal’s bijou, all-suite Crystal Esprit (crystalcruises.com), which will set the compass towards Turkey’s Turquoise Coast, the Holy Land, Arabian Gulf and the Seychelles for the 2019/20 winter season. Equally ambitious is Azamara Club Cruises’ almanac of Japanese sailings (azamaraclubcruises.com) aboard the recently remastered Azamara Pursuit which delve deep into the destination. Two 15-night sailings in April 2021 will visit a litany of ports across the country – including Tokyo, Aomori, Hakodate and Kobe. If ethnology floats your boat, Ponant (ponant.com) has seven “Maya Treasure of the Yucatán” departures aboard Le Champlain between November 2019 and January 2020. Sailing round-trip from Puerto Morelos in Cancún, these cruises reveal the secrets of pre-Columbian civilisations during visits to Uxmal, Palenque and Chichen Itza. For unparalleled off-the-chart bragging rights, two voyages from Silversea (silversea.com) in August 2019 navigate the west coast of Greenland. Silver Cloud will sail as far north as Ilulissat – known as the birthplace of icebergs due to the Jakobshavn Isbræ Glacier calving massive tabular and smaller floating works of icy art sculpted by nature. It presents a boreal tableau of indescribable magic. DEPARTURES 33
