DEPARTURES TRAVEL SAIL
DEPARTURES TRAVEL SAIL AWAY 26 up in teak, marble and Thai silk in orange and royal purple – is ideal for intimate sailings and group buyouts. The outdoor deck is large enough for sunrise yoga sessions and traditional dance performances. In the airy salon, there’s a dining table for eight and reading nooks for lazy afternoons. Below, the spacious cabins, each named after a Thai river, come with marble-clad bathrooms and butler call buttons. The crew is just as elegant. Dressed in gold-silk jackets and traditional sompot chong kben trousers, they serve Thai tasting dinners (including one created by chef Thitid Tassanakajohn of Bangkok’s Michelin-starred Le Du), as well as afternoon tea and sunset cocktails. Every day after breakfast, they’d hand us over to an expert guide, who’d whisk us by tuktuk or long-tail boat to little-visited temples and palaces. We explored Ayutthaya’s canals, where we were the only visitors in the late afternoon. Other journeys included a visit to the ancient summer royal palace of Bang Pa-In and cycling excursions in “the green lung,” a jungle-covered peninsula in Bangkok. Even from the Song’s deck, the riverbank became a slideshow, and the late-night monk procession was just one of the many awe-inspiring scenes passing by. Over the course Take Me to the River More ships sailing slow and steady, from the Amazon to the Nile. UNIWORLD The cruise line known for its lavish Super Ships is heading into 2021 with a trio of new vessels that will be anything but cookie-cutter. First up will be the SS Sphinx on the Nile, followed by the SS São Gabriel, which will cruise Portugal’s Douro River. Coming later this year, the 126-passenger SS La Venezia is sure to fit in with the palazzi and piazzas along the Venetian Lagoon and Po River, thanks to Fortuny fabrics, Murano glass and handetched glass walls. uniworld.com A suite on Uniworld’s SS La Venezia VIKING SAIGON The mighty Mekong River will have a sleek new resident this summer when this 80-passenger vessel makes its debut with sailings between Kampong Cham, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City. The Saigon’s all-white design sticks to Viking’s of three days, we saw the landscape change from clusters of gleaming skyscrapers to riverside shanties backed by golden temple spires. Bangkok’s incessant buzz faded into a chorus of crickets and cicadas, its concrete sprawl into one of banyan trees and palms. At every bend – and there were many of them – we discovered a new vignette: fishermen casting their nets in the water, crocodile-sized monitor lizards lazing in the sun, wooden boats ferrying troops of schoolchildren. Life in front of us slowed down, lost its fuss. And with that (and a little help from the bottomless sparkling wine), so did we. loypelavoyages.com signature Scandinavian aesthetic, but the itineraries – packed with ruins, temples and traditional markets – offer an authentic immersion into Southeast Asian culture. viking.com AMADAHLIA AmaWaterways returns to the Nile in September after a ten-year hiatus with this 68-passenger ship comprising a sundeck bar, swimming pool, fitness room, spa and two restaurants. Between trips to temples and pyramids, onboard entertainment includes galabeya (Egyptian gown) parties and dervish performances. amawaterways.com AQUA NERA Aqua Expeditions has redefined cruising on the Amazon with its stylish ships, world-class cuisine and wildlife excursions – and now the company is improving its winning formula with this 20-suite vessel. In addition to a contemporary look by the Vietnamese studio Noor Design, the Nera offers visits to remote villages and markets and locally sourced cuisine from award-winning Peruvian chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino. aquaexpeditions.com – Donna Heiderstadt RAINER WITZGALL / © UNIWORLD RIVER CRUISES
© WINDSTAR CRUISES Rising Tide Cutting-edge tech is making expedition cruising both cleaner and cooler. by Fran Golden Crystal Endeavor The new 100-suite ship from Crystal was made for extremes: the Polarclass vessel is tough enough to sail through the ice off Antarctica, yet gentle enough to glide over coral reefs in tropical destinations, thanks to anchorless mooring technology. Wherever they cruise, guests can explore their surroundings with the ship’s submarine, two helicopters, 18 Zodiacs and a host of water toys. crystalcruises.com World Navigator The first vessel from new adventure brand Atlas Ocean Voyages is also using the latest tech to protect the marine life around it: the 98-cabin ship – which will make its premiere sailings this July with routes in the Aegean and Black Seas – is equipped with an innovative hydro-jet propulsion system that can quietly steer it forward at a gentle five knots, allowing for closer encounters with fish and other undersea life. A hybrid powermanagement system also means the Navigator consumes as little as onefifth the fuel of conventional cruise liners. atlasoceanvoyages.com Windstar’s Star Plus Class Ships Windstar Cruises’ latest renovations might be the most impressive large-scale recycling project ever seen on the high seas. Rather than commission new, larger ships to replace its existing vessels Legend, Breeze and Pride, the company sliced each of the boats in half and inserted a 26m midsection, making room for 50 additional suites, two restaurants, a fitness centre and a spa. New engines that run on cleaner fuel have also been installed. windstarcruises.com Windstar’s nimble Star Pride passes through the Corinth Canal in Greece Seabourn Venture Seabourn’s first purpose-built expedition ship will soon debut with a Polar Class 6 designation, making it capable of cruising in diverse environments, from the Amazon to the Arctic Circle, where it will debut this December with a series of Norwegian Winter voyages. Made for adventurers, the 264-passenger vessel will have two custom submarines that can reach depths of more than 300 metres. seabourn.com Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot The world’s first hybrid-electric icebreaker cruise liner will be able to sail up to eight hours on zeroemissions electricity and the rest of the time on cleaner-burning LNG (liquefied natural gas). The 135-stateroom ship – which will be capable of sailing to the true geographic North Pole, as well as to more remote parts of the Antarctic such as Peter I Island – also comes equipped with high-tech diversions, including a hovercraft, a hot-air balloon and a fleet of snowmobiles. ponant.com Silver Origin In the Galápagos, this 100-passenger expedition vessel – Silversea Cruises’ first to be customised for a specific destination – has a dynamic positioning system that allows it to move over delicate seabed ecosystems without dropping anchor or disturbing the coral reefs and marine life below. The Origin is also a plastic-bottle-free ship, thanks to an onboard purification system that turns seawater into drinking water via reverse osmosis. silversea.com 27 DEPARTURES
