DEPARTURES TRAVEL THE
DEPARTURES TRAVEL THE NEXT WAVE 28 Epicurean Excursions Four foodie adventures put the spotlight on global cuisines. REGENT’S GO LOCAL TOURS The cruise line now offers opportunities to break bread with locals on select itineraries. Learn to make paella at a farm outside Valencia; get to know a French family over a home-cooked meal in Bordeaux; or sample cold-smoked reindeer during a market tour in Helsinki. rssc.com WINDSTAR’S JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION CRUISES The esteemed culinary-arts organisation selects notable chefs like Duskie Estes to host guided trips to local markets and cooking demonstrations. This year, five different themed cruises are bound for the US West Coast, Alaska, Southeast Asia, the Adriatic and Europe’s Atlantic Coast. windstarcruises.com SILVERSEA’S SALT PROGRAMME This intensive new culinary project ventures deep into local cultures in an approach sure to dazzle even the most demanding of palates. Making its debut on the Silver Moon in August, it’s the brainchild of Barbara Muckermann, the company’s chief marketing officer, and Adam Sachs, a longtime food journalist. The goal is to have guests “eating the food that’s right outside their porthole”, Sachs says. silversea.com SEADREAM YACHT CLUB’S LIVING FOOD The company is right on trend with its range of plant-based cuisine. Dishes are prepared with strictly raw, organic and vegan ingredients, none of which are heated above 48°C. The menus, created in conjunction with the Hippocrates Health Institute, enhance the company’s focus on sustainability and local sourcing aboard their two recherché yachts in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. seadream.com A fresh spread at Silversea’s SALT programme The Grand Tour Options abound for modern Magellans as companies reinvent the round-the-world odyssey. The Viking Sun sails through Sydney AVOID AIRPORT HASSLES, unpack just once and, with world-cruise offerings continuing to proliferate, tick off your entire bucket list. Crystal has unveiled a 116-night circumnavigation, “Myths, Marvels & Monuments: A Cultural Mosaic”, for 2022 (crystalcruises.com). Leaving from Miami, the 980-guest Crystal Serenity will transit the Panama Canal and call at ports in Central America and Mexico before crossing the Pacific on the way to Australia, Asia and Europe. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, the largest luxury ocean liner ever built, casts off from New York on a 113-night circumnavigation in January 2021 (cunard.com). The line will stay true to its historical legacy of transatlantic crossings when its 2,691-guest flagship sails to Southampton, where passengers can also embark for a shorter 99-night international odyssey. The voyage makes several stops in Africa, as well as the Mediterranean, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Viking is preparing for an epic globetrotting journey aboard the 930-guest Viking Sun, which will depart Miami this December and visit 33 countries, six continents and 75 ports during 161 days (vikingcruises.com). The voyage will mark the line’s first-ever foray to the Hawaiian islands, with calls at Honolulu and Nawiliwili. Silversea’s 54-port “The Finest World Tour” journey from Fort Lauderdale to New York distinguishes itself with visits to a number of cities in South America, Asia, India and Australia (silversea.com). Silver Whisper will also drop anchor at the famously remote Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific during its 150-day pan-global sojourn. FROM TOP: © VIKING CRUISES, LUCIA GRIGGI
FROM TOP: © OCEANIA; © RSSC Soothe Sailing The wellness revolution has spread to the high seas, from on-deck yoga to destinationspecific spa treatments. AS MORE AND MORE travellers approach wellness practices as a nonnegotiable part of a holistic lifestyle, cruise lines are taking note. Oceania is launching a new facility, Aquamar Spa + Vitality Center, on all six of its ships (oceaniacruises.com). On the menu: everything from curative Himalayan-salt-stone massages and Dysport facial-wrinkle treatments to destination-focused seminars and tours (reflexology on a rice barge cruising Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, “apitherapy” presentations at a beekeeping farm in the Andalusian countryside). And come 2022, the company will add a new ship to its fleet with an even more elaborate wellness centre. Regent is introducing Serene Spa & Wellness to its fleet. The onboard treatments often reflect the culture of many of its 450 destinations (rssc.com). The standard mani-pedi, for example, incorporates frangipani oil from the South Pacific, and there’s a heat mask and massage that uses mineral-rich bladderwrack seaweed from the Baltic coast. The onboard hydrothermal suite includes a multisensory aromatherapy steam room, chill room, infrared sauna and experiential showers for pre- or post-treatment. Another wellbeing service that rivals anything you’ll find on land can Left: Oceania’s Aquamar spa; below: Regent’s Serene Spa & Wellness be enjoyed aboard AmaWaterways’ AmaDara (amawaterways.com). Offering classes in yoga, Pilates and meditation, the programme is run by dedicated wellness hosts who lead lectures and discussions. The Mekong itineraries, in particular, include destinationspecific options like a traditional tea ceremony or Tai Chi session. Complementing their restorative offerings, all three companies have crafted menus with equally healthcentric, plant-based cuisine. 29 DEPARTURES Additional reporting by Meredith Bethune, Annie Davidson and Michael Joseph Gross
