Have you missed any recent cruise travel updates? Expert cruise contributor Sally Macmillan helps bring you up to speed with the latest intel in this weekly wrap of what’s making waves in cruising right now.
Arctic & Beyond
Aurora Expeditions’ latest program, Arctic & Beyond 2025, features a raft of new expeditions and ‘Ultimate Adventure’ voyages. State-of-the-art sister ships Greg Mortimer and Sylvia Earles will operate an impressive collection of voyages to Greenland, Svalbard, Norway, Iceland and Canada’s High Arctic via the Northwest Passage on itineraries ranging from eight to 29 days.
In 2025, Aurora is introducing included charter flights from Oslo to Longyearbyen, the embarkation point for Svalbard voyages. Highlights of the new program include the new
‘Spitsbergen: Realm of the Ice Bear’ itinerary, cruising round trip from Oslo aboard Greg Mortimer, and the new ‘Iceland’s Westfjords & North Coast’ expedition, cruising round trip from Reykjavik on board Sylvia Earle.
Beyond the Arctic are voyages to Costa Rica and the British Isles and, of course, Antarctica. Aurora offers an exciting range of onshore activities in cruise travel, including sea kayaking, snowshoeing, ski and snowboard tours, trekking, rock climbing, snorkelling and scuba diving (even in polar regions).
For more information, visit auroraexpeditions.com.au
What’s new on the Mekong?
River cruise lines APT and Viking recently announced new cruise travel Mekong programs for 2024-25. Both have new ships for Southeast Asia – APT’s Mekong Serenity launched in 2023 and Viking Tonle, an identical sister to 2022’s Viking Saigon, is scheduled to make her debut in October 2025. To meet the strong demand for river cruising in the region, Viking has added sailing dates in 2025 and the 2026 season is now open for booking.
Mekong Serenity and Viking Tonle host 88 and 80 guests respectively, and both feature contemporary interiors, beautifully designed main dining rooms and lounges, a pool, spa and fitness centre.
APT’s 2024-25 program introduces three optional three-day stopovers in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok that can be added before or after a cruise and land tour. There are also three new extensions to tours in Vietnam and Cambodia – beach breaks in Koh Rong Island, Mui Ne and Vung Tau. Cruise and land tours range from 11 to 25 days.
Fares for the 13-day Vietnam & Cambodia Highlights itinerary start from $7,695pp twin share. For savings of up to $3,800 per couple plus a cabin upgrade book by November 30, 2023.
For more information, visit apttouring.com.au
Viking’s popular 15-day Magnificent Mekong journey includes 16 guided tours and the eight-day river voyage is bracketed by hotel stays in Hanoi, Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City. Fares start from AU$9,295pp twin share and savings of up to $2,000 per couple are on offer until November 30, 2023.
For more information, visit vikingcruises.com.au
Azamara returns Down Under
This summer two of Azamara Cruises’ fleet of four intimate, 702-guest ships will return to Australia and New Zealand for a series of ‘country-intensive’ sailings. Azamara Journey arrives in Fremantle on December 20 while the newest member of the fleet, Azamara Onward, arrives in Auckland on February 15, 2024 on her first world cruise.
Azamara is an independent cruise travel line that is renowned for its destination-immersion experiences and AzAmazing Celebrations. The company has expanded its famous AzAmazing Evenings to encompass extraordinary cultural events held during the day, onboard and onshore, on every itinerary. Whether it’s a private concert, a local gastronomic festival or behind-the-scenes performance at a landmark site, AzAmazing Celebrations are free and exclusive to Azamara guests.
Although Azamara does not market itself as a luxury brand, fares include five dining options, soft and alcoholic drinks, gratuities and unlimited self-service laundry. Longer days and overnight stays in port are in line with the line’s focus on destination immersion.
If you have to stay in touch with work while on a longer cruise, take a look at the new Work & Wander package, priced at $399 and $249, depending on your suite category. It includes high-bandwidth WiFi for two devices, equipment (monitor, mice, keyboard, adapters), happy hours and networking, printing and best of all, concierge service for technical and equipment questions.
For more information, visit azamara.com
Coral Expeditions joins Ecotourism Hall of Fame
Congratulations to the team at Cairns-based Coral Expeditions. The pioneering Australian cruise travel expedition line was recently inducted into the Ecotourism Hall of Fame in recognition of its commitment to advanced and sustainable ecotourism for the past 20 years. Coral Expeditions joins 50 other operators who have been awarded Hall of Fame status since 1997.
There is increasing demand from travellers of all types for sustainable, transformative experiences and Ecotourism Australia’s ECO certification program standard is recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
This year, Coral Expeditions also celebrated 40 years of operations and 30 years of continuous expeditions in the Kimberley.
Today, the company’s purpose-built, Australian-flagged and crewed ships Coral Adventurer, Coral Geographer and the smaller Coral Discoverer offer adventure cruises in the Kimberley, Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania, Cape York and Arnhem Land, New Zealand and further afield to the small islands of Japan, Papua New Guinea and the East Indies.
Coral Expeditions’ Managing Director Mark Fifield said, “It’s a great honour for our team. We take our ecotourism responsibilities very seriously and strive to continuously improve and to create a high-value experience for both our guests and the communities we explore.”
The newly published Expedition Atlas, a comprehensive guide that highlights all voyages set to sail in 2023, 2024 and 2025, is available to view here at coralexpeditions.com
