As the summer travel season kicks off, cruise operators have announced exciting new cruises for later this year and beyond. Here is a selection of some of the latest itineraries.
Expert-led tours with Ponant and Smithsonian Journeys
Ponant is once again teaming up with Smithsonian Journeys to offer 21 all-inclusive expeditions for 2023. The new cruises to Panama, the Hebrides, the Windward Islands, Norway and beyond will be led by Smithsonian Journeys experts. Specialists include art historians, astrophysicists and archaeologists.
The first voyage scheduled for 2023 is a nine-day tour of the Arabian Coast from Jan. 6 to Jan.14, 2023. Cruising the Arabian Coast – with Smithsonian Journeys starts in Dubai and ends in Muscat. Stops include: Sir Bani Yas to tour the former reserve of the Emir of Abu Dhabi that has the world’s largest population of Arabian oryxes; Doha to see the Museum of Islamic Art; Abu Dhabi, for a chance to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Louvre Museum’s Abu Dhabi outpost whose collection includes the $450 million Salvator Mundi painting by Leonardo Da Vinci; Kahsab in Oman to see the 17th-century castle built by the Portuguese; Fujairah to tour the 15th-century Al Bidya Mosque, one of the oldest in the United Arab Emirates; and finally, Muscat, where passengers will disembark. The experts for the journey include Karl Eikenberry, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, who will lead discussions on Middle East affairs.
Prices for this journey on Le Bougainville, an 184-passenger vessel with 92 staterooms and suites, start at $7,290.
Aurora’s second ship makes its debut in new Antarctica and Arctic and British Isles itineraries
Aurora Expeditions’ newest vessel, Sylvia Earle, will join the company’s just announced 2023/2024 Antarctica and 2023 Arctic and British Isles seasons. Clients can save up to 25 percent if they book by June 30, 2022.
Aurora is offering more than a dozen sailings to Antarctica in 2023/2024, where Sylvia Earle will make her debut for a 16-day Subantarctic safari from Nov. 4 to Nov. 20, 2023. The 132-passenger vessel features 71 cabins and suites, a swimming pool and wellness center with a sauna, spa and gym, a restaurant and bar and lounge, a library and a science center with views of the front of the ship.
Among the new 2023/2024 Antarctica itineraries are:
- The 9-day Antarctic Polar Express, a condensed version of the 11-day Antarctic Polar Voyage. The new offering sails from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas Feb. 10-18, 2024, with prices starting at $9,356.
- The 18-day, round-trip Circle and Weddell voyage departing from Ushuaia on March 8, 2024. The bucket-list tour offers voyagers the chance to experience what it feels like to go below the Antarctic Circle before traveling north to the Antarctic Sound or “Iceberg Alley” and, if the weather and ice conditions permit, to the Weddell Sea where the British explorer Sir Ernest Shakleton’s ship the Endurance became trapped in the sea ice in 1915. Prices start at $16,556.
The five new itineraries are being offered in Aurora Expeditions’ 2023 Arctic and British Isles season include:
- The 15-day, round-trip Svalbard in Depth tour, which departs Longyearbyen on June 26 and returns on July 10, 2023 (prices start at AUD 19,036)
- The 17-day Ireland & Scotland Discovery tour, which sails from Dublin to Aberdeen May 17-June 2, 2023 and explores the west coast of Ireland (prices start at AUD $16,121.25)
- The 30-day Complete Northwest Passage tour from Toronto to Anchorage, which runs Aug. 24-Sep. 22, 2023 (prices start at AUD $45,036).
Explora Journeys adds Alaska to its spring 2024 offerings
Explora Journeys‘ 2024 spring schedule includes three new cruises to Alaska, all departing from Vancouver and all on Explora I, the first of four ships in the company’s growing fleet. The new itineraries are:
The 12-day Remote Wrangell and Spectacular Sitka tour from May 6-May 17, 2024, with stops at Wrangell, Tracy Arm Fjord, Juneau, Sitka, Skagway, Ketchikan, Misty Fjord and Victoria. Prices start at €11,600.
- The 12-day Sailing the Whale’s Highway tour with stops at Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Valdez, Juneau, Sitka and Victoria. This itinerary is being offered from May to August 2024, with the first sailing running May 17-28, 2024.
- The 11-day Journey of the Glaciers through the Inside Passage with stops at Wrangell, Juneau, Sitka, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Ketchikan and Victoria. This itinerary is being offered from May to July 2024, with the first sailing running May 28-June 7, 2024.
Norwegian Cruise Line returns to the Canary Islands
Norwegian Cruise Line is offering year-round Europe itineraries in 2022 with the announcement that the Norwegian Sun will travel to the Canary Islands in November.
From Nov. 21, 2022, the cruise line will offer 10- to 14-day cruises to the Canary Islands where passengers can choose their embarkation ports, including Lisbon, Malaga or Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Stops include Arrecife, Gibraltar and Seville. During the Norwegian Sun’s debut season in Europe, the ship will sail to new ports for the cruise line, including Puerto del Rosario and San Sebastian de la Gomera, Cueta, Agadir and Horta. Prices for 10-day cruises start at $500 and 14-day voyages start at $799.
For more information on Ponant, visit us.ponant.com.
For more information on Aurora Expeditions, visit aurora-expeditions.com.
For more information on Explore Journeys, visit explorajourneys.com.
For more information on Norwegian Cruise Line, visit ncl.com.
