Can’t think of anything worse than being stuck at home with your family these holidays? Take them all on a cruise instead! Because a ship has more places to hide than Grandma’s house.

Celebrity Cruises launches brand new shore excursions

Celebrity Cruises has released a range of brand new Australia and New Zealand “Discovery Collection” shore excursions, designed for small groups of cruise guests to enjoy curated experiences through the eyes of a local.

Crafted with the advice of local experts, each Discovery Collection excursion must fit three criteria in order to be selected for the program; they must be iconic, exclusive and locally-inspired. The experiences range from tours of must-see locales for travellers new to a destination to off-the-beaten-path adventures for seasoned wanderers, who may be revisiting a port for a second or third time.

With a maximum of 24 guests in each tour, guests have more time at each location, individual interaction with their hosts, and a more up close and personal travel experience.

Launching in February 2018 with a range of Mediterranean excursions like an Italian Pasta Experience and Barcelona’s Secret Basilica – Concert at the Bell Tower, the programme has been a worldwide success, taking out a Gold for Expedition Shore Excursions at the esteemed 2018 US Travel Weekly Magellan Awards.

P&O Cruises ‘Drought Relief’ Cruises a dream come true for farmers 

When P&O Cruises President Sture Myrmell presented drought-stricken Queensland farmers Glenda and Des Gray with their ticket on one of the cruise line’s two ‘drought relief’ cruises, Glenda had a simple dream.

After six years of crippling drought and still no prospect of decent rain, Glenda had long wanted to go on a cruise to be surrounded by water but she thought she would have to win the lottery to achieve her dream.

But instead of having to win the lottery, Glenda and Des are among 140 farmers and family members sailing on P&O’s two ‘drought relief’ cruises – one currently on Pacific Dawn from Brisbane to the Whitsundays and another on Pacific Explorer from Sydney to Moreton Island.

After boarding Pacific Dawn, Glenda and Des couldn’t wait to get to the top deck to take in the view of water in every direction. Farmers enjoying this ‘time out’ from the drought were selected with the support of Rural Aid’s Buy-A-Bale campaign and the Salvation Army’s rural chaplains.

PONANT’s new ship LE LAPEROUSE exploring the Kimberley in 2019 and 2020 

2019 is the inaugural Kimberley season for the first of six new Explorer class ships currently under construction for PONANT, and the attraction of visiting this pristine wilderness onboard the most eco-sensitive of vessels in the region is an attractive proposition.

Launched in July 2018, Le Laperouse will be positioned in Australian, Melanesian and New Zealand waters as part of its inaugural season of voyages in 2019, returning again in 2020.

With 30 years of expedition voyage experience, PONANT’s purpose-built luxury expedition ships bring the same high operational standards to the Kimberley that they operate in the Arctic and Antarctica – the only ships to do so and reflective of PONANT’s position as the world leader in luxury expeditions.

Silversea Cruises hosts pre-Antarctica season expedition training

Ahead of the Antarctica season, 12 members of Silversea’s Expedition Team spent four days at pre-season training in the Chilean Andes. Between 29 October and 3 November 2018, the team of expedition specialists undertook a number of educational activities, building on their existing skillsets and enabling them to enrich the offering for Silversea’s guests. In its 10th season of deep travel in Antarctica, the cruise line is investing heavily in the training and development of its knowledgeable Expedition Team.

The training included four days and three nights of camping with skills-based learning and leadership development. Several team-building activities were included throughout the program, which also included a challenging high ropes course, snow and ice awareness workshops, route-finding and orienteering sessions, a wilderness medicine refresher, and an emergency evacuation scenario.

With a base camp located near Chile’s breathtaking El Morado Natural Monument, the activity-rich programme was a highly challenging, high altitude, skills-driven, experiential learning and leadership building tour-de-force. After camping in the rough, practising emergency medical scenarios, and brushing up on ice and snow skills, the team members parted ways ready to greet the wilds of Antarctica and welcome Silversea Expeditions’ guests aboard. Of the 12 Expedition Specialists who participated in the training, eight embarked Silver Explorer ahead of the Antarctica season.

MSC Cruises’ 2021 World Cruise: an all-new itinerary of discovery focusing on the far east and more

MSC Cruises, the Swiss-based world’s largest privately-owned cruise line and market leader in Europe, South America, South Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, announced that sales for its much-awaited 2021 World Cruise will open today.

This once-in-a-lifetime experience – a follow-on to the now nearly all sold-out 2019 and 2020 MSC World Cruises – will see guests embark onboard MSC Poesia on a 119-day journey around the globe departing on January 5th, 2021. With an all-new itinerary featuring a significant focus on unique Asian destinations, the 2021 World Cruise has been designed to allow guests to really discover some of the region’s most inspiring destinations and more.

The 118-night voyage sails roundtrip from Genoa and Civitavecchia (Rome) in Italy, Marseille in France and Barcelona in Spain and takes guests literally across the globe in one single voyage of discovery. Going westwards, the first leg crosses the Atlantic to the islands of the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal, sails the west coast of the continent (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico) to San Francisco. The second leg visits the scenic Maui and then volcanic Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Auckland in New Zealand, Sydney and the Australian Coast together with Cairns and the incredible Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. It then arrives in Japan during its most beautiful season: the cherry blossom.

After visiting Kyoto, Tokyo and Shanghai in China, the third leg cruises to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia allowing guests to really discover this part of the Asian Continent. Finally, crossing the Indian Ocean to Sri Lanka and Dubai guests can explore Oman and Jordan (Petra) and travel through the Suez Canal, back to the Mediterranean.

Viking announce new South America cruise itineraries

Viking has released four brand-new ocean cruise itineraries that cover all the highlights of South America.

• Journey Along the Pacific Coast — a 27-day ocean cruise from Santiago to Los Angeles, calling into Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and more. Priced from $9,295 per person
• Exploring the Americas — a 48-day ocean cruise from Buenos Aires to Los Angeles, calling into Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and more. Priced from $21,495 per person
• Caribbean & South American Shores — a 26-day ocean cruise from San Juan to Buenos Aires, calling into Barbados, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and more. Priced from $9,295 per person
• West Indies, Amazon & South America — a 47-day ocean cruise from San Juan to Santiago, calling into Barbados, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and more. Priced from $21,495 per person

South America is such a fantastic part of the world to visit — there is so much to see and do. Some of Viking’s most popular cruises are those that visit South America, so Viking are excited to be able to add to that list and offer their valued guests even more opportunities to discover this region.

PONANT tests Chantiers de l’Atlantique’s Solid Sail prototype on its three-masted yacht Le Ponant 

PONANT, the global leader in luxury expeditions and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, the leader in maritime construction, have joined forces to test out the innovative Solid Sail system on Le Ponant.

Introduced as part of the sailing cruise-vessel project Silenseas, launched two years ago by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, the revolutionary Solid Sail concept has been tested on Le Ponant since 31 October.

Two patents have been filed—in 2009 and 2017—for the new type of sail, made of fibreglass, carbon and epoxy-resin panels in a carbon-slat frame. This new technology will significantly reduce energy consumption tied to propulsion, and thus considerably reduce the environmental impact.

On 25 October of this year, solid sails of more than 300 m2 were installed on Le Ponant during a technical stop in Marseille, France. As the three-masted ship sets sail for Cape Verde before embarking on a transatlantic voyage to Cuba, the prototype, on a 50 per cent scale, will be tested for one year on the company’s sailing vessel.