Unique Cruises
You've no doubt seen countless brochures tempting you to take a cruise to the Caribbean. But here are some exciting new cruises we think you may not know about - but should.
A safari in Africa, frolicking with penguins in Antarctica, touring European capitals, and hiking along glaciers in Alaska are but a few of the hundreds of options available to you on an adventure cruise. Adventure cruises sail to secluded ports and offer excursions to sites you might not be able to visit on a land-based tour.
"Today's cruise ships will take you almost anywhere you want to go," says James G. Godsman, president of Cruise Lines International Association, an industry group that represents 24 major cruise lines. "And most of today's cruisers want to visit places they haven't been before."
Cruise lines have unveiled dozens of new itineraries for 1998 and into the next century. Here is a quick look at some of the offerings.
Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 will spend the summer making its traditional six-day crossings between New York and Southhampton, England. But, during the fall foliage season, the ship will make a series of 10-night or longer cruises throughout New England and Canada.
After the New Year in 1999, the Queen Elizabeth II will set sail on a 104-day cruise that circumnavigates the globe. Another Cunard ship, the Royal Viking Sun, will sail a 122-day itinerary that includes the Pacific and the Orient, making more than 50 maiden calls, including the Laccadive Islands in India; Saran de in Albania; Al Jubayl in Saudi Arabia; and Pulau Naira in Indonesia.
If you don't have the 15 to 17 weeks to take one of these cruises in its entirety, you can book shorter segments on either ship of as few as 11 nights. Prices for these cruises depend on embarkation and disembarkation ports, plus class of service.
Holland America's Maasdam is one of the few ships that make a complete transit of the Panama Canal. From Fort Lauderdale, passengers cruise to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas before sailing for Cristóbal, where the Maasdam enters the canal. After passing through the canal, the ship cruises the Gulfo Dulce and enters the Pacific Ocean, sailing north to Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. Other ports of call include Puerto Quetzal in Guatamala and Huatulco and Acapulco, Mexico, where the cruise ends.
Prices for the complete transit cruises begin at $2,234 per person, based on double occupancy. Prices include port charges and taxes. (Airfare is additional.)
Princess Cruises combines the luxury of cruising with the adventure and romance of an African safari. You'll get plenty of opportunity to take close-up photographs of much of the native wildlife.
Next to the Caribbean, Europe offers more options for cruising than any other region. In addition to transatlantic cruises, passengers can enjoy cruises of the North Atlantic, the British Isles, Scandinavia, Russia, the Iberian Coast, the Mediterranean, the Aegean, the Black Sea, and more.
An added benefit of cruises in Europe is that the Continent's high-speed trains make island sites accessible to cruise passengers. From Le Havre, France, for example, you can spend a day shopping in Paris and visit the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and even Versailles.
Royal Caribbean International offers cruises of Europe from seven to 14 nights.
Radisson Seven Seas Cruises invented luxury cruising in the South Pacific. The line's newest ship, the Paul Gauguin, carries 320 passengers from Papeete, Tahiti, to Moorea on a seven-night cruise. Stops along the way include Rangiroa, Raiatea, and Bora Bora. (See the February 1998 issue of our Online Travel Magazine for more information about the Paul Gauguin.) Prices for seven-night cruises aboard the Paul Gauguin begin at $2,795 per person, based on double occupancy, including port charges and taxes. Airfare is additional.
For more information about any of these cruises and hundreds of others around the world, contact your Carlson Wagonlit Travel agent.