This was published 5 years ago
Azamara Quest and Viking Orion sail to Alaska for the first time
By Sally Macmillan
Denali National Park, Alaska.Credit: Jocelyn Pride
Alaska is a land of extremes. It's the largest and most sparsely populated state in America; it has more coastline than the rest of the US combined (about 55,000 kilometres), some 3 million lakes and more than half of the world's glaciers; and Denali National Park is home to the highest mountain in North America, the 6190-metre-high Denali (Mount McKinley).
In cruise terms, Alaska is hitting a few extremes too. More ships than ever before are cruising the Frontier State in 2019, and they range from two of the world's biggest – NCL's 4004-passenger Norwegian Bliss and Royal Caribbean's 4184-passenger Ovation of the Seas – to some of the smallest, such as UnCruise Adventure's 22-passenger Safari Quest.
This year two lines are sailing in Alaska for the first time and Cunard is returning after a 20-year absence. Azamara Club Cruises' Azamara Quest's inaugural Alaska season of 10 voyages runs from May to August while Viking Ocean Cruises' Viking Orion's first season – also May to August – is already nearly sold out.
Silver Cloud.Credit: Bruno Cazarini
After its 54-day sojourn Down Under, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth will sail four 10-day itineraries in Alaska, round-trip from Vancouver, in May and June. It will then head back to its home port of Southampton over 49 nights, with 13- and 15-night segments from Vancouver to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Princess marks its 50th year of cruising in Alaska in 2019. Back in 1969, the line deployed one ship, the 525-passenger Princess Italia, in the region – this year, a record seven Princess ships are sailing seven- to 12-day itineraries between May and September. New shore excursions, entertainment, menus and Alaska-themed onboard programs will be introduced this season to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
Holland America Line is another major player in Alaska, having cruised there for more than 70 years – longer than it has been a state. Eight HAL ships will offer 133 cruises between May and September, visiting Glacier Bay more often than any other line on seven-, 14- and 21-day itineraries.
Celebrity Cruises has three ships in the Great Land this year – Celebrity Eclipse, Solstice and Millennium – sailing 10 different itineraries. A highlight of Celebrity's seven-night cruises is longer stays in port, up to 12 hours in some cases.
Smaller luxury ships sailing in Alaska in 2019 include Silversea's Silver Explorer and Silver Muse, Ponant's Le Lyrial, Seabourn Sojourn, Oceania Regatta, Crystal Symphony, Windstar's Star Legend and Regent Seven Seas Mariner. Then there are adventure lines, such as Lindblad, UnCruise and Alaskan Dream Cruises, just to name a few; there's nothing like being spoilt for choice.
SHORE THING
THE PORT Bilbao, Spain
WHO GOES THERE Azamara, Celebrity, Crystal, Hapag-Lloyd, NCL, Oceania, P&O UK, Princess, RSSC, Royal Caribbean, Saga, Seabourn, Sea Dream, Silversea, Windstar.
WHY WE LOVE IT Spain's fifth-largest city is a fascinating mix of old and new. One of its most recognised landmarks is the Frank Gehry–designed Guggenheim Museum, a modern marvel that has been joined by architectural monuments such as the Zubizuri footbridge and Philippe Starck's redesigned wine warehouse, Azkuna Zentroa. Bilbao's Old Quarter (Casco Viejo) is full of tapas bars, or pintxos – you can sample regional and Basque specialties for a few euros in-between wandering the "Seven Streets" that date back to the 15th century.
TAKE A TOUR OR GO IT ALONE? Cruise ships dock in the terminal at Getxo, about 10 kilometres from the centre of Bilbao. You can take a shuttle bus, public bus or the metro from Neguri station into town, where it is easy to reach the major sites on foot. A tram line links museums along the riverfront to Casco Viejo, and for great city views take the Funicular de Artxanda from the city to Mount Artxanda. Numerous organised day tours out of town go to beautiful Basque villages and wine regions, or to coastal towns such as Santurtzi.
MUST SEE Guggenheim Museum; the nearby Mueso de Bellas Artes; Azkuna Zentroa, a former wine warehouse that is now an arts and shopping centre; the Old Quarter; 19th-century Teatro Arriaga, overlooking the Nervion River; the art deco Mercado de la Ribera (food market with bars and cafes).
MUST EAT Bilbao is bursting with eateries ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants to the aforementioned pintxos, where you can sample Basque cuisine and well-priced local wines. Many dishes include cod (bacalao); spider crabs (txangurros) are another specialty, stuffed and baked.
NEED TO KNOW Spanish and Basque are the main languages spoken in Bilbao but English is widely understood. The 'tx' in Basque words such as pintxos is pronounced like 'ch' in English.
ESSENTIALS www.bilbaoturismo.net
CRUISEFACT
Just as many hotels and cruise ships don't have a floor, room or deck 13, Italian ships usually don't have a deck or staterooms numbered 17 because 17 is said to be unlucky.
NEWS
Expedition world cruise
Silversea Cruises is operating two world cruises in 2021. One is a "classic" 150-day, 34-country voyage on Silver Whisper, departing on January 7, 2021, from Fort Lauderdale; the second is the first-ever expedition world cruise, a 167-day voyage from Chile to Norway on Silversea's ultra-luxurious, ice-class crossover ship Silver Cloud. The "Uncharted World Tour" starts in Ushuaia on January 30, 2021, and after sailing to Antarctica and the Chilean fiords, Silver Cloud will call at 107 destinations in 30 countries. Among many inclusions on the expedition world cruise are adventurous shore excursions and onboard lectures by world-renowned explorers. Bookings for both voyages open on March and the two-bedroom Owner's Suite on Silver Cloud is offered at a price just short of $US1 million for the entire World Cruise. See www.silversea.com
Luxury rail-sail journey
Fans of rail and cruise travel can combine their passions on Cruise Traveller's new 17-night fly/cruise/rail/stay package to Greece, Croatia and Italy in May next year. The journey includes two nights accommodation in Athens before the seven-night cruise to Venice on Ponant's elegant, 122-stateroom adventure ship Le Lyrial, a five- night stay in Venice, a two-day train journey aboard the famous Venice Simplon Orient-Express train from Venice to London, then two nights in London before returning to Australia. Le Lyrial calls at Santorini, Napflion, Pylos and Parga in Greece and Dubrovnik and Hvar in Croatia, visiting several UNESCO World Heritage sites en route. The Orient-Express train ride includes lunch and dinner served in the restaurant cars and breakfast and afternoon tea in your cabin. From $15,895. See www.cruisetraveller.com.au
Make a date
Evergreen Cruises and Tours is hosting a series of travel shows around Australia to introduce its cruising and touring programs for 2020, kicking off in Perth at the Parmelia Hilton on March 5. The shows offer travellers the opportunity to ask staff questions about Evergreen's new river cruise and land tour itineraries in Europe, south-east Asia, Canada and Alaska, and there will be plenty of information on earlybird offers. Anyone making a booking for a cruise or tour on the day of a show will receive an exclusive discount. Travel shows will be held at the Hilton Sydney on March 7, Pullman on the Park in Melbourne on March 18, Hilton Brisbane on March 21 and the Pullman Adelaide on April 9. Reservations are essential. See www.evergreentours.com.au/rsvp
Arctic adventure
Adventure-cruise and small-ship specialist Cruise Traveller has some terrific earlybird savings and special offers for singles on its thrilling Greenland and Wild Labrador itinerary in September 2020. The 14-night cruise onboard the 198-passenger
expedition ship Ocean Endeavour follows the route of explorer Leif Erickson, from Kangerlussuaq in Greenland to St John's in Newfoundland, calling at some of the world's most spectacular and remote destinations along the way. Highlights include visiting Inuit communities, Zodiac trips in deserted glacial fjords, hiking in the Torngat
Mountains National Park and exploring Canada's restored Viking site at L'Anse aux Meadows. Cruise Traveller's cruise/stay package includes one night's accommodation in Toronto pre-cruise, charter flights from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, excursions and national park fees. Book by October 31, 2019 to save up to US$2580
per person. See cruisetraveller.com.au
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