Cruising the Americas: from Canadian glaciers to Cubzparadise

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Cruising the Americas: from Canadian glaciers to Cubzparadise

By Brian Johnston
Crystal Serenity sailing Arctic waters.

Crystal Serenity sailing Arctic waters.

From the glaciers of Alaska and the Chilean fiords to the tropical hues of the Caribbean and the leaf-peeping pleasures of autumnal New England, cruises in the Americas showcase flamboyant landscapes. Add varied and colourful cultures, the cruise kudos of going through the Panama Canal and great port cities from New York to Rio de Janeiro, and you have abundant reasons to set sail. Here are the chief regions to consider.

CUBA

Seabourn Cruise Lines will begin sailing to this, the fastest-growing destination, from November. The ultimate Caribbean island flaunts dazzling beaches and a mountainous interior of sugar plantations and jungle, but also combines Spanish, African and Caribbean cultures, music and cuisine. This is a cruise destination of lusty energy, tapping to the rhythms of mambo and jazz, and on the cusp of enormous change.

While Havana is Cuba's most-visited port, many small-ship companies such as Azamara Club Cruises, Oceania Cruises, SeaDream Yacht Club and Scenic visit other destinations. Cienfuegos and Trinidad de Cuba have World Heritage old towns in which pastel-painted sugar and tobacco mansions are carbuncled in wrought iron and plasterwork. Santiago de Cuba, guarded by an 18th-century fortress, is a sultry, music-filled city, famous for its festivals and street energy.

More adventurous, expedition-style cruises from the likes of Lindblad Expeditions and Star Clippers combine historic cities with offshore islands such as Cayo Largo del Sur and Isla de la Juventud, a former buccaneer base claimed to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

CARIBBEAN

The Caribbean is a rich jambalaya of cultures, peoples and cuisines, while the coast of Central America and Mexico adds Mayan pyramids, national parks and vibrant cities. Cartagena in Colombia is a hotspot for its Spanish-era old town, which is one of the Caribbean's most beautiful, history-rich ports. Eco-destinations such as Costa Rica also attract attention.

Big-ship companies operate here, but small ships sail you away from overcrowded cruise ports to more nuanced destinations. Ponant takes you snorkelling and scuba-diving in Belize and the Grenadines, Crystal Cruises to Dutch island Saba and Antigua, with its heritage naval port and white-sand beaches.

Windstar Cruises has announced new ports in Mexico, Honduras, Grand Cayman, Dominican Republic and Jamaica for its 2019 season. In 2020 its Grand Caribbean Adventure on Wind Surf is a nearly two-month tall-ship cruise that will explore the Caribbean.

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SOUTH AMERICA

A cruise around South America might take you from Caribbean beaches to Patagonian glaciers, visiting deserts capped with pink volcanoes along the way. Pre-Columbian ruins and Spanish-colonial architecture contrast with dynamic cities such as Buenos Aires, Santiago and Lima.

Most cruise companies operate here, with Viking Cruises and Aurora Expeditions notable for their recent South American expansion. Viking's 87-day Americas and Chilean Fiords itinerary loops around the entire continent on a cruise between New York and Los Angeles in October this year.

Chile's magnificent coastline, scrunched between rolling Pacific breakers and towering Andes peaks, is the continent's scenic highlight. Cruise south and you'll find yourself among glaciers and penguins. Puerto Montt has a 19th-century German settler heritage and stunning lakes, Chiloé Island a distinctive culture and folklore derived from centuries of isolation, and Puerto Chacabuco is surrounded by a collision of volcanoes and glaciers.

Punta Arenas is the jumping-off point for visiting stunning national park Torres del Paine and, along with Ushuaia in Argentina, the gateway to Antarctica. A new adventure cruise from World Expeditions through South America's fiords sails between Punta Arenas and Ushuaia, providing the chance to see penguin and seal colonies and the landscapes of the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn.

ALASKA

The northern counterpoint to Chile's fiords, Alaska is a perennially popular cruise destination with ports such as Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and Ketchikan sometimes swamped with shore-excursion visitors. Some 30 large ships alone operate in Alaska from bases in either Vancouver or Seattle.

This is one of few places where you can get up close to numerous huge glaciers. College Fiord unleashes eight of them on three sides of your ship. Further south, serrated Malaspina Glacier in Icy Bay sparkles like a snowdome fantasy. Hubbard Glacier is particularly impressive: the longest tidewater glacier in North America, with cliff-sized walls of ice and a face nearly 10 kilometres wide.

You can still feel as if you've fallen off the map. Small ships sail into the crannies of Alaska's spectacularly indented coastline, often anchoring overnight in bays unspoiled by signs of human presence. Among expedition-style operators is Aurora, Windstar, Ponant, Natural Habitat Adventures and Un-Cruise Adventures, each tempting with whale- and grizzly bear-spotting, kayaking among sea lions and hiking in national parks.

CANADIAN ARCTIC

Canada's polar regions have a dramatic history of exploration and maritime adventure, and cruise ships sail amid remote, ice-encrusted landscapes. Global warming is focusing ever more interest on this environment, with polar bear-spotting a must-do. The emergence of Iceland as a travel hotspot has further fuelled interest in Arctic cruises.

New ships from Crystal, Ponant and Scenic have made (or will shortly make) Arctic appearances. In 2020, Lindbald's new polar-class ship National Geographic Endurance embarks on a series of inaugural Arctic itineraries, including an East Greenland cruise into the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park. Aurora's new ship Greg Mortimer, launching in October 2019, has a 21-day Inuit Arctic and Beyond voyage linking Iceland, Greenland and Canada.

Established companies such as Chimu Adventures, Poseidon Expeditions and Quark Expeditions have greatly expanded Arctic itineraries. The fabled Northwest Passage has become a cruise staple, with sailings even on mainstream cruise lines such as Crystal and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

NORTH-EAST COAST

Cruises that take in Canada's maritime provinces and New England's states usually start in Quebec City or Montreal, and sail the St Lawrence River and Atlantic coastline as far as Boston or New York. Autumn is popular for its explosion of orange extravagance. Mainstream companies make the journey, joined by luxury companies such as Crystal, Seabourn and Silversea, and small-ship newcomers such as Scenic and Hurtigruten.

Landscapes are wild, whale-haunted and windswept, but Canadian-cute as well. Red barns sit among apple orchards and steeples gleam white. In the Gulf of St Lawrence, ships might call at Gaspé on a sweeping bay abundant with nesting puffins and sunbathing seals, or at the red-cliffed Îles-de-la-Madeleine, harbouring battered fishermen's cottages.

Halifax on the open Atlantic Ocean is the last Canadian hurrah. It sits on one of the world's largest natural harbours and is crowned by an 18th-century citadel dating from its days as a key British Empire naval base. The town is lively with music festivals, youthful energy and more pubs than any other city in Canada.

Among ports of call in the United States are once-grand Victorian resort Bar Harbor and historic Portland (both in Maine) and Newport in Rhode Island, whose rich colonial history and wonderful architecture reflect its golden age as a fashionable 19th-century resort. In Boston you can follow the Freedom Trail to learn about the significant role the city played in American independence. Shore excursions might also visit revolutionary sites such as Lexington and Concord, adding yet more interest to a very multifaceted continent.

ROLLING ON THE RIVER

The United States is the only country in the Americas with a range of river-cruise options, and has rich pickings. The two best-known rivers are the Mississippi and Columbia, but you can also journey along the Arkansas, Cumberland, Detroit, Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee rivers on cruises that explore early settlement history, the Civil War as well as blues and jazz music. Cruises also sail on the 19th-century industrial canal network and various waterways that link the Great Lakes and the eastern seaboard as far as Florida.

River-cruise companies include American Cruise Lines, American Queen Steamboat Company, Blount Small Ship Adventures and French America Line.

Beyond the US, the Amazon is a great wilderness destination. Small expedition ships focus on the Peruvian Amazon, though some sail in Brazil. Companies include Aqua Expeditions, Avalon Waterways, Delfin, Lindblad Expeditions and Scenic . A few ocean expedition companies such as Hapag-Lloyd and Ponant also sail the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.

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