An Azamara ship sails into Sydney.
TRANS-TASMAN CRUISING
Azamara Club Cruises is offering more Australian and New Zealand itineraries than ever in 2019, including its first Melbourne departure and maiden calls to Gisborne, Nelson and Stewart Island. Azamara Quest will arrive in Australia in late 2018, making its way from Singapore to Perth, before a December 22, 2018, departure from Melbourne on a 15-night Christmas voyage, with three nights docked in Sydney for New Year's Eve celebrations. There are also New Zealand cruises out of Sydney and Melbourne and a 15-night Auckland to Cairns voyage departing February 21, 2019.
Phone 1800 754 500. See azamaraclubcruises.com
HANSEATIC LEAGUE
There seems no end to the expansion of small-ship cruising, especially aimed at the polar regions. Now Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has named its two new five-star expedition ships Hanseatic Nature and Hanseatic Inspiration. Two small, identical, state-of-the-art expedition ships have the highest ice-class rating for passenger vessels, special environment-friendly features, three restaurants, an extensive wellness area and a marina for water sports. They will each accommodate 230 passengers (or 199 passengers on Antarctic expeditions). Nature will launch in April 2019 and serve the German-speaking market, but Inspiration, launching in October 2019, will offer bilingual cruises.
Phone 02 9977 7100. See hl-cruises.com
ALTERNATIVE RUSSIA
Scenic is offering an interesting alternative river cruise in Russia with very different destinations to the standard Moscow-St Petersburg itinerary. The 15-day Imperial Russia cruise, with a one-off departure date on September 30, 2018, sails the Volga River between Moscow and Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) on Scenic Tsar. It visits the old trading cities of Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod, plus Kostroma for its Choreographic College of National Ballet and a concert at Noble Assembly House. In Volgograd, guests visit Mamayev Hill memorial and its World War Two monuments dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad.
Phone 13 81 28. See scenic.com.au
WORLD TOUR
It's around the world in 180 days for Oceania Cruises when Insignia sets sail from New York, Miami or Los Angeles (all optional starting points) in January 2019 and visits 90 destinations across five continents. The epic route heads west to Hawaii and the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, Asia, the Holy Land and Mediterranean before crossing the Atlantic to New England, Canada and Bermuda. It will feature 14 overnight stays in places as diverse as Bali, Hong Kong, Yangon and Luxor, and include a host of exclusive shore events for round-the-world guests.
Phone 1300 355 200. See oceaniacruises.com
POLE POSITION
Aurora Expeditions is offering two new itineraries in Antarctica. The new, 11-day fly-sail Antarctic Explorer itinerary, departing Punta Arenas in Chile on February 17 and February 25, 2018, has only one crossing of the Drake Passage by ship, maximising time on the Antarctic Peninsula. The new 15-day Sub-Antarctic Safari cruise features South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, with a particular emphasis on wildlife, including elephant seals, fur seals and king penguins. It departs Santiago in Chile on March 24, 2018, and includes return flights to the Falklands to also minimise days at sea.
Phone 1800 637 688. See auroraexpeditions.com.au
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