Cunard's Queen Victoria has had an overhaul giving it a new Winter Garden and lido sun deck.Credit: Indusfoto Limited
VICTORIA' FACELIFT
Cunard's Queen Victoria is about to float out after a refurbishment that includes a new Winter Garden on deck nine with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean, and the introduction of 43 Britannia Club Staterooms in prime midship locations. Five of the ship's Penthouse Suites have also been overhauled, with additional storage, luxurious bathrooms and private balconies. Victoria has also been graced with a new lido sun deck with windbreakers, additional sun loungers and luxury cabanas, as well as an extended shaded area for those looking to dine outdoors.
Phone 13 24 41. See cunard.com.
Arctic sunset with Chimu Adventures.
INDIA BOUND
E-cruising has put together a land-cruise package that combines ports in the eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf with the Suez Canal and a visit to India, departing Australia on November 10, 2017. The package includes two nights in Rome and a 15-night voyage aboard Celebrity Constellation that visits Sicily and Greece and transits the Suez Canal before calling in at Aqaba in Jordan and Muscat in Oman, finishing in Abu Dhabi. It's followed by a flight to Delhi for a land tour that makes visits to Jaipur, Agra and the Taj Mahal.
Phone 1300 369 848. See ecruising.travel.
Glacier Bay, Alaska.
POLAR PASSIONS
Chimu Adventures is responding to the seemingly never-ending increase of interest in polar cruising by expanding its travel options to include a variety of off-the-beaten-track Arctic itineraries. Highlights include an eight-day Realm of the Polar Bear itinerary to Spitsbergen, a 15-day Arctic Highlights cruise that takes in the best of Spitsbergen, Greenland and Iceland, and a 13-day Top of the World cruise on an icebreaker into the Russian Arctic. Also new is a 17-day Northwest Passage: Epic High Arctic itinerary through the Canadian Arctic in the footsteps of explorer Sir John Franklin.
Phone 1300 720 564. See chimuadventures.com.
Life on board a Pandaw river cruise ship.
MORE ALASKA
Small-ship cruising in Alaska is undergoing quite a surge in interest too, and Windstar Cruises is the latest company to announce a return to Alaskan waters in 2018. Star Legend will sail Misty Fjords National Monument and Kenai Fjords National Park, and every Windstar itinerary will sail through Tracy Arm fiord, known for its glaciers. Park rangers, scientists, glaciologists and other experts will be aboard. The itineraries run between May and August 2018, some round-trip from Vancouver and others between Seward and Vancouver, and can be extended with pre- and post-cruise land tours.
Phone 1300 857 43. See traveltheworld.com.au
DELTA FORCE
Always-adventurous Asian river-cruise company Pandaw has launched a new expedition cruise in Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta that explores the mighty river's maze of tributaries, as yet barely explored by tourists. The seven-night itinerary features village life, markets, ancient trading ports, temples, churches and mosques, as well bird spotting and the chance of seeing saltwater crocodiles. The journey on the 16-cabin ship Katha Pandaw sails round-trip from Yangon and will visit a wildlife reserve, sea and river port towns, and pagodas of the delta region, connected to Yangon via the Twente Canal and Yangon River.
Phone 1300 783 188. See activetravel.com.au.
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