Azamara Quest in the Bay of Islands, NZ. Photo: Azamara When it comes to flying I’m an early morning person, but for the start of an ocean voyage there is something intensely romantic about an evening departure. Sailing across the inky waters of Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour is a delightful experience, but the sight of Devonport’s […]
Virgin Voyages’ Richard’s Rooftop. A month after opening bookings for Scarlet Lady’s inaugural Caribbean season in 2020, Virgin Voyages’ sales are going “incredibly well”, according to Tom McAlpin, Virgin Voyages’ president and CEO. He said, “We have been overwhelmingly pleased with the warm welcome we’ve received from our sailors. We crafted our itineraries based on […]
Lunch on the terrace on Silversea Muse. Photo: Supplied Wendell is late with our orchid. This is very un-Wendell-like. From the moment we meet, Wendell has been the most punctual, helpful, courteous, friendly, well-dressed butler I’ve had the pleasure to know. The fact he is also the first butler I’ve have known should not diminish […]
Lofoten needs to be seen to be believed. Basking within the icy flourish of the Arctic Circle is a jagged shoal of islands harbouring a secret. Happiness lives in this wild place, a calm contentment and sense of belonging nurtured by respect for 1000-year-old traditions. The Lofoten Islands wallow off northern Norway. This warm-hearted Gulf […]
The pool deck on Norwegian Jewel. Tony and Vicki are dancing again. It seems they can’t help themselves. Almost every song the talented duo Spoken Two play, the loved-up couple in their 60s are up there, up there, up there on the dance floor in Bliss Ultra Lounge, strutting their stuff. They quickly become everyone’s […]
Two cruise ship passengers were left behind in the Bahamas in February. You’re on a cruise, so what could possibly go wrong? Apart from stubbing your toe in the spa or not tipping the housekeeping staff and failing to get a towel monkey on your bed? Well, some things can go wrong. Some down to […]
Bugis street Market in Singapore. Photo: Shutterstock If you imagine cruise shopping is all about overpriced knitwear and dodgy wood carvings, then it’s time to venture beyond the frequently dismal offerings of cruise terminals and nearby shops, set up to relieve unwary passengers of unwanted currencies rather than supply them with interesting artworks or quirky […]
Riding a fishing boat towards Koh Yao Yai. Photo: Peregrine/Damien Raggatt Our pick-up is a wooden fishing boat of jaunty colours and a coughing engine that takes us across a blue bay just beginning to sparkle in the early-morning sun. Spray flies up over the bow and soaks my unsuspecting fellow passengers, but the response […]
Celebrity Edge arrives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Photo: Michel Verdure Celebrity Edge arrives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Another innovative new feature of Edge is Magic Carpet, a 90-tonne platform the size of a tennis court that is cantilevered over the ship’s starboard side. Painted tangerine, it moves up and down the side of the vessel […]
In Hong Kong, the rack-railway ride up Victoria Peak, a trip out to fishing village Aberdeen and seaside Stanley, or an excursion to Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island are classic shore excursions. Photo: Supplied Forgive the cruise companies. When you’ve spent hundreds of millions on a new ship, it’s only natural to sing the […]
Sky Princess on Sydney Harbour. Photo: Supplied While chatting with Majestic Princess’ Captain Dino Sagani in Trieste’s famed Caffe degli Specchi, it becomes clear that he is something of a celebrity in his home town. The cafe’s manager is an old friend, people stop to greet him at our table and others stroll by and […]
The viewing lounge aboard Viking’s Star Explorer. Viking has a fleet of six identical ocean-going ships. Photo: Eric Laignel THE SHIP Inside Viking Sun’s all-Scandinavian gift shop there’s a coffee table book entitled Nordic Style: A Celebration of Scandinavian Life. Its theme encapsulates the Viking Sun itself, an adults-only, casino-free, 930-passenger Norwegian cruise ship. It is […]
Aranui 5 visits the Marquesas Islands every three weeks. “The whole area was packed with human heads … they lay side by side, grinning in all directions, with big, empty eye sockets, seeming to sniff the jungle air with fleshless nostrils.” Thor Heyerdahl, Fatu-Hiva, Back To Nature. It’s the night before I visit the tiny […]
Women often have a couple of cocktail outfits they’re dying to wear, and a cruise is the perfect opportunity, particularly on ships like Cunard’s iconic Queen Mary 2 (pictured). Photo: Christopher Ison A first-time cruising friend once announced: “I just embraced the dagginess! And went with the flow”. Not a bad idea really when you […]
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam. Photo: Supplied It’s not often that you see a godmother of a new ship so exuberant and gleeful as Oprah Winfrey when she christened Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam in February. “I’m a godmother!” the starr declared in front of a select group of friends, family, fans and Holland America Line VIPs […]
Joel Katz, managing director Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia, says picking your ideal cruise can be daunting. Joel Katz is the managing director of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia. He has cruised to destinations around the world and experienced ships across the full spectrum of the cruise industry. See cruising.org.au STEP ONE Don’t worry about […]
Pulau Padar island, inside the Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Photo: Shutterstock I’ve always wanted to see Komodo dragons. They loom the size of dinosaurs in television nature documentaries, slobbering and chomping on buffalo haunches. Breathless narrators tell you how their saliva is poisonous, and how they’ve been known to drag villagers off to their doom […]
Crystal Symphony offers low-key luxury. Photo: Ian Schemper Papeete isn’t the loveliest town in which to embark on the loveliest of cruises, but it has a certain raffish charm. It makes me think of Somerset Maugham’s short stories set in the South Pacific, where foreign misfits slowly unravel amid seamy ports, oppressive humidity and lurid […]
The azure waters of the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. Photo: Alamy I’m often drawn to canoeing and kayaking when perusing a ship’s shore excursion menu, despite evidence confirming I have no ability. Who wouldn’t get excited about dolphin kayaking at Byron Bay or paddling through the Aurlandsfjord in Flam, Norway? Yes, enormously enticing but […]
PHOTOS: The Queen Elizabeth’s pool deck. Photo: Supplied The ship’s main restaurant, Brittania. Photo: Supplied The Garden Lounge. Photo: Supplied Traditional English games like bowls and croquet on the games deck. Photo: Supplied The two-storey library on board. Photo: Supplied The ship features more than 700 balcony rooms. Photo: Supplied Steakhouse at The Verandah, one […]
The Regent Seven Seas Explorer. The view of the endless horizon from the two-bedroomed Regent Suite aboard Seven Seas Explorer is awe-inspiring. As it should be. First, because this suite is directly above the captain’s bridge so there’s an uninterrupted vista of the mighty Atlantic ocean. And second, because it costs $US11,000 a night to book and […]
An aerial view of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Photo: Alamy Even though seemingly at least half of the developed world hankers, vainly in the main, to one day visit it, French Polynesians can be a little disdainful of their most famous piece of paradise perfection. “Boring Boring” they love to irreverently refer to it. Privately […]
Trondheim, Norway. Photo: Alamy Our small ship has negotiated the glittering chain that is Norway’s Trondelag archipelago in the Norwegian Sea, threading through myriad islands, islets and skerries to sail into the elongated Trondheimsfjorden. Visions of Norway generally conjure lacy fiord landscapes or Arctic Tundra, but Trondelag, and its capital Trondheim, wedged into the heart […]
A cruise ship arrives in Havana. Photo: AP The Trump administration on Tuesday ended the most popular forms of US travel to Cuba, banning cruise ships and a heavily used category of educational travel in an attempt to cut off cash to the island’s communist government. Cruise travel from the US to Cuba began in May 2016 […]
Many cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas. Photo: Shutterstock The regulations that apply to ships are determined by the country where they are registered. Some countries have stricter regulations, such as the US, which supplies the cruise market with the majority of its customers. A ship registered in the US is governed by United […]
Once you’ve had a balcony all to yourself, there’s no going back. Photo: Alamy The cabin on my very first cruise had a small porthole window, so high up that I had to stand on the bunk bed to look out to sea. I loved my little window on the world, but I’m sorry – […]