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SMALL SHIP TRAVEL | INSPIRATION JUNE 2020 NEWSLETTER
A Message from the Team
Welcome to our very first monthly newsletter. As Australia’s most experienced small ship cruise specialists, Cruise Traveller represents over 50 boutique and expedition cruise lines around the world. Like you, our friendly team of experts loves the intimate, luxurious and carefree joys of exploring faraway places aboard smaller ships. As the ropes of 2020’s unprecedented events loosen, we are now closer than ever to setting sail again on the world’s oceans and rivers. First to cast the lines will be expedition cruises in Australian waters – see further below – however pent-up demand has seen cabins book quickly for 2021 voyages further abroad. So don’t miss the boat – call us this month to secure your holiday next year. Our new newsletter is designed to help you dream and plan your next adventure afloat.
Win a Cruise – To celebrate our first edition, we and our good friends at Riviera Travel River Cruises are giving you the chance, below, to win a European cruise for two valued at $7,978!
Good luck and keep exploring!
Pictured above: Back row (L to R) – Nicolette, Kirsten, Sam, Karen, Del and Managing Director Craig Bowen. Front Row (L to R): Melinda, Linda, Kylie, Rejana and Louise. With us in spirit (if not in the flesh) our interstate Key Partnership Managers Laura and Julie, Andrew from the Communications team and NZ -based Directors, Joe and Donal O’Sullivan.
Win a Dream European Cruise in 2021 with Riviera Travel River Cruises
Here’s your chance to win a five-star European cruise, courtesy of our key cruise line partner, Riviera Travel River Cruises. This amazing prize is a seven-night cruise for two aboard Riviera Travel’s brand new river ship, MS Geoffrey Chaucer, on the line’s latest itinerary for 2021 – Amsterdam, Cologne and the Best of Holland and Flanders. Boarding in Amsterdam on October 13, 2021, you’ll discover the canals, windmills, palaces and cultural highlights of Holland, the cobbled, medieval streetscapes of Belgium and the Gothic marvels of Cologne in Germany where the journey ends. Along the way, you’ll take in the scenery from your Middle Deck suite with its own French balcony so you can feast on the magical scenery passing by. Enjoy gourmet meals and daily, included shore excursions. Riviera Travel River Cruises will offer its biggest-ever program of river cruises in Europe in 2021 aboard 14 luxury river ships that rank amongst the youngest in Europe. Riviera Travel will also offer 10 sailings in 2021 exclusively for solo travellers, free of single supplements, as well as limited number of supplement-free cabins on every sailing next year. Riviera Travel is also renowned for its affordable fares, with an eight-day cruise starting at just A$2459 per person, twin-share. To see Riviera Travel’s new brochure for 2021, click here.
To book, call us on 1800 507 777 or contact your preferred travel agent. Click Here to Enter
Announcing Our New Partner – Murray River Paddlesteamers
One of the first cruise companies to begin sailing in Australia again is Murray River Paddlesteamers – our latest small ship cruise line partner. Their historic, 18-guest vessel, Emmylou – the world’s only wood-fired paddlesteamer – is now offering Australia’s most luxurious, overnight boutique river cruises. This enchanting and freshly renewed vessel, which starred in the 1983 mini-series, ‘All the Rivers Run’, is offering relaxing 3, 4 and the newly released 6-night journeys from Echuca including visits to redgum forests, farms, wineries and indigenous sites plus the magic of riverside campfires under the stars. Discover More
See Australia
Australian small ship expeditions are tipped to be the first cruises to set sail again in our waters. So, with that in mind, we’ve gathered all the best close-to-home, boutique cruises in one place so you can plan a journey to the Kimberley, southern Australia, the tropics or New Zealand.
Small ships are big news in cruising, with cruise lines building more expedition vessels to meet growing demand for journeys to more remote corners of the planet. Five ships under construction that particularly excite us at Cruise Traveller are:
Ocean Victory – Built expressly and responsibly for deep-nature exploration in wildest Alaska, this striking, new, 200-guest ship will debut in 2021 for boutique line, Victory Cruise Lines. Immersive shore excursions will be led by expert marine biologists, scientists and naturalists so you can experience the real Alaska away from the big ship cruise crowds. Until June 30, 2020, you can save thousands on Ocean Victory’s inaugural Alaskan expeditions – click here
American Countess – The newest gem in American Queen Steamboat Company’s paddlewheeler fleet, American Countess welcomes 245 guests along the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland, and Mississippi rivers. Her sleek, contemporary design offers plenty of open space for gathering and sharing the fun, and you’ll love the great forward-facing windows. For details, click here
Le Commandant-Charcot – 2021 will see the debut of Ponant’s new luxury, icebreaking ship. Powered sustainably by liquefied natural gas and electric batteries, this game-changing, 270-guest polar vessel will be capable of taking you all the way to the top of the world at the Geographic North Pole. What an incredible experience that would be! For more, click here
Silver Origin – Bringing all-inclusive luxury to the Galapagos Islands soon will be Silversea’s sleek, 100-guest Silver Origin. This masterpiece in expedition cruising launched this month and brings a whole new standard of travel to the world’s most beautiful marine park. For details, click here
Ultramarine – Nearing completion is Quark Expeditions’ new, 199-guest, polar vessel, Ultramarine, which will offer two helicopters and a host of Arctic adventure activities like heli-skiing and heli-hiking. Click here
For more on any of our small ship cruise experiences, call our friendly team at Cruise Traveller on 1800 507 777.
Riviera Travel: Christmas Markets Cruise
By Andrew Mevissen
Have you ever experienced the magic of Europe’s Christmas markets? A yuletide journey along the Danube or Rhine with Riviera Travel River Cruises is the perfect way to visit lots of colourful Christmas markets in different towns and countries. Andrew from our communications team did just that last December. To see how a Christmas markets cruise turned Andrew from a Christmas scrooge into a merry elf, click here
Kay on a Ponant expedition cruise
“As a solo traveller, I find small ships are ideal as they are intimate and friendlier. It’s so easy to get to know fellow passengers and crew and I also get to visit interesting and remote places. I don’t travel to go shopping. I like to visit beautiful and special places. And that’s why I sailed with Ponant in February to Macquarie Island and other sub-Antarctic islands. And next February, I’m booked with Silversea to cruise from Melbourne to Darwin via the Kimberley. I always have a lovely cabin to myself and really enjoy the journey.”
Kay H, Port Melbourne, VIC
Fun Facts About the Sub-Antarctic Islands
- Half-way between Tasmania and Antarctica, Australia’s Macquarie Island is home to 3.5 million seabirds, 80,000 huge elephant seals and 1.5 million penguins.
- Another of the Sub-Antarctic isles – uninhabited and barren Campbell Island – is home to the world’s most remote tree. The lonely Sitka spruce is the island’s only tree and 222km from the next nearest tree on the Auckland Islands to the north.
- There are only three places you can easily see King Penguins – South Georgia (on the other side of the world), the Happy Feet movie – and the Sub-Antarctic’s Macquarie Island!
- Described as the ‘Galapagos of the Southern Ocean’, the remote and protected Sub-Antarctic islands boast wildlife seen nowhere else on Earth.
- Just 1500 visitors a year are allowed ashore on Macquarie Island, only from ships carrying less than 200 passengers.
Discover Them for Yourself
If you’d like to be one of the privileged few to discover these amazing, far-flung islands in 2021, Ponant’s luxury, 184-guest Le Bellot will be taking nature lovers on very special expeditions to the Sub Antarctic Islands. Discover More
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