Unique Itineraries with Longer Cruises

One of the trends we’re seeing in 2022 is that people are taking longer vacations.  Part of this is certainly a hangover from the pandemic, but it could be a trend that is here to stay.  The event in 2020-21 (of which we shall not speak!) made people’s bucket list that much more urgent.

So how about a longer voyage?  I’m going to define this as anything longer than 30 days, right up to the 200-day world cruise in 2025 that Oceania is getting ready to offer for sale on Wednesday. 

Not everyone has the time or financial resources to cruise for weeks (or months) on end, but it might not be as expensive as it would first appear.  Most obviously, whatever amounts you spend on everyday living expenses like groceries and gas for your car should be deducted from the cost of these extended voyages.

Longer trips are also cheaper on a per-day basis.  For example, if you had two trips to Europe planned in subsequent years, and instead did them back-to-back, you save the round-trip airfare of one of those trips. 

Perhaps most important is that you just never know when opportunities will be taken away (as we’ve all learned in the past couple of years).

One of my personal regrets:  I’ve long wanted to travel the Volga River between Moscow and St. Petersburg – now I’m not hopeful for travel to Russia any time soon.

So, if you’d like to consider being away a bit longer, here are some of the opportunities we’re seeing.

World Cruise Segments – the cruise lines have figured out that not everyone can be away for 6 months at a time.  So, they release their world cruises, then a month or two later, they release sections of those cruises (based on how much space they have available).  We see people who have already spent a lot of time in Europe opt for these segments as they expand their travels to other parts of the world.  A couple of examples:

1. [NEWLY open for booking] Miami to San Diego on Oceania Insignia (180 days) – departing January 5, 2025. 
2. Travel eastward (a bit unusual for a world cruise).  Visit South America, then cross to Southern Africa, up to the Maldives and Seychelles, over to India, then to Asia and Western Australia, New Zealand, before heading to the Pacific Islands on the way home.
3. Overnight stays for the Amazon (Manaus), Rio de Janeiro, African Safari (Capetown), the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon, and Terracotta Warriors (Shanghai), Auckland, Bora Bora, Papeete, and Honolulu.
4. Prices from $44,999 or $67,199 per person for a balcony on the 656 guest Oceania Sirena
5. Includes Gratuities, free laundry services, and shoreside events. 
6. Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale on Island Princess (97 Days) – Jan. 2024.
7. Sail westward to the Pacific Islands, Australia/New Zealand, the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, and back to Florida.
8. Prices from $18,199.  Balconies from $26,799.

Trans-Pacific – We forget how big the Pacific Ocean is (for our discussion, let’s consider it to be approximately half the planet).  As such, it takes a while to travel across it.  We see such cruises in repositioning season – spring and fall, when the ships migrate to/from Alaska and the South Pacific.  The other time we see these itineraries is on the first segment of world cruises (which usually leave in January).

1. San Diego round-trip on HAL Volendam (94-nights) – departing January 3, 2024.
2. Visit Hawaii, Fiji, French Polynesia, Australia (19 stops in Australia, with overnights in Perth and Sydney), New Zealand and Tahiti.  This is a great chance to visit Down Under without the punishing flights.
3. Prices from $17,199 per person.
4. Los Angeles to Sydney on Seabourn Odyssey (47 nights) – departing October 21, 2023.
5. Visit Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia.
6. Prices start at $19,809 per person.  Remember, the entry level room on Seabourn is a 300 square foot suite.

River “World Cruises” – this is a new trend, but we’ve seen both AMA Waterways and Uniworld get in the game with multiple rivers, and the flights and logistics covered between ships.  AMA’s 7-River Journey for 2024 was just released; here are some details:

1. Amsterdam to Giurgiu, Romania (or reverse) on AMA Mora (49 days) – departing on April 22, 2024 (OR June 10, 2024).
2. Visit the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova.
3. Prices start at $25,649 per person for a window room, or $30,051 pp for a French Balcony.
4. It all takes place on ONE vessel, so you only unpack once.  See our ship tour video of the AMA Mora here:  https://youtu.be/BCfmq1g4CaU

Australia Circumnavigation – we get asked about this quite often, and a few different companies do it.  It’s a minimum of 4 weeks, and if you like a lot of sea days, this a great option.  Australia is a huge country.  It’s about the same size as the lower 48, but with only 26 million people – so there’s lots of wide-open space between cities. 

1. Round-trip Sydney on Oceania Regatta (35 days) – departing December 21, 2023.
2. Prices start at $6899 per person ($9699 pp for a veranda)

South America – You can certainly take shorter cruises here, but the most interesting itineraries include both the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts, and maybe Antarctica.  Either way, you’re looking at thousands of miles, and as such, this takes some time.  Example:

1. Rio de Janeiro to Santiago on Oceania Marina (30 days) – departing January 8, 2023.
2. Visit Brazil, Argentina, Chilean Fjords, Patagonia
3. Prices start at $7099 per person ($9399 pp for a balcony)

Northwest Passage – I mentioned how big Australia is, and Canada is even bigger (about 30% larger than the Lower 48).  Only Russia is larger.  So, when you add the huge area of Alaska on to the Canadian North, it’s not a shock that this journey takes a month.  This cruise is near the top of my personal bucket list.

1. Reykjavik to Vancouver on Hurtigruten’s Fridtjof Nansen (27 days) – departing August 13, 2023.
2. Visit Iceland, Greenland, Nunavut Territory, Northwest Territory, Yukon Territory, and Alaska.
3. Prices from $26,569 per person.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley