THE LONG VOYAGE LIVES!
Cruises & Travel looks at Princess Cruises’ latest World Cruise
In the days of mass immigration from Europe to New Zealand most sailed for five or so weeks via the Suez or Panama canals on long voyages on some pretty basic ships with not many ports of call.
For Kiwis the original OE was usually the long sea journey often with up to five others in the cabin, sharing facilities. The voyage was then followed by maybe a few months or even years in UK and Europe. Despite the ships not being luxurious, the explorers loved these great expeditions and the romance of ship-board life. Indeed many a romance or marriage in those days started ship board.
Even with the advent of the jet age these long voyages never ceased. From the 70’s to the 90’s we still saw annual world voyages by Cunard with the QE II, and P&O with iconic ships like Oriana and Canberra, keeping the golden age of travel alive.
It seems the fascination with world cruising has never left the hearts of Kiwis and Australians and in recent years Princess Cruises, who offer an annual 100 plus days Round World Cruise from Auckland over our winter has no trouble filling the ship.
Their 2020 itinerary has been announced with sales opening this week. It is a 106 day beauty, touching six continents, visiting 39 destinations and ports, with four overnight stays in Dubai, Venice, New York and Lima.
This full world cruise offers the opportunity for cruisers to tick off some personal maritime milestones like crossing the equator crossing the arctic circle munding, North Cape at 71 degrees North, crossing the Dateling and of course transiting both the Suez and Panama canals - All without visiting a single airport! Passengers taking these cruises are not only attracted by the contrasting ports of call, in this case as diverse as New York and Pitcairn Island, but also the lazy relaxing days at sea. The modern ships, with multiple pools, restaurants, bars, cafes, and of course spa facilities, offer relaxing in true resort style.
With fares starting from as low as $250 p.p. per day including transport, food and entertainment, these long cruises represent amazing value, especially when compared to a business class flight to Europe at around 10 times the per day cost!
If you don’t have three months spare there are options to split the World Cruise in half and fly one way, and a number of other long cruises in Princess Cruises’ 2020 programme including 31 – 73 night Pacific explorations. The age of the long voyage continues!