PASTURES NEW
Maiden voyages, innovative features and new itineraries – there’s lots happening in the world of cruising next year
Several new ships were launched this year, while in 2018, some 200,000 berths will be added to the stock.
And with newcomers come innovations. Here is just a small selection of what to expect in coming months…
MSC Cruises’ (msccruises.co.uk) new Meraviglia, soon to be followed by sister ship Seaside, has four pools (including a 25m long one), 12 dining venues, and entertainment ranging from Cirque du Soleil to a comedy club and karaoke.
Silversea’s (silversea.com) Silver
Muse has jettisoned the main dining salon – featured on virtually all other cruise ships – in favour of several smaller venues, with cuisines ranging from Japanese to French.
Towards the end of 2018, Celebrity
Cruises (celebritycruises.co.uk) will launch the first of its Edge class of ship, which will have an open-sided external moving structure called the Magic Carpet. Roughly the size of a tennis court, the structure will travel between decks two and 17 performing different functions according to the level, from bar to tender embarkation platform.
Technical innovations are championed by Hurtigruten’s (hurtigruten.co.uk) newest ship, MS Roald Amundsen, which employs hybrid technology. It can switch to electric power, reducing emissions and allowing passengers, and wildlife, to experience precious silence at certain times during a trip.
Fred Olsen (fredolsen.co.uk) is adding rivers to its broad portfolio of ocean voyages. In 2018, 56-passenger
Brabant will offer 30 river-boat itineraries on the Danube, Rhine, Main and Moselle, ranging from five to 25 nights.
In winter 2018, Holland America’s (hollandamerica.com) Nieuw Statendam will join this year’s newcomer, the Koningsdam, to cross the Atlantic in December and spend the rest of the season in the Caribbean.
Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ (cruiseandmaritime.com) new flagship,
Columbus, is now cruising year-round from London. Promising traditionalstyle cruising, the ship will add its 1,400 passengers to the just under a million who will sail from UK ports next year.