Alaska and other cool adventures

ARE YOU planning to take a cruise in 2018? There are daring itineraries and entertainments to tempt you and new vessels to explore. Not booking just yet? Visit the V&A and wallow in cruising nostalgia.

ADVENTURE ON THE WAVES No longer just for backpackers, adventure travel has increased in popularity by 65 per cent in the past five years, according to the Adventure Travel Trade Association and it is one of 2018’s hottest luxury-cruise trends. Lonely Planet has tipped “exploratory” cruising as one of this year’s most exciting pursuits, with trips into the jungle or to the Poles, as well as the chance to engage with local culture and nature. Azamara Club Cruises is focusing heavily on enabling passengers to meet locals and discover the destination’s culture, such as salsa and art in Cuba on four new sailings. And top-end cruises are also offering more adventurous excursions, say experts from the London Cruise Show (cruiseshow. co.uk) — Oceania has an option to try dog sledding in Alaska.

OCEAN STYLE Get a taste of the glory days of ocean travel, with a new

Cruising from an artistic angle at London’s V&A exhibition at the V&A. Ocean Liners: Speed and Style opens tomorrow and features exhibits from some of the world’s best-known ships. Along with a fragment from a door of the first-class lounge of the Titanic and a tiara from the Lusitania, there is artwork, fashion and design which has helped shaped our impressions of life on board. vam.ac.uk/exhibitions

THE JEWISH DANUBE

Discover Jewish heritage on a luxurious river cruise from Germany to Hungary this summer, exclusive to The Travel Academy. The seven-night Danube cruise, on AmaSerena, also travels through Austria and Slovakia, visiting sites including the synagogues of Linz and Salzburg, Holocaust memorials in Vienna and Bratislava, Rabbi Chatam Sofer’s tomb in Bratislava and the Jewish district and old Jewish cemetery of Budapest. Departing June 15, the cruise costs from £2,378 per person including flights and transfers. Book on 0800 652 6104 or see thetravelacademy.co.uk

Jungle and polar expeditions are big for 2018’

PRINCESS TAKES TO THE SKY

If the natural wonders and wildlife of Alaska have tempted you to book a trip, there is a new way to experience it, thanks to Princess Cruises. The cruise line is opening a treehouse at its Mount McKinley Wilderness Lodge, with views over Alaska’s Denali National Park, home to North America’s highest peak, as well as space for themed activities