USA TODAY International Edition
New options on cruise routes are going global
Cruise lines are continually tweaking their schedules. Sometimes it’s just the addition of a single port to a long- established itinerary. Other times it’s the rollout of an all- new route.
Here, some notable new itinerary announcements from the past few weeks.
CUNARD TO ALASKA ...
The storied Cunard Line in 2019 will offer something it hasn’t in more than two decades: a voyage to Alaska.
The 27- night sailing on the Queen Elizabeth will kick off May 5, 2019, in Yokohama, Japan, and include stops in Aomori and Sapporo, Japan, before the ship crosses the Pacific to Alaska for more than half a dozen calls.
Port stops in Alaska will include Kodiak, Anchorage, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. The 2,092passenger vessel also will call in Victoria, British Columbia, before the voyage ends in Vancouver, B. C .
Fares start at $ 4,409 per person, based on double occupancy.
... AND AROUND THE WORLD, TOO
Cunard also is planning another epic around- the- world cruise that will include stops at more than 30 ports on six continents.
The 107- night voyage on the 2,014- passenger Queen Victoria will begin on Jan. 10, 2019, in Southampton, England, and end in the same port on April 27.
The Queen Victoria will follow a westerly route that starts with a trans- Atlantic sailing to Bermuda and Fort Lauderdale before stops in the Caribbean. From there, a transit through the Panama Canal will take the ship to the west coast of Mexico and San Francisco before it crosses the Pacific to Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia.
Eventually, the ship will head north to the Canary Islands before returning to Southampton.
Cunard pioneered the concept of around- the- world voyages nearly a century ago and has offered dozens of the trips over the years. Fares start at $ 17,579 per person, based on double occupancy.
NEW YORK TO RUSSIA AND BACK
Luxury line Regent Seven Seas Cruises plans an epic, 89- night sailing from New York to Russia and back that will include rare stops in the far- north Russian cit- ies of Murmansk and Archangel.
The Grand Arctic Splendors voyage, as it’s being called, will take place on Regent’s recently renovated Seven Seas Navigator.
The trip will start June 21, 2018, with a transit up the East Coast to Canada. From there, Navigator will sail northeast across the Atlantic to Greenland and Iceland before making nearly a dozen stops in the British Isles.
Emerging from the Baltic, Navigator will sail up the coast of Norway to the Arctic Circle and White Sea before stopping at Murmansk and Archangel.
Navigator will return to New York via a more southerly route, arriving back in the Big Apple on Sept. 18. Fares start at $ 39,999 per person.
DISNEY DOES BRITAIN AND IRELAND ...
Disney Cruise Line in 2018 will operate a short voyage around the British Isles. The seven- night sailing on the 1,754- passenger Disney Magic will kick off Sept. 2 in Dover, England, and feature stops in Cork and Dublin, Ireland; Greenock, Scotland; and Liverpool, England. The Cork stop will be a first for Disney Magic.
... AND MORE MEDITERRANEAN
Also next year, Disney will operate its first one- way voyages between Barcelona and Civitavecchia, Italy ( the port for Rome). Disney Magic will sail a one- way trip from Barcelona to Civitavecchia starting on June 16, 2018. It’ll be followed by a one- way trip from Civitavecchia to Barcelona.
Disney Magic also will sail a 10night Mediterranean itinerary out of Barcelona that includes a call at Genoa — a first for the line.
CARNIVAL GOES LONG
Cruise giant Carnival plans a 2018 voyage from the Los Angeles area to Alaska and back.
The 3,006- passenger Carnival Splendor will depart Long Beach on Sept. 8 on a 14- night, roundtrip sailing that stops in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Sitka in Alaska as well as Victoria.
The voyage will allow Southern Californians to cruise without first flying to Seattle or Vancouver, the traditional starting points for Alaska cruises.