All things big and small, expensive and economical
They say variety is the spice of life. Certainly, it’s the spice of this column this week. There’s been so much interesting cruise news as of late that it’s tough to cover it all, and it affects ships big and small, expensive and economical.
First, on the bucket-list side of things: Viking Cruises (cruise. center/vikingsea) recently announced the longest continuous World Cruise itinerary in history. Starting in London on Aug. 31, 2019, guests will sail aboard the 930-guest Viking Sun for an astonishing 245 days, visiting six continents, 59 countries and 113 ports of call. Viking calls it the Viking Ultimate World Cruise — and that’s tough to argue.
The voyage also includes overnight stays in 22 ports of call, and guests participating in the full World Cruise receive business class airfare and all gratuities and service fees, along with an extensive list of added-value-included features in their cruise fare.
Like all Viking cruises, a selection of shore excursions are provided free of charge in each port of call, along with all beers, wine and soft drinks inclusive with lunch and dinner. This cruise carries a rather gasp-inducing price tag that’s just shy of six figures per person. But when you break it down, the entire cruise still costs less than $400 per day at the entry-level — less than a night’s stay at an upscale hotel in New York or London.
For a cruise on this level, that’s a good deal. Plus, the longest cruise I’ve taken on any Viking ship was 15 days, and it left me wanting more. To spend the majority of the year on Viking Sun would be a treat.
Viking still offers shorter ocean and river cruises. I’ll be on board Viking Orion’s inaugural sailing in the Mediterranean next month, and am excited to see what the line’s fifth ocean-going ship in three years has to offer.
On the non-World Cruise end of the scale: Norwegian Cruise Line (cruise.center/Norwegian) is almost ready to debut its new Norwegian Bliss in Alaska. The 4,000-passenger ship will be christened in Seattle on May 30 before kicking off a full season of weeklong cruises to Alaska that offer calls on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria, B.C., with select sailings including some scenic cruising in Glacier Bay National Park. Norwegian Bliss is one of the largest ships to sail in Alaskan waters. In addition to a spectacular observation lounge, it also offers uncommon diversions, like an on-board go-kart track.
Vancouverites can catch Norwegian Bliss on a one-time Pacific Coastal cruise from Canada Place on Sept. 30, prior to the ship’s brief handful of Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles.
On the small-ship front: Windstar Cruises (cruise.center/ windstar) has some great deals on its worldwide itineraries. The line has a fleet of six wonderfully intimate ships, including three motor-ship sailing yachts (Wind Star, Wind Spirit and Wind Surf ), and three sleek vessels, sans sails, known as Star Breeze, Star Legend and Star Pride.
Windstar is sailing to Alaska for the first time in a long time this year, but the line also has cool itineraries around the globe. My favourite was a Northern European cruise aboard Wind Spirit several years back that sailed from Stockholm to Oslo. While the three sailing ships have engines that assist in maintaining the itinerary, Windstar is also content to operate under sail — and there’s nothing like the sail-raising ceremonies, performed on deck to the thudding tune of Vangelis’s theme from the movie 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Happy cruising.