TOURS & CRUISES
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Celestial voyage
Cunard has planned a cosmic cruise next year aboard the Queen Mary 2 in honor of 2017’s World Space Week. Passengers on the ship’s eastbound Atlantic crossing won’t leave the atmosphere, but they will be treated to a roster of guest scientists and an on-board planetarium featuring virtual trips to the stars. Of course, there’s always stargazing on the top deck too. NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, a veteran of five space flights and now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Charles Barclay of Britain’s Royal Astronomical Society, NASA historian Ken MacTaggart and Stephen Attenborough of space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic will be on the cruise. The seven-night crossing sails from New York City to Southampton, England. Dates: Oct. 6-13 Price: From $1,200 a person, double occupancy, plus port fees and taxes. Includes meals, guest lectures and events, and virtual journeys in the ship’s planetarium. Airfare to and from cruise’s start and finish is extra.
Info: Cunard, (800) 728-6273, www.lat.ms/cunardspaceweek, or contact a travel agent
— Mary Forgione
ZIMBABWE
Safari adventure
Spot the Big Five on a game drive through a remote region of Zimbabwe on an eight-day trip that includes walking safaris, hiking and a chance to track black or white rhinos. The Adventure Life trip, called Hidden Zimbabwe, explores seldomvisited parts of the country. Highlights include lodging in a safari camp near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Matobo Hills, a tour of the Great Zimbabwe Monument outside Masvingo and a visit to Gonarezhou National Park. Dates: Available year-round. Price: From $5,115 a person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, guide service, most meals, internal flights and international arrival and departure transfers. International airfare not included. Info: Adventure Life, (800) 344-6118, www.lat.ms/hiddenzimbabwe
— Rosemary McClure
RUSSIA
Arctic Circle by train
Venture far above the Arctic Circle on the luxurious Golden Eagle train on a 12-day tour offered by Mir Corp. The excursion begins in St. Petersburg, where participants will visit the Hermitage and St. Isaac’s Cathedral before boarding the train. Highlights include the polar town of Kirkenes, Norway, and a search for the Northern Lights; the arctic port of Murmansk and a tour of the Lenin, the world’s first nuclear-powered ice breaker; and the towns of Vladimir and Suzdal, with some of the oldest churches in Russia. The itinerary concludes in Moscow, with time to explore Red Square and the Armory Museum. Dates: Dec. 29-Jan. 9 Price: From $11,995 a person. Includes on-board train accommodations, five nights in hotels, all meals, guided off-train tours and gratuities. International airfare not included.
Info: Mir Corp., (800) 424-7289, www.lat.ms/arcticbytrain
— Anne Harnagel
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Pokémon tour
If you want to catch Pokémon and see the sights Down Under, bespoke tour operator Zicasso has created a family vacation for you. Parents and kids can play the popular mobileapp game Pokémon Go while sightseeing with a private tour guide. You’ll visit Auckland, Queenstown, Rotorua, Hobbiton (the film set of the “Lord of the Rings” movies) and the Milford Sound in New Zealand. In Australia, the itinerary includes Melbourne, Port Douglas, the Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda, Sydney and the Blue Mountains.. And, yes, you’ll likely bag a Kangaskhan, the Pokémon character that lives only in Australia and New Zealand.
Dates: 14-day tours customized to your travel dates.
Price: From $4,999 a person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, airport transfers, guided tours and ground transportation within Australia and New Zealand. International airfare not included.
Info: Zicasso, www.lat.ms/pokemon tour
— Mary Forgione