![]() ![]() Itineraries can be combined into longer 14-night cruises or paired with land trips to Machu Picchu or a few nights in Quito. How to sell: With two landings most days, a cruise is easily the best way to see the islands (the alternative, a hotel stay with boat trips each day, is hard work). Passengers can also snorkel or scuba dive (the latter at extra cost) with the penguins and sea lions. Aqua Expeditions followed with the 16-passenger Aqua Mare in May 2022.Įxcursions: Zodiac cruises and walks ashore to see birds, sea lions, lava lizards and more are guided by wildlife experts from the Galápagos National Park. Hurtigruten added cruises in the Galápagos on the 90-passenger Santa Cruz II in January 2022. Go with: Abercrombie & Kent, Avalon Waterways, Celebrity Cruises, G Adventures, Metropolitan Touring, Lindblad and Silversea. “It’s about being able to get off and enjoy the activities ashore,” says Hurtigruten head of sales UK, Mark Walter. Each island has its own wildlife – some have lush highlands where giant tortoises roam, others are ankle-deep in marine iguanas, and others still are home to Galápagos penguins and blue-footed boobie birds – and none of its creatures fear humans.Ĭruises are year-round and generally seven nights round-trip from Baltra or San Cristóbal. Why go: About 600 miles off the west coast of South America, the Galápagos Islands are home to an array of birds, reptiles and marine mammals that have adapted to island life (and were the inspiration BOOK IT for Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, published in 1859). Pair it with a land stay in Australia, The Ghan train from Darwin to Adelaide or a cruise to New Zealand to make the most of the flight cost. How to sell: Target sun-loving couples, whether cruisers or not, with a sense of adventure. Scenic makes its Kimberley debut in May 2024 on Scenic Eclipse II, while Seabourn debuts in June 2024 with new expedition ship Seabourn Pursuit.Įxcursions: Passengers can join a hair-raising boat trip across the Horizontal Waterfalls in Talbot Bay, watch the Montgomery Reef emerge from the sea at low tide, be showered under waterfalls, take Zodiac cruises in search of saltwater crocodiles and ride a helicopter to Mitchell Falls (extra cost). Go with: APT, Coral Expeditions, Silversea, Ponant and True North. The Kimberley astounds with everything from ancient Aboriginal rock art to one of the biggest tides in the world (46ft), which means wild boat rides.Ĭruises around the Kimberley are mainly 10-14-night sailings from Broome in Western Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory or vice versa and run from May to August. Why go: This is the best way to explore an area three times the size of England and home to just over 35,000 people. “In fact, until recently, the Kimberley and South Pacific accounted for the bulk of our expedition cruising.” So where and what can you sell to clients who are looking for alternative adventures in warmer climes? “People grapple with what warm water expedition cruising is, because they think expedition has to mean the Polar regions,” says Conrad Combrink, Silversea’s senior vice-president of expeditions, destination and itinerary management, who’s hosting a 12-day cruise from Walvis Bay to Port Elizabeth in South Africa in March 2024 featuring sea kayaking, ziplining and shark diving. And there are river cruises on the Mekong, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and Vietnam’s Red River, to name a few.Īll will excite anyone keen to spice up their holiday with an adventure like no other. There are plenty of other destinations around the world where cruisers can channel their inner explorer, without getting togged up in thermals, woolly hats and wellies.Īs well as the Kimberley in Western Australia, the Galápagos and French Polynesia, you can add South Africa, Costa Rica and the Gulf of California to the list. With all the noise surrounding Antarctica and the Arctic, you could be forgiven for thinking they’re the only places on the expedition cruise radar – but you’d be wrong. Expedition cruising doesn’t have to mean Arctic temperatures – Jane Archer rounds up the best regions for warm-weather sailings ![]()
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