The World is Your Oyster: Liz Coleman of Paul Gauguin Cruises
ActiveTravels is excited to announce our new web series, The World is Your Oyster! As the world begins to open up and the pandemic starts to fade in the rear-view mirror, let’s look forward to rediscovering new and exciting destinations across the globe. We have been pent up too long!
To inaugurate the first episode, we speak to one of our favorite people in the travel industry, Liz Coleman of Paul Gauguin Cruises. She tells us all about experiencing the beauties of French Polynesia on a Paul Gaugin Luxury Cruise. If you are celebrating a honeymoon or an anniversary, Liz explains the romantic Tahitian Blessing Ceremony you can enjoy with your loved one while cruising.
Liz also informs us about a very special promotion happening right now, their Two Week Sale, where you can save up to $3,350 per person on a 2021 sailing. This includes roundtrip airfare from LA, an all-inclusive cruise experience including all meals and alcohol and so much more. If you’re not ready to sail right now, rates are very good for their 2022 cruises as well.
If you have a group of people you’d like to travel with and can book 5 rooms or more, we can get you their group rate, a 30% discount!
Have a listen to the video below to hear all about the Paul Gauguin Cruise experience. If nothing else, it will take you away for a few minutes outside of your homes to the wild blue yonder of French Polynesia.
Guest post and photo by Amy Perry Basseches
Guest Post and Photos by Amy Perry Basseches
Lastly, situated on the west coast of Newfoundland, 
Crystal’s demise is to the benefit of Silversea Cruises, who recently announced that they have purchased the Crystal Endeavor, the ultra-luxurious 200-passenger cruise ship that has yet to launch. 
Ever since Backroads partnered with AmaWaterways to bring families to the Danube River in 2015, the demand has far exceeded number of available berths. The chance to ride along the river on bike paths during the day though small European villages and then catch up with the cruise for cocktails, dinner, and your room for the week (no packing and unpacking) is ideally suited for all age groups. Now Backroads is bringing their active travel itineraries to the oceans. They are partnering with Lindblad, Un-Cruise, and Ponant on voyages to Alaska, Antarctica, Japan, New Zealand, the Baltic Sea, Galápagos, Iceland and more – totaling 51 departures on 14 itineraries. The bulk of the trips will debut in 2019 but they are already offering one cruise next summer on the National Geographic Explorer, 
Today, we couldn’t pass up one of the rare opportunities to bike from one capital city to another, in this case Vienna to Bratislava. Actually, Lisa wouldn’t let me bow out of this ride early, because her mother was born in Vienna and her grandmother was born in Bratislava. So even though it was called the Iron Curtain Ride, we called it the Fried Roots Route for her mother’s family. Most of the riding was relatively level through bucolic countryside and forest, primarily on one of the EuroVelo trails that crisscross the continent for bikers. We stopped at a small snack bar for yes, our last radlers, and yummy cherry strudel, before continuing to our glamorous lunch spot, 
Then it was on to Slovakia, crossing a small bridge where a memorial was dedicated to the people who died trying to escape communist rule in hopes of finding freedom in Austria. We pedaled past old castle walls before hitting the city and snaking along the Danube to where our trusty home for the week, the 
On Days 3 and 5, we took early morning rides before seeing the fairytale city of Český Krumlov and bustling Vienna. That’s the beauty of this Danube River itinerary. Sandwiched between the starting point of Prague and the end in Budapest, you can spend time in world-class cities, yet the bulk of the biking is in the countryside, pedaling through farmland or vineyards. It’s a fantastic combination and you cover so much ground, 5 countries in 8 days.
My kids, Jake and Mel, ages 26 and 24 respectively, loved the cruise. The biking was challenging, the rural landscape was stunning, and the sightseeing and dining in the cities exceptional. Unfortunately, there was just one other family with kids their age aboard the ship. There was a younger group of 35 who pulled out at the last minute due to the war in Ukraine, but tourism was thriving in all cities, including Budapest. The only signs of the war were some refugees we met from the Ukraine. That left the average age aboard the cruise in the early 60s, which is not far from the usual demographic aboard a river cruise. My hope is that a younger generation will sample these Backroads itineraries because it’s really a wonderful bike cruise. You’re rarely on the boat, except for cocktail hour, dinner, dance parties, and sleeping. The rest of the time you’re meeting up with the ship after your bike ride. It’s an exciting way to see a good chunk of Europe.