Cruises That Will Get You Excited to Get Back on the Water: Silver Endeavor’s Cruise to Antarctica

Silver Endeavor's Arctic CruiseCrystal’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. Bookings opened immediately for the Antarctica season, which runs from November 28, 2022, to February 12, 2023. If you want cruise to Antarctica in comfort, this one is hard to top! Most amazing are its offerings as an expedition ship. The Endeavor features a helicopter pad with accompanying helicopter as well as a submarine to help you get to those off the beaten path spots to experience the regions’ extraordinary scenery and wildlife.

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Day Four, Backroads Danube River Cruise Full Ship Celebration

Biking the DanubeDay Four of our Backroads Danube River Cruise started with a short 13-mile warm up along the river on bike trails. Then it was off to see the impressive Melk Abbey perched on a hill atop the small town, looking more like a palace with its large courtyards, countless rooms, and vast book collection in the library. The 23-mile afternoon ride was arguably the best of the trip, along the Danube in the heart of the Wachau Valley of Austria. Leaving Melk, terraced vineyards started to rise along the river, soon joined by the stone ramparts of forgotten castles. The ridges only got higher and soon small towns dotted the shoreline with their ubiquitous steeples piercing the clouds above. It was hard to bike because you wanted to stop repeatedly to take another photo better than the last.

It started to drizzle when taking a short ferry across the river. Soon we were biking straight through the vineyards, looking at the vines overflowing with fat grapes. We arrived in the small Medieval town of Durnstein, where we relaxed outdoors overlooking the vineyards at Alter Kloster Keller. We wisely chose to grab a bottle of their local Gruner Veltliner and an oversized charcuterie plate packed with local pates, sausages, hams, and cheeses. Perhaps we lingered a bit too long because when we got back on our bikes, the clouds were ominous and it started to pour. Five miles later, we arrived back at the boat drenched, only to find our fearless trip leader, Malcolm, hosting a party under a tent in a torrential downpour for all of us wet bikers. We drank shots of Schnapps and glasses of Riesling while listening to a soundtrack that featured, “It’s Raining Men.” Memorable!

 

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New in River Cruising 2018

Guest Post by Lisa Leavitt 

• Viking Ra will be cruising the River Nile in Egypt in 2018. Just 52 guests on this upscale vessel with suites 
• Century River Cruises will cruise the Yangtze
• Avalon will offer trips down Vietnam’s Mekong River and Burma’s Irrawaddy River
• Amadeus will present new golf-focused river cruises next spring including visits to 4 prestigious golf courses
• Foodies will enjoy Scenic’s cooking school aboard select ships
• Un Cruise Adventures will feature eight Rivers of Wine itineraries on the Legacy, a turn of the century steamer sailing the Columbia and Snake rivers in the US and their Rivers of Adventure series will allow for hiking, biking, kayaking and more from their starting point of Portland, Oregon.
• And, much more: barges down the Seine, multigenerational cruises on CroisiEurope where kids under 16 go for free.
 
Sales happen all the time with the river cruise companies: some offer 2-for-1 fares or free international air or they waive their single supplements.
Here’s some offers going on right now:  
• Avalon Cruises: Save $2,000 per couple on 2018 Active Discovery River Cruises on the Rhine or Danube
• Paul Gauguin Cruises: Two Week Sale for cruises in the South Pacific. $2,900 per person savings on select sailings.
• Emerald Waterways: Sensations of Southern France: if 6 people book, then the 7th person is free.
 
Contact ActiveTravels to find out the latest deals! We won’t steer you wrong!
 
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ActiveTravels Partners with Vinodivino to Present Wine Cruise to Bordeaux in 2019

Bostonians know that Vinodivino, owners of 4 wine stores in the region, take great pride in choosing the finest wines for the discerning palate. Now they’d like to apply this same eye for quality to the world of travel and introduce you to a trip that will no doubt excite your senses. They have selected the highly reputable river cruise line AmaWaterways for their Vinodivino Wine Cruise to Bordeaux, November 7-14, 2019. AmaWaterways is a leader in the river cruise industry, known for its top-tier ships that offer comfortable berths, less than half the people on other river cruises, the best WiFi in the cruise world, and most importantly, the finest cuisine and wine. You’ll board the newly refurbished AmaDolce in Bordeaux and travel to the Sauternes wine region. Then it’s on to Pauillac, gateway to the famed Médoc region, renowned for producing some of the world’s finest Bordeaux wines. You’ll see some of the most beautiful and famous wine estates, including Château Latour, Château Mouton Rothschild, and Château Pichon Longueville. There’s also an opportunity to add a 4-night pre-cruise guided jaunt to Bilbao, Spain, or a 3-day post-cruise add-on to the castles of the Loire Valley. 

 
Please let ActiveTravels know if you’re interested!
 

Cruises That Will Get You Excited to Get Back on the Water: Viking’s Iceland, Greenland, and Canada Cruise

Viking Ocean CruisesOver lunch recently with the foremost cruise writer in America, Fran Golden, her enthusiasm over the current state of cruising was infectious. You couldn’t help but sense the excitement now that the world of cruising is finally back. It’s been a tumultuous 2 ½ years that started with passengers and crew being stuck on boats during the early stages of COVID and no ports allowing them to enter. Then came the inevitable bankruptcies like high-end cruise line, Crystal, going belly up earlier this year. But now Fran is jumping from cruise line to cruise line to report on all the changes, heading first on an expedition cruise with Quark to Greenland, then aboard the Paul Gauguin, now owned by the French company, Ponant, to cruise French Polynesia’s Society Islands, and finally the long-awaited arrival of Ritz-Carlton’s yacht on the Italian Mediterranean.

Here at ActiveTravels, we’ve been busy booking cruises to Alaska and the European rivers for fall 2022 and summer 2023. Our family of four will soon be on an AmaWaterways cruise on the Danube River in early September. The entire river cruise is taken over by the biking outfitter, Backroads, and each day we will have new cycling adventures in every port along the route from Prague to Vienna to Budapest. We’ll report on that trip once we return home.

In the meantime, we want to discuss the new cruises that gets us excited. First up, Viking Ocean’s adult-only cruises is quickly expanding in North America from the Great Lakes to Alaska. But we really like the 15-day Iceland, Greenland, and Canada itinerary that starts next summer in Reykjavik and ends in New York. You’ll visit 4 countries and 11 ports, and along the way see stunning remote seacoast and sea life.

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The Perfect Day Trip on St. Lucia

Splitting time between the BodyHoliday and Rendezvous resorts on the northern coast of St. Lucia, I wanted to show Lisa the rest of the island, most importantly those majestic twin peaks, the Pitons, that tower over the water near the town of Soufriere. We made the smart decision to go with Joy’s Tours for a six-hour boat tour along the western coast. They picked us up at Rendezvous and made the 10-minute drive to St. James’s Club where we started our cruise on a very fast Boston Whaler-like boat. Soon we were zipping past the cruise ships in port at Castries, the exquisite cove of Marigot Bay, and small seaside villages. We got our first glimpse of the Pitons just past the beach at Anse Chastanet, the classic resort where I stayed on my visit to St. Lucia last year. Just around the bend in Soufriere, we were led into mini-vans to head up the hills for our volcanic mud path and swim under a waterfall. The volcanic mud was gritty as we placed it all over our bodies. When we washed the dirt off in the warm waters, our skin was baby smooth. For lunch, we dined on native fare at Joy’s large home and toured the property to check out his guava, papaya, and banana trees. After lunch, we went back to the boats to snorkel at Sugar Beach resort, smack dab between the Pitons. We spotted a moray eel, numerous blue tangs, and my favorite, a large prehistoric looking sea cucumber. On the return trip, we drank homemade rum punch as we cruised back at high speed. When we told our guide, Johnny, we were staying at Rendezvous, they insisted on dropping us off at the beach directly in front of our cottage. A Class Act! 

 
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Visiting Newfoundland’s Small, Remote Villages with Adventure Canada

Guest Post and Photos by Amy Perry Basseches

One of the best parts of my Expedition Cruise with Adventure Canada around Newfoundland was the opportunity to visit many small, remote villages and interact with local residents. In 1992, the Canadian government declared a necessary moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery which had shaped Newfoundland’s way of life for 500 years. It was devastating for many communities and impacted Newfoundland profoundly. 35,000 fishermen and plant workers from over 400 coastal communities became unemployed, and thus the province experienced a dramatic restructuring, including considerable emigration. But there are the folks who wanted to stay, no matter what, and who adore their home. 

Here are some of the special places I visited:
 
Elliston: Population 308 in 2016. On the eastern coast of Newfoundland, Elliston is the "Root Cellar Capital of the World," due to having more than 130 documented root cellars. Up until the mid-1900s, it was hard to purchase vegetables here, so most families had a vegetable garden from which they ate all winter, thanks to root cellar storage. 
 
Bonavista: Near Elliston. Built in 1843, the lighthouse at Cape Bonavista is one of the few in the world where you can still climb the stone tower and see the same oil- fueled light that was used in the 1800s.  
 
Little Bay Islands: Population 71 in 2016. On the northeastern coast of Newfoundland, Little Bay Islands was the birthplace of two of Adventure Canada’s on-board Resource Staff, so we got extra inside information about what the town looked like in the 1960s and 1970s when cod still thrived. Now in the process of government resettlement, because the remote location is difficult to provide with services, Little Bay Islands once had 11 stores, three dockyards, three churches, a doctor and a school. 
 
Trout River: Population 552 in 2016. Another small, rural fishing village, Trout River is on the western coast of Newfoundland. It was of great interest to me because a rare blue whale carcass washed ashore there in 2014, which was then preserved by researchers at the museum my husband Josh directs, Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum. The Trout River blue whale measured 76.5 feet in length and weighed 150 tons. The ROM worked closely with local townspeople to remove and salvage the whale; later, a huge exhibit at the ROM was created. In the harbor at Trout River today, a community display tells the fascinating story of this blue whale. 
 
Francois: Population 89 in 2016. Pronounced Fran-SWAY, located on the southern coast of Newfoundland, this town has no roads, and thus can only be accessed by boat and helicopter. It considered and rejected resettlement in 2013. However, Adventure Canada has a special relationship here: every year, when the ship comes into Francois Bay, the locals cook and bake up a storm, and host Adventure Canada passengers at a "Kitchen Party" in the Community Hall. Much music, dancing, drinking, mingling, and eating ensued — all good-natured and fun. Local Darren Durnford plays the accordion, guitar, and fiddle, all by ear! 
 
My personal advice: get off the beaten path when traveling, and you will be rewarded. 
 

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