Virtual cruises – how to keep your travel dreams alive while stuck at home

With cruisers stuck at home, lines have turned to virtual cruises to keep their passengers’ travel dreams alive until they get the greenlight to sail again.

From Viking’s own television station, Viking.TV to Silversea’s collection of 60 virtual cocktails presented by bartender Alex, you can now tune-in to watch the joys of ocean, river and adventure voyages in the comfort of your own lounge room.

Celebrity, Crystal, Lindblad National Geographic, P&O Cruises,  Hurtigruten and Holland America have joined in the virtual bandwagon to showcase their videos to passengers. And Oceania Cruises has just launched a social media initiative #OLifeCookingChallenge for followers to re-create some of the line’s delectable signature dishes at home.

“If we cannot for the time being bring our guests to the world, let’s bring the world to our guests,” says Viking executive vice president Karine Hagen in a video posted on the homepage of Viking.TV.

“Right now, we are all staying at home instead of travelling together, but that does not have to mean that the only thing we can do is watch the news,” she added.

The new digital platform has been conceived as a way for the Viking community to stay connected and share positive experiences when people are staying at home. They can even visit Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey was filmed and take a tour with Lady Carnarvon.

Leading culinary line, Oceania has shared a recipe from celebrity chef, Jacque Pepin’s roasted chicken to Noelle Barile’s Spaghetti Alla Carbonara for those keen to put on their chef hats and cook the dishes at home. Participants  are encouraged to share a photo or video of themselves preparing the recipe or to show off their plated dish on Facebook.

Luxury line, Crystal Cruises has created Crystal@Home, a series of videos featuring wellness and workout sessions by the line’s fitness instructors to entertainment shows by its onboard performers.

Celebrity Cruises have also launched some mouth-watering cooking videos on its Facebook telling followers their home isolation will become “ a whole lot tastier” if they use the step-by-step video recipes. They can start their day by cooking the humble Eggs Benedict from Luminae Restaurant and move on to the Spicy Ahi Tuna recipe from Sushi on Five restaurant. The line will also share fitness videos by their crew instructors and keep the children entertained with Camp at Sea projects.

Hurtigruten, the cruise and ferry operator, has been promoting its Hurtigruten: Minute by Minute television series of the Norwegian Odyssey, which was first aired in Norway back in June 2011. Lasting 134 hours, the series set a record for the longest live television documentary.

Silversea has rolled out a new collection of virtual videos on 60 cocktails by bartender Alex from Silver Whisper. The first three cocktails are from Silversea’s new S.A.L.T. (Sea And Land Taste) culinary program that will officially debut on board Silver Moon when she launches later this year.

Royal Caribbean cruise director Abe Hughes started his own virtual Daily Compass video featuring trivia pursuit and Facebook posts.

Holland America Line is offering HAL@Home with cooking demonstrations, itinerary highlights and onboard entertainment as part of the line’s cruise experience at home.