We enter the cruise terminal without a glitch, straight onto a bus for a five-minute drive to SeaDream Yacht Club's SeaDream I, past a number of cruise ships docked in Piraeus on this busy Saturday.
A high-Arctic wildlife smorgasbord awaits travellers to Spitsbergen. Our adventure cruise editor, Roderick Eime, fills his plate to overflowing.
Over there on the iceberg: about 100 metres,” calls Judd Hill, our sea guide, in a loud whisper. “Where?!” I respond with less restraint and more volume. “There: he’s looking at us now,” Hill replies.
A Christmas to Remember: November/December 2008 San Diego California to Rio De Janiero Brazil via the Chilean Fjords and Antarctica. The itinerary was a wonderful mix of Mexico, Panama, South America and Antarctica all in one magnificent 42-day journey.
This was our fifth Star Cruise, second time on the Virgo and previously cruised on the Aries, Leo and Gemini. The ship is nearly in the same condition as it was in 2001, spotless with very few signs that she is now 10 years old.
My wife and I boarded the Queen Mary II at Fremantle, Western Australia for the Sydney to Capetown leg of her Inaugural Around the World Voyage. We sailed out of Fremantle at 5:30pm on a beautiful evening and were followed out of the harbour by some 1000 small craft and a crowd of more than a 100,000 that jam-packed Fremantle just to catch a glimpse of the biggest liner in the world.
When you need a mid-year escape to recharge the batteries, a short cruise in the tropical waters of Vanuatu offers the perfect fix. A three-hour flight takes you from Australia or New Zealand to a completely different world: one of scenic, volcanic islands, vibrant coral reefs and a complex culture that spans thousands of years.
Cruising in Indonesia's lesser-known islands on board Orion is an eye-opening experience. You could spend a week here and discover something new every day – the spa alone offers enough rejuvenating treatments to keep you fully occupied.
With so many cruises on offer, how do you decide? Our cruising experts give their top picks for cuisine, kids’ clubs, service, entertainment and sheer whizz-bangery at sea.
As an award-winning travel writer and author of 15 books, Glenn A Baker has visited 115 countries and is a Life Member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers. Here he recalls his five most memorable seafaring adventures.
So we come to Paul Gauguin. Not the 19th-century artist who showed the world the beauty of Tahiti, but the luxurious modern cruise ship named after him. Launched in 1998 specifically to cruise in French Polynesia, she has found her niche and is rarely less than fully booked.
Health at sea is a question I am asked about quite frequently, and having had the unfortunate need to visit the medical centre on board Carnival Splendor on my recent Mexican Riviera cruise, I now have some first-hand experience to share.
Maritime historian Rob Henderson shares experiences of celebrations on board cruise ships - birthdays, weddings, Christmas, New Year and ANZAC Day on board Princess Cruises' Dawn Princess.
Dining on modern cruise ships is an event of choices in the variety of cuisine offered in numerous themed venues. To take advantage of all the food being offered on most ships requires an appetite of epic proportions and leads many to the dangerous habit of constant grazing.
A river cruise through north-east India’s Assam, rich in wildlife and dotted with traditional villages, offers a peaceful perspective on this teeming subcontinent.
She's the most specious ship yet from luxury line Oceania Cruises. James Sitters tells Rose Kelly and Peter Lynch what's on board the new class of ship, including restaurants, spas and suites.
