Luxury Travel Advisor - April 2008 - (Page 47)

ACCESS: WHO SAILS THERE In addition to those listed below, several cruise lines that visit South America, including Cunard, Silversea and Seabourn, offer airborne shore excursions to Antarctica. Norwegian Coastal Voyage Nordnorge, Nordkapp www.coastalvoyage.com RADISSON SEVEN SEAS passen- gers take in the sights of a rare striped iceberg on a zodiac tour (opposite). DELUXE STATEROOMS aboard Regent Seven Seas Explorer II www.rssc.com Hapag-Lloyd Europa, Hanseatic, Bremen www.hl-cruises.com National Geographic/ Linblad Expeditions Endeavor www.expeditions.com Quark Expeditions www.quarkexpeditions.com Clipper Cruise Line Clipper Adventurer www.clippercruise.com Discovery World Cruises MV Discovery www.discoveryworld cruises.com Crystal Cruises Crystal Symphony www.crystalcruises.com Polar Cruises by Expeditions Polar Star, Khlebnikov, Corinthian II, Explorer II www.polarcruises.com Radisson’s Explorer offer hotellike comforts (above). CRYSTAL SERENITY (right) plies ocean waters off Antarctica. Santiago it’s a 90-minute drive to Valparaiso’s cruise terminal. Transfers to these ports often are included in the cruise cost, and most cruise lines add a pre- or post-cruise overnight stay. After leaving shore, the ship sails some 36 hours through Drake Passage (it’s between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands), where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans merge. Time spent at subsequent ports of call often depends on prevailing weather conditions. Note: Due to the rough waters of converging oceans and gale-force winds, a high percentage of cruisers suffer seasickness. Popular stops include Hope Bay and Lemaire Channel along the Antarctic Peninsula’s Iceberg Alley, the South Shetland Islands (Elephant, Deception and Half Moon islands), the South Orkney Islands (Coronation), the Falkland Islands (Stanley) and South Georgia Island. In addition, some cruise lines offer excursions aboard “zodiacs” —small, inflatable boats—to Paradise Harbor, where guests can observe blue-eyed shag, wandering albatross colonies and whales galore. In Hope Bay clients will see mammoth icebergs and more Adelie penguins and snowy sheathbills (seabirds) than they can shake a stick at, and visit what remains of a 1903 Swedish expedition hut and the Argentine Esperanza Research Station. Flanked by the glacial walls of the Antarctic Peninsula and Booth Island, the narrow Lemaire Channel is a prime place to capture those once-in-a-lifetime pictures (hence its nickname, “Kodak Gap”). Of all the snow-capped peaks, the money shot is a pair known as Una’s Tits. The icy blue ‘bergs and deep sapphire waters—particularly around the archipelago on its southern end—are also postcard worthy. When the weather behaves, shore excursions run the gamut, from zodiac cruises to kayaking and hiking. Ice-covered Elephant Island (it’s named for the elephant seals that live there) is where British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 22 crewmen were stranded after they lost their ship Endurance to the ice in the Weddell Sea. Left behind in 1916 on Point Wild while Shackleton sailed www.luxuryta.com April 2008 | LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR 47 http://www.coastalvoyage.com http://www.rssc.com http://www.hl-cruises.com http://www.expeditions.com http://www.quarkexpeditions.com http://www.clippercruises.com/ http://www.discoveryworldcruises.com http://www.crystalcruises.com http://www.polarcruises.com http://www.luxuryta.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Luxury Travel Advisor - April 2008

Luxury Travel Advisor - April 2008 Contents Publisher's Letter Editor's Letter London DESTINATIONS India Greece HOTELS Golf Royal Hideaway Playacar Chateau Marmont SPAS Hawaiin Spas Southeast Asia CRUISES: Antarctica Cover Story: Rocket man The Pulse Traveling Gourmet Jetset Sightings Source List

Luxury Travel Advisor - April 2008

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