Luxury Travel Advisor - September 2008 - (Page 56)

CRUISES CRYSTAL CRUISES has made Istanbul a stop on past world cruises. Like Magellan’s fleet before, these cruises are your ticket to see the world. BY DAVID EISEN The world cruise might very well be the last word in vacations. The destinations visited are as exhaustive as they are magical: South America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, South East Asia, Japan, India, the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. A world cruise implies touching all corners of the globe, and a luxury world cruise means unpacking and packing only once to experience it all. Only a select handful of cruise lines operate world cruises, luxury cruise lines making up the bulk. Note: Full world cruises are booked, but a significant amount of sales come from clients booking individual segments of the world cruise. Due to their length, most world cruises kick off at the beginning of the year and, most often, run more than 100 days. In 2009, four luxury lines will reprise their world cruise: Crystal Cruises (www.crystalcruises. com), Cunard Line (www.cunard. com), Regent Seven Seas Cruises (www.rssc.com), which will operate two simultaneous world cruises and Silversea Cruises (www.silversea.com). On the horizon: Seabourn Cruises (www. seabourn.com) will operate its first-ever world cruise in 2010 aboard its newest ship, Seabourn Odyssey, which enters service in June 2009. Fun fact: Seabourn Odyssey will be the first of the new luxury ships in six years and the first new ship for Seabourn in 15 years. Cunard Line is the undisputed progenitor of the world cruise, literally inventing it back in 1922 when the 2,200passenger Laconia set sail from New York. Since then, Cunard has continued to hold a firm grip on world cruising. In 2008, two of its three “queens,” Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria, carried out world cruises. Next year, the former becomes a hotel in Dubai, leaving Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2 to share world cruise duties. On January 10, 2009, Queen Victoria begins the 105-day “Exploration of Distant Horizons” World Cruises 56 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | September 2008 http://www.rssc.com http://www.silversea.com http://www.seabourn.com http://www.seabourn.com http://www.crystalcruises.com http://www.cunard.com http://www.crystalcruises.com http://www.cunard.com

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Luxury Travel Advisor - September 2008 Contents Publisher's Letter Editor's Letter Provence India Alvear Palace Hotel Oceana Santa Monica English Country Houses Chewton Glen Summer Lodge Chilston Park Hotel Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago Park Hyatt Milan Intercontinental Montelucia Jackson Hole World Cruises French Riveria Spas Voluntourism Vacations Signature Travel Network The Pulse Profile Luxury Travel Expo Sightings Source List Leaders Speak

Luxury Travel Advisor - September 2008

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