AUSTRALIAN DEBUT
In good news for the Australians that make up one of Azamara's top three nationalities on board, Azamara Club Cruises has announced details of Azamara Quest's maiden season in Australasia. The boutique cruise brand debuts in Australia and New Zealand when the ship arrives in Darwin on December 28. The line has also confirmed it will deploy ships to Australia for two further seasons, with Azamara Journey coming for the first time in 2017 and Azamara Quest returning in 2018. Both 686-passenger ships will enjoy extensive makeovers before for their Australian visits.
Phone 1800 754 500. See www.azamaraclubcruises.com.
FEATHERED FRIENDS
Aurora Expeditions has partnered with BirdLife Australia to offer birding enthusiasts an exclusive expedition to Antarctica and South Georgia in November. Hosted by a team of expert guides that includes BirdLife Australia's senior bird ecologist Mick Roderick, the 18-day Scotia Sea Springtime voyage on the 54-passenger Polar Pioneer sails from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia and Antarctica. It offers the chance to spot some of the most unusual birdlife on the planet, such as albatross and blue-eyed cormorants. You can also chalk up six type of penguin, including king, Gentoo and chinstrap penguins.
Phone 1800 637 688. See www.auroraexpeditions.com.au.
ANZAC TRIBUTE
If you missed out on the centenary celebrations at Gallipoli in Turkey this year, you can always make a pilgrimage to France next year instead. Cruise Express has released a cruise-tour package that visits the battlefields of the Western Front in France on Anzac Day 2016, with a special focus on Villers-Bretonneux, which Australian Diggers famously saved from German occupation in April 1918. The cruise component is a 14-night Scenic Tours cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest along the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. The tour also visits Paris, Epernay, Amiens and Bruges.
Phone 1300 764 509. See www.cruiseexpress.com.au.
TURKISH DELIGHT
Cultural tour specialist Peter Sommer Travels combines gourmet food and wine with some fascinating history and culture this year during a series of dedicated culinary expeditions through Turkey and Sicily. Each tour offers a chance to taste traditional foods and fresh local ingredients in a hands-on style, from foraging for wild herbs to cooking at a family home. Catering to small groups of six to 14 people, the tours are hosted by expert guides with academic backgrounds in history and archaeology. The Turkish Gastronomic Gulet Cruise features an eight-day sailing along the coast in a traditional wooden gulet.
See www.petersommer.com.
FLOWER POWER
Ecruising has a new exclusive itinerary for 2016, a 20-night cruise-tour called White Gloves and Cherry Blossoms that leaves Australian on March 8and includes a 12-night cruise on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth from Hong Kong to Osaka. The ship visits Shanghai, Pusan and Jeju island in South Korea, and the Japanese ports of Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Yokohama before arriving in Osaka. It's timed to coincide with Japan's cherry-blossom season during the land portion of the visit, which heads to Kyoto and Tokyo and also includes a day trip to Nara.
Phone 1300 369 848. See www.ecruising.travel.
