The number one item listed in the publics' travel bucket lists is not a single destination, country or even a continent. It's a World Cruise, and it remains the ultimate retirement vacation, a 3-6 month country and continent-hopping adventure, discovering experiences you hadn't even thought of, making lifelong friends, picking up new hobbies, and never having to worry about what to cook for your next meal.
About a year ago we realized that this segment of the industry is woefully under-served by travel advisors, with most Grand Voyages being booked directly with the cruise lines. This leads to so many options and benefits that could be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime trip not even being considered.

This weeks Top 5 highlights some very varied options for your World Cruise.

1. Seabourn Sojourn 140-Day World Cruise: Jan 3 to May 24, 2021
Miami to Barcelona
Well, this one was only announced a few days ago and actually goes on sale today. The Sojourn (above) is a beautiful small ship cruiser with a maximum of 450 passengers. For us, the most exciting port calls include a two-day call at Easter Island (below) and three days in Mombasa for Kenya and Serengeti safari options. Also, intensive exploration of the South Pacific will feature an expert Ventures by Seabourn team on board with optional Zodiac, kayaking, snorkeling and trekking options at Easter Island, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and more.
Click on the photo to view the itinerary details in full.

2. Cunard Queen Mary 2 99-Day World Cruise, Jan 10 to Apr 18, 2020
Southampton, England round-trip
For over a century and a half, the iconic ships of Cunard have defined sophisticated ocean travel. They have always been The Most Famous Ocean Liners in the World. The most formal option for cruising the world, steeped in tradition, and an incredible luxury experience. This cruise features 4 continents, 19 countries and 30 ports of call. We are in the process of creating our own interactive maps for every world cruise itinerary and if you click on the map below of Cunard's 2020 cruise you will see the first one in action.

3. Azamara Pursuit 79-Day World Cruise, Apr 22 to Jul 10, 2021
Tokyo to Athens
I mentioned Azamara last week as I am really looking forward to sitting down with them in just over a week at Virtuoso Travel Week in Vegas. If you haven't heard of this small cruise line, but would are in search of a super luxury small ship cruise around the world or a much shorter itinerary, they should be considered. We particularly love them for a focus on exciting, local shore expeditions that break away from the norm and they have wonderful fully integrated land programs which can be combined with many sections of the cruise if you are interested in just a few segments of the main World Cruise itinerary. The Pursuit (below) was only launched in 2018 and has a maximum of 750 passengers.

4. Viking Sun 245-Day World Cruise Aug 31, 2019 to May 2 2020
London, England round-trip
If you need to escape your life in the next month and want to jump on the world's longest cruise, then this would do the job for around 8 months! Viking is one of the larger ship options for World Cruises and whilst their 2020-21 offering is not as long as this epic voyage, it would still have you gone for almost 6 months. In case you didn't know, Viking River Cruises are considered as mass market, but Viking Ocean are definitely a luxury product, and there really is no comparison between the 2 offerings. It's almost easier to list where this ship doesn't go, but we particularly like their focus on Norway, Scotland and Greenland (below) before making it to Canada.

5. SeaDream Innovation 70-Day Global Yacht Adventure Sep 18 to Nov 28, 2021
London, England to Ushuaia, Argentina
You won't find this one on our new website yet as final details are still to be released and this will be the inaugural voyage of a brand new ship, but SeaDream are entering the super-luxury expedition cruise market with a maximum of just 200 passengers, and an itinerary that will differentiate their product dramatically. Most World Cruises take a general East-West or West-East route. SeaDream plan to sail North-South and will include both an Arctic and Antarctic experience on the one itinerary, including Danco Island and its penguin population (below).

If a World Cruise might ever appear on your bucket list, click here to let us know. We'd love to help you get started planning.

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