On both rivers and oceans, Asian cruising is on the rise. New ships are launching on the Mekong, Ganges and Irrawaddy rivers, Malaysia is upgrading its cruise ports, South Korea is a hotspot, and APT launches a small-ship cruise to Japan next year. Diamond Princess has a host of new Asian cruises and a new Shanghai-based ship in 2017. MSC Cruises' Lirica and RCI's Quantum of the Seas will also sail from Shanghai, and Ovation of the Seas from Tianjin in northern China. Prepare for more Chinese passengers, with the Chinese cruise market tipped to explode.
Explorers and traders long dreamed of a northern sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific. Now shifting icepack and global warming has made it a reality. Several cruise ships have already tackled the fabled Northwest Passage, likely to become a fixture of Arctic cruising. You can experience the great seafaring challenge on ships ranging from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' luxe Hanseatic to small ships such as Lindblad Expeditions' National Geographic Explorer and Quark Expeditions' Kapitan Khlebnikov. Melting icepack is also seeing increasing cruise visits to Greenland and the Russian Far East. www.expeditions.com, www.hl-cruises.com and www.quarkexpeditions.com
The last few years has seen plenty of attention paid to French river cruising, but look further west in 2016. APT, Viking and Uniworld have already launched into Portugal, and next year Scenic arrives when Scenic Azure starts sailing 11-day 'Unforgettable Douro' itineraries round trip from Porto. With the competition hotting up, there should be fine choices on the Douro River, notable for its castles, baroque old towns and steep vineyards that produce port wine. Cruises also feature an excursion across the Spanish border to the ancient university town of Salamanca. scenictours.com.au
Good news for those travelling solo – and why wouldn't you, given the sociable nature of cruising? Single cabins are increasingly common, with lines such as P&O, Royal Caribbean and especially Norwegian leading the way and abandoning single-person supplements in the process. Cunard, which traditionally sees a fair share of single passengers, has added more single-occupancy cabins to some ships, and its new Britannia features 27. Holland America is also wading in next year with the launch of Koningsdam, its first ship to feature solo cabins (though some other Holland America ships have studio cabins). www.cunardline.com.au, www.hollandamerica.com and www.norwegiancruiseline.com.au
Thanks to the new detente, Cuba is a hot destination, as it should be: it offers Spanish colonial architecture, contemporary art and music, battered Chevrolets and a stickybeak at a country on the cusp of dramatic change. Smaller cruise ships such as those belonging to Star Clippers are already heading to Cuban waters, and one-ship Canadian company Cuba Cruise does round-the-island itineraries. Bigger ships may have to wait thanks to limited port infrastructure. Still, the likes of Carnival, Celebrity and Norwegian have plans in hand: go now while it's still an adventure. www.starclippers.com and www.yourcubacruise.com
Festivals, sporting events and cultural celebrations are popping up on cruise itineraries, and 2016 offers the best line-up yet. Port calls are timed to coincide with major events, saving passengers on exorbitant hotels and ticketing hassles. Sail into Melbourne on Pacific Pearl for January's Australian Open, Rio on Celebrity Infinity for February's Carnival, Monaco on Star Breeze for the May Grand Prix, or check out the Cannes Film Festival (also in May) on Celebrity Equinox or SeaDream II. Other cruises head to events including the British Open and Edinburgh Tattoo. www.celebritycruises.com.au, www.pocruises.com.au, www.seadream.com and www.windstarcruises.com
Alaska has long been a mainstream cruise destination for all the big cruise lines. Now it's becoming a destination for adventure travellers, too, with an ever-increasing demand for small-ship cruises that take passengers to remote inlets and bays, often for wildlife-spotting and activities such as kayaking and hiking. One such company, AdventureSmith Explorations, saw bookings surge 30 per cent last year and expects plenty more in 2016. It's only one among several small-ship companies that has launched new ships and expanded its portfolio of itineraries in Alaska, where bear-spotting provides the ultimate wilderness thrill. www.adventuresmithexplorations.com
Asia is the hottest of continents for river cruising in 2016, with new ship launches and itineraries on the Ganges and Irrawaddy. But the Mekong route through Vietnam and Cambodia looks set to be particularly enticing next year, with more choices than ever to float your boat. New ships Scenic Spirit and APT's AmaDara splash onto the river, as does Avalon Waterway's petite 38-passenger Siem Reap, which has a notably shallow draft that will allow it to sail into both Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City, something not possible on larger river-cruise vessels. www.avalonwaterways.com.au
Wi-Fi (or its lack) has always been an annoyance to cruise passengers, but perhaps no longer, with cruise lines boosting Wi-Fi speed and moving towards including access in the overall cruise cost, as most river-cruise companies – plus Regent and Viking Ocean Cruises – already do. Expect more to follow suit. (Could cruises be targeting the conference and incentives market? Watch for suits on ships soon, perhaps.) This will be only the tip of the technology iceberg: expect radio-frequency identity bracelets, luggage tracking apps, video streaming, interactive online games and photo sharing to become more common on board.
Hurray for the fading fashion for strict mealtimes and formal dining. A notable trend towards more varied, casual dining venues is gathering pace as ships find room for cafes, bistros and ice-cream stands. Quantum of the Seas has become the first ship to dispense with a main dining room, preferring 18 smaller venues. Carnival Cruise Lines is rolling out pub food, barbecues, Mexican eateries and burger joints. And even luxe lines such as Silversea are letting their hair down: the forthcoming Silver Muse is set to have a traditional Italian pizza oven. www.carnival.com.au, www.royalcaribbean.com.au and www.silversea.com
Those who want to give cruising a go without a lengthy commitment, or who just don't have the time, can take advantage of an increasing number of short cruises that last between two and five nights. P&O Australia and Royal Caribbean have numerous cruise 'Samplers' from Australian cities, and you can hop onto short cruise sections on other lines, such as a three-night sail between Sydney and Brisbane on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth this February. Further afield, Princess Cruises does three to five-day 'Getaways' in the Caribbean and US west coast. www.cunardline.com.au, www.pocruises.com.au, www.princess.com and www.royalcaribbean.com.au
River cruises have always featured cellar-door visits: after all, they sail through Europe's most famous wine regions, such as Austria's Wachau Valley, Germany's Rhinelands, Portugal's Douro Valley and France's Cotes du Rhone. But 2016 will provide an increasingly sophisticated wine experience, from wine-pairings at famous chateaux to meetings with winemakers and wine-themed cruises. APT, which is sailing into the Bordeaux region for the first time, is also offering a series of cruises across Europe accompanied by 'wine ambassadors' from leading Australian wineries who will provide their expertise over meals and on vineyard visits. www.aptouring.com.au
You once had a choice between inside and outside cabins, or cabins and suites. Now ocean ships have a plethora of cabin categories. Solo cabins are increasing in number (particular kudos to the new Norwegian Epic and P&O's Britannia), as are family categories, with Holland America's new Koningsdam featuring purpose-built, two-bathroom family staterooms to accommodate five passengers. Then there are fancy duplex suites (hello Queen Mary 2 and Allure of the Seas) and the two-bedrooms suites of the forthcoming Regent's Seven Seas Explorer, which will feature in-suite saunas and grand pianos. www.hollandamerica.com and www.rssc.com.au
More river-cruise companies are dipping a toe in the Australian market, bringing more choices. Germany company A-Rosa River Cruises is selling bilingual cruises on Europe's Danube, Rhone, Saone, Rhine, Main and Moselle rivers, while Austria's Amras Cruises is also selling 16 itineraries, including cruises on the Seine and Dutch waterways. Also notable is the growth in APT's budget alternative Travelmarvel, with nine new itineraries in Europe in 2016 and news ships in Asia, and Scenic's equivalent Evergreen Tours, which has doubled its ship numbers and expanded onto the Mekong and Volga. www.arosacruises.com and www.amrascruises.com.au
The days in which cruising was all about reading and shuffleboard have (almost) gone. You're now offered an impressive array of activities without stepping off the larger cruise ships: waterslides and swimming pools on Carnival Spirit and Carnival Legend; a 99-challenge rope and zip-line course and basketball on the new Norwegian Escape; surf simulators, rock climbing and ice skating on RCI's gargantuan Oasis-class vessels. Expedition ships carry gear such as kayaks, scuba-diving equipment and windsurfs, and the latest river-cruise ships have bicycles and Nordic walking sticks for passenger use. www.carnival.com.au, www.norwegiancruiseline.com.au and www.royalcaribbean.com.au
16 THEMED RIVER CRUISES
Themed river cruises aren't entirely new – Avalon Waterways is notable for its beer, wine and music cruises – but they're gathering momentum. In 2016, Uniworld's 'Connoisseur Collection' focuses on gourmet experiences such as chocolate-and-wine pairing and truffle hunts in France, and other cruises are timed for springtime Dutch tulips and Christmas markets in central Europe. Perhaps the most unusual is Uniworld's 'Monarch Collection' (available on some 'European Jewels' cruises between Amsterdam and Budapest) which, among other aristocratic angles, includes a meeting with Princess Anita von Hohenberg, great-granddaughter of assassinated Austrian heir Franz Ferdinand, at Artstetten Castle. www.uniworldcruises.com.au
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