Your Cruise Your Way Cruise Blog

Being one of the writers of popular cruise blogs, I enjoy the research involved finding new itinerary announcements like that of Oceania Cruises, and their extended journeys into Asia and Australia for the 2008-2009 winter season. Highlighting these novel itineraries will be many overnight opportunities along the way, and the successful format of the grand voyage with cruises ranging from 15 to 35 days, 2 for 1 cruise fares, and free airfare. Add to that a staff of 400 to coddle only 684 passengers, and its immediately evident that service levels are exceptional and personalized to ensure cruise comforts. It’s almost like having a floating country club. Four different restaurants, featuring their own signature decor, custom china, and unique menus promise to accentuate the dining experience a great cruise should have. Oceania Spa by Mandara will pamper you beyond belief, and on-board activities to enrich your lifestyle and expand your knowledge of your destinations, are the norm.

The Oceania Cruises Collection begins in November of 2008 with a 32 day Odyssey to Asia voyage aboard the Nautica from Rome to Singapore on November 18. Cruising the eastern Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal and on to Egypt and the Red Sea, including an overnight in Luxor. Then it’s on to Dubai, the Arabian Sea, Bombay and the Indian Ocean before cruising the Bay of Bengal for four wonderful days. Three days in Yangon will afford you the opportunity to visit Shwedagon Pagoda, called the Golden Wonder by Rudyard Kipling, and gilded with eight tons of gold and containing eight sacred hairs of Buddha. You’ll stop in Phuket, Thailand before arriving in Singapore on December 20th.
The next adventure on the Nautica sets sail on December 20 headed to Sydney, Australia for an 18 day Southern Cross Holiday. This sojourn will wind through Indonesia, and the Java Sea before an overnight in Bali (Padang Bay), Indonesia on Christmas Day. Touching in Komodo, Indonesia before heading to Australia, you will then sail for Thursday Island and, on New Year’s eve, cruising the Great Barrier Reef. Over the next five days, stops in Cairns, Townsville, Whitsunday Island, and Brisbane will help you intimately come to know the great “down under”. You final stop on January 7 is Sydney.
Oceania also offers two 15 day cruises it calls Splendors of Down Under. These two are all about Australia/New Zealand with the first departing Sydney on January 7, and the second returning from Auckland on January 22. Both will visit Melbourne, cruise the Tasman Sea, visit Hobart (Tazmania, and cruise the fjords of Milford Sound before introducing you the the wonders of New Zealand. Stops in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, and Tauranga offer an up-close and personal view of this faraway land.
If Asia is more your cup of tea, how about Oceania’s Coral Seas and Asian Jewels cruise, a 21 day venture from Sydney to Bangkok departing February 6, 2009. This enables you to see a number of Australian highlights in Brisbane, the Coral Sea, Whitsunday Island, Townsville, Cairns, Thursday Island, and Darwin before heading to Indonesia and visits to Komono, Bali and Semarang. While here, be sure to see the massive 9th century Buddhist monument of Borobudor, constructed with no mortar, and Indonesia’s most visited attraction. Crossing the Java Sea to arrive in Singapore before leading you on the China Sea and Ko Samui in Thailand. To end your journey, you will celebrate an overnight in Bangkok.
To encompass most of Southeast Asia, try the 24 day Exquisite Empires cruise departing on my birthday, February 27, 2009. After an overnight in Bangkok to begin the adventure, it’s off to Ko Samui, Thailand for a few hours, and then on to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam for two days, Da Nang, and then up to Hanoi for two days. The sights promise to be breathtaking, and make it hard to believe this was once a place of one of the worst wars in history. Next stop, two days in Hong Kong before heading to Taipei (Keelung), Taiwan. You will then cruise the East China Sea before arriving for tours of Kagoshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Soak in the beauty of the oriental culture, and then prepare to spend two days in Shanghai, China, filled with shopping, dining, and a chance to ride an 88 story elevator to the top of the Jin Mao Building. Cross the Yellow Sea for a quick visit to Seoul (Inchon), South Korea before arriving in Beijing (Tianjin), China on March 23.
For an up-close and personal look at Japan and Taiwan, I recommend Oceania’s 15 day Imperial Explorations voyage on March 23 from Beijing to Hong Kong. After stops in Seoul and two days in Shanghai, it’s off the Hiroshima, two days in Kyoto (Kobe), and Okinawa (Naha), Japan to experience their culture and history firsthand. Finally, you’ll sail to Taiwan for two days in Taipei before completing this journey in Hong Kong on April 7, 2009.
With so many opportunities to see this part of the world in varying length voyages, it’s only fitting to save the best for last. Oceania is offering a 35 day Connoisseur’s Collection to wonderful ports stringing from Hong Kong to Athens, Greece. This fabulous voyage is a sampling of the others mentioned here with visits to Da Nang, Vietnam, two days in Saigon & Ho Chi Minh City, two days in Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) in Malaysia, four days at sea cruising the Strait of Malacca, the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Laccadive Sea before arriving for stops in India at Mangalore, Goa (Mormugao), and two days in Bombay, giving you a chance to visit the terraced Ferozeshah Mehta Gardens, known as the Hanging Gardens, that overlook Bombay and the Arabian Sea. Off to Oman and the Red Sea before stopping for two days in Luxor (Safaga), Egypt. After touring Aqaba, Jordan, back on the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal for day in Cairo (Port Said). Ending with a lazy cruise across the Mediterranean to unwind, you arrive in Athens, Greece on May 12. Catch your breath!
Quite a collection, wouldn’t you agree? Keep in mind the extras that make Oceania world famous, and usually full of satisfied passengers. Tranquility bedding, plush duvets, goose down pillows, and Egyptian cotton linens, verandahs on 70% of the staterooms, country club-casual ambiance, mid ship size, yet large ship amenities, Jacques Pepin gourmet culinary program, and 2 for 1 fares make you ask….what am I waiting for?