WIN an iPad Mini – Cruise Passenger Magazine 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards

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Alaska for Beginners

#expeditioncruising


It’s no wonder that Alaska is attracting Australians in record numbers. The vast wilderness, huge range of activities for all tastes and budgets and the sheer sense of adventure is a wonderful attraction for outdoor-loving Aussies.

This story and much more in Cruise Passenger Magazine

WIN 10 nights aboard the National Geographic Orion

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Win a luxury adventure cruise on Island Escape

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Win a 10-night Kimberley expedition cruise for two

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Cruise Passenger Magazine: Pacific Pleasures, Ocean to Ocean

Open publication 

The 50th edition of Cruise Passenger magazine out now

This specially commissioned cover is an original artwork that celebrates the enduring romance of cruise travel – and the continuing popularity of good, old-fashioned, top-quality travel writing!

Readers have the chance to win a limited-edition, poster-size print signed by the artist, Michael Crampton, in a competition that’s ridiculously easy to enter.

We’re also celebrating the world’s love affair with cruise travel by offering the chance to win an amazing voyage for two people in Australia’s hottest destination, The Kimberley, with Orion Expedition Cruises. Worth $25,860, this competition is open to all our subscribers, existing and new. Yes, you have to be a subscriber to receive Cruise Passenger magazine and at $29.95 a year (the price of about 10 cappuccinos) it’s an absolute bargain. And a lovely present for a good friend.

More must-reads in this edition:
• Best in the business: 2012 winners of the 8th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
• Accent on Europe: Away from the madding crowds; classic Royal Scotsman rail journey combined with a Celtic cruise; Oceania Marina in the Med.
• Inspiring Escapes: Gourmet dining on the Peruvian Amazon; traversing the Northwest Passage; a classic Alaska cruise; visiting lesser-known South Pacific spots with a boutique cruise line.
• New ships: editor’s review of Celebrity Reflection, plus a look at what’s coming up in 2013.
• News: Jump on a European river cruise next year with MasterChef‘s Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, My Kitchen Rules’ sexy Frenchman Manu Feildel, and Ready Steady Cook’s Janelle Bloom, Alastair McLeod and Damian Heads.


Cruise Passenger magazine is published by Edge, 51 Whistler Street, Manly, NSW 2095. It is an independent voice in the cruise industry and has been published since 1976. It covers ocean, river and adventure cruises in ships of all sizes and for all budgets and has a loyal following among discerning world travellers. If you haven’t discovered the world of cruising already, think on this: it’s no longer the domain of the “newly wed, over-fed and nearly dead”!


http://www.cruisepassenger.com.au/

Cruise Passenger 47: Ponant, Pandaw, Kimberley, Orion, Borneo

This issue turned out to be a real small ship and adventure issue.

Open publication

ANOTHER AWARD FOR THE TRUE NORTH

Image: Mark Stothard

North Star Cruises Australia is pleased to announce more acclaim for the renowned cruise ship “TRUE NORTH”.

The TRUE NORTH was recently voted Best Soft Adventure Cruise Ship in Cruise Passenger Magazine’s annual reader’s awards.

Acknowledging the award, North Star’s General Manager said “North Star pioneered luxury adventure-cruising in the Kimberley 25 years ago. No one knows the Kimberley like we do – we live there, it’s our backyard. And the True North is purpose built for what we do – bigger ships cannot go where we go. Our repertoire is also unchallenged. We carry six dedicated expedition boats – fully surveyed 20 foot runabouts - our guests are primarily concerned with comfort and safety and rubber boats just don’t cut the mustard! Of course the fulltime helicopter adds another dimension to everything we do and, an all-Australian crew uniquely chaperones every activity. With just 36 guests on-board it’s always a relaxed small group feel with plenty of opportunity for personal service and attention to detail. Our guests pretty much get to do what they want, when they want and it’s no wonder they consistently remark “that’s the best holiday I have ever had.” Thanks to Cruise Passenger Magazine and all our supporters!”

North Star Cruises conducts adventure-cruises around the Australian coastline and in the stunning waters of the South Pacific.

Extended periods at sea are specifically excluded and daily activities can include scenic walks, fishing, snorkelling, diving and cultural events.

For more information on the TRUE NORTH see www.northstarcruises.com.au

Tui Tai Fiji: Small Ship Heaven

Off the map Fiji cruising on the luxury schooner, Tui Tai.
From Issue 46 of Cruise Passenger Magazine

Cruise Passenger Magazine, Issue 45, Out Now

Expedition and adventure in this issue:
Journey of the Jayavarman (Mekong)
Plus Free River Cruising Guide

Tui Tai Winner Announced

The winner of our Tui Tai competition has been decided. Narelle Preece will be taking a friend on a seven-night, all-inclusive Fiji cruise with Tui Tai Expeditions.

Congratulations Narelle!

More information on Tui Tai

Want to be a winner too?
Enter now

Antarctica: Frozen Folly

A trip to East Antarctica is anything but a walk in the park. Our Adventure Cruise Guide editor follows gingerly in the footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson. Words & Photos: Roderick Eime

“Beyond the Roaring Forties there are the Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties, for the storms that ravage these regions become more and more severe as one proceeds further south.” – Herbert Ponting, 1921

Who in their right mind would willingly subject themself to this kind of discomfort? And to call a voyage to Antarctica a ‘cruise’– especially if you’re venturing beyond 70 degrees south – is a serious misrepresentation.

If your idea of a cruise is sitting on a deckchair beside a pool with a pina colada in one hand and a Jackie Collins potboiler in the other, read no further. Deep Antarctica is one of those places, like the moon, that is just so distant and unreachable that to travel there is almost the stuff of fiction.

Read Full Story

More Readers for ExpeditionCruising.com - Avid Cruiser, USAToday, Yahoo!7 more

Getting your stories in front of as many readers as possible is the goal of this site. In case you were wondering, there are a lot more people reading these stories than you might imagine.

Many stories from expeditioncruising.com are now being picked by Ralph Grizzle's well read Avid Cruiser blog. In turn they appear on USA Today (Alexa Global Rank: 439)

Bookmark this link for Avid Cruiser:
http://www.avidcruiser.com/author/rodeime/

Here is a Google search on USA Today:
http://bit.ly/Roderick-Eime-USAToday

and let's not forget Yahoo7!
http://yhoo.it/Roderick-Eime-YahooAU

and, of course, you read all these stories first on Cruise Weekly
Subscribe to Cruise Weekly

Adventure cruise features regularly appear on Cruise Passenger Magazine's site:
http://bit.ly/Roderick-Eime-CP

and News Ltd's Escape is read by millions around Australia. Here's a recent one:
Pink Dolphins and Silver Piranhas (Amazon) and here is more detail about News Ltd's Escape

Occasionally, stories will appear in the UK publication Cruise International.

So, if you were wondering about the value of communicating your message via this site, there's your answer.

 How can you help get your news moving?
1) Click Facebook 'Like' every time you see your message. Tell your friends
2) Retweet via your Twitter account. You have one right?
3) Share the story link directly on your brand's Facebook page.
4) Share the story directly from our Facebook Page

WIN a 7-night Tui Tai cruise in Fiji for two people

What is it about Tui Tai Expeditions that keeps people coming back for more? Is it the way they combine adventure with luxury, their in-depth Fiji itineraries or that pretty much everything offered during the cruise is all rolled in to one great price?

You could be discovering what it is you love about Tui Tai by thinking up a clever slogan to promote the company. The winner will receive a seven-night, all-inclusive Fiji expedition for two people, staying in an Expedition Cabin, valued at up to $9,360!

WIN a Borneo expedition on board Orion II, valued at $22,000

For your chance to discover the remote, unspoilt jewels of Borneo’s islands and coastlines – plus encounter orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park’s landmark Camp Leakey – just tell us in 25 words or less why this voyage would create a unique, meaningful experience for you.

Orion Expedition Cruises has been voyaging to the world’s rarely visited destinations since 2004. On board its purpose-built expedition ships, Orion and Orion II, guests discover remote, unspoilt places while cruising in 5-star comfort. The lucky winner of this terrific prize, and his or her partner, will cruise Borneo for 10-nights from February 17, 2012 staying in a Junior Suite on board the new Orion II.

ENTER COMPETITION

Cruise Passenger Member Offer: The World’s Most Innovative Antarctic Expeditions

Experience the magic of Antarctica in the Summer of 2011, aboard the celebrated research vessel, Akademik Ioffe. This ship is considered the best equipped, most stable and most capable Antarctic expedition vessel in the world, with a maximum of just 95 guests. All voyages include well presented lectures, up to three shore excursions per day when in Antarctica and a complimentary Antarctica wet weather gear hire package. For the adventurers, we include the option to spend a night camping on the ice as well as sea kayaking. You also enjoy outstanding international cuisine prepared by our team of chefs. There are 10 expeditions to choose from – departing between November 2011 and March 2012. With the Aussie dollar so strong, there will never be a better time to go! Popular expeditions include:

Antarctic Peninsula Adventure
(4-departures this season)

11-day expedition departing from Ushuaia, Argentina. Experience the breathtaking scenery of the Antarctic Peninsula – a region teeming with wildlife, towering glaciers, icebergs in all shapes and sizes and historic research bases. Our days are filled with excursions ashore accompanied by our naturalist guides. *Ask about our special airfares to South America.

Journey Below the Antarctic Circle
(1-departure this season)

On this 13-day voyage, we journey further south than we do at any other time in the season. Our aim is to cross the Antarctic Circle, below 66 ° 33' south. We aim to head as far south as Crystal Sound, an icy sweep of water surrounded by the dramatic peaks of the Antarctic continent. The scenery here, combined with the extended light at the height of the Antarctic summer, make for truly jaw-dropping sights in every direction. Be quick, this expedition sells out every season! *Ask about our special airfares to South America.

The Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula (3-departures this season)

On this far-reaching expedition to the islands of the South Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic continent, you revel in 19 awe-inspiring days of exploration. Busybody penguins in rookeries by the thousands, stupendous icebergs reflecting startling greens and blues, humpback whales feeding on krill, and, of course, the continent-sized sweeping ice sheet of Antarctica are just some of the highlights of this outstanding expedition. *Ask about our special airfares to South America.


Contact Active Travel – the Antarctic travel experts.
Call 02 9264 1231, email sydney@activetravel.com.au or visit www.activetravel.com.au.

Out of This World – the Top Five Remote Island Destinations for the Eco-Traveller

2011 Cruise Passenger Magazine
Adventure Cruise Guide

Media Release: 4 April 2011

Cruise Passenger Magazine’s Adventure Cruise Guide Names the Top Five Remote Island Destinations Accessible Only by Expedition Vessel.

Our planet is transforming every day. The climate is changing, forests are vanishing, endangered species disappear daily and the polar ice is melting at an alarming rate.

All this could be a good reason to stay at home and lock the door, but adventure and expedition cruisers are travelling like, well, there is no tomorrow.

Small ships and expedition vessels, often with less than 100 passengers aboard, transport environmentally sensitive and ecologically aware travellers to some of the world’s most remote and fragile destinations on Earth.

“Expedition cruising is quite possibly the purest form of ecotourism,” says Roderick Eime, editor of Adventure Cruise Guide, “Adventure ships take small numbers of thoughtful people to places where there is no infrastructure and leave nothing behind.”

“Some of the world’s most remarkable destinations can only be reached aboard a small ship – and thank goodness for that.”

Here are five such destinations you can’t fly to or ever hope to visit aboard a 3000-passenger behemoth.

1. Macquarie Island, Australia (54° 37′ 0.12″ S, 158° 51′ 0″ E) *

Young elephant seals sing up a chorus on Macquarie Island (Roderick Eime)

Inhabited by around 20 Australian scientists and support staff, Macquarie has only featured as a ‘tourist’ destination since adventure vessels heading to the Antarctic started looking for somewhere to break the many days at sea. Geologically attached to New Zealand, but administered by Australia, it is halfway to Antarctica from Tasmania. The first residents were seals and penguins who were almost hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Replaced by cats, rats and rabbits, man’s influence is slowly being reversed. Apart from the wildlife, Macquarie is famous for its rocks. Geologists will know what an ophiolite is and that Macquarie is the only place to see one.

2. Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia (10°29′0″S, 138°39′0″W)

Island of Fatu Hiva, village of Hanavave, Bay of Virgins. As seen from departing Aranui 3 (Roderick Eime)

The second most remote archipelago in the world (next to Hawai’i) is the Marquesas. Fatu Hiva is well known as centre for Marquesan arts and crafts, centred around the village of Omoa on the western coast and has one of the largest selections anywhere in the archipelago. Visitors can see men and women demonstrating their crafts including word carving, tapa (bark) cloth making and fabrics. Thor (and Mrs) Heyerdahl spent time in 1937 for the famous book, Fatu Hiva, Back to Nature. Part of a visit can include a challenging hike across the mountain to the delightful little village of Hanavave, possibly one of the most isolated anywhere in the Marquesas. The setting in the picturesque Bay of Virgins is a secret only shared by intrepid yachtsmen.

3. Espanola (Hood) Island, Galápagos Islands (1° 22′ 0″ S, 89° 41′ 0″ W) *

Majestic Waved Albatross (Diomedea irrorata) soars on cliff-side updrafts on the island of Espanola in the Galapagos group. Also called the Galapagos albatross, the waved albatross is the largest bird in the Galapagos. (Roderick Eime)

Tiny Espanola was named by the Spanish for, you guessed it, Spain. The British also named it after the famous naval man, Samuel Hood. Tucked away in the far southeast corner of the Galápagos Islands group, its isolation was also its salvation as the more northerly younger islands, were often visited by hungry seamen, pirates and whalers. Home to a wild cornucopia of birds, seals and marine iguanas, it is one of the must-do stops on any Galápagos island itinerary. Birders will go crazy for the bizarre ritual of the Blue Footed Booby as well as the majestic, but critically endangered Waved Albatross. The marine iguana, native to the group, has a brightly coloured sub-species endemic to the island. Gardner Bay is the popular landing site and great for diving, snorkelling and swimming.

4. Deception Island, Antarctica (62° 58′ 37″ S, 60° 39′ 0″ W)

Deception Island is just off the Antarctic Peninsula and a highlight of any expedition cruise. (Roderick Eime)

This collapsed volcanic caldera off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most talked about islands on any of the southerly itineraries. Dripping in history, wildlife and stunning scenery, the island was home to several countries’ whaling and Antarctic bases until a series of violent eruptions sent them scrambling. After your ship makes the nail-biting entry through Neptune’s Bellows, visitors can stroll around the abandoned base at Whalers Bay or visit the teeming Chinstrap Penguin colony where 200,000 birds all call at once. Sir Hubert Wilkins and pilot, Ben Eielson, set off from the narrow volcanic strip to become the first to fly over Antarctica in December 1928. Their hangar still stands. Any visit to Deception Island must be capped off with a swim in the volcanically heated waters at Pendulum Cove.

5. Beechey Island, Canadian Arctic (74°43′N 091°51′W)

Beechey Island (Nunavut, Canada) is a highlight of Quark Expeditions' Northwest Passage. (Claudio Suter/Quark Expeditions)

If it weren’t for some odd blips in history, Beechey Island would still be the infinitesimal featureless, uninhabited satellite of its much larger neighbour, Devon Island in Canada’s Wellington Channel. Some time in 1845, the still lost English explorer, Sir John Franklin, stopped to winter in the shelter of Beechey Island. Three of his men remain there, a testament to greater events about to unfold. Now a "site of territorial historical significance", Beechey Island plays host to Arctic expeditioners seeking to recreate Franklin’s historic, if foolhardy, voyage of disappearance. The amazingly preserved body of 21-year-old Petty Officer John Shaw Torrington provided some of the scant clues to the untimely demise of Franklin’s folly. He has since been reburied with his former shipmates.

* UNESCO World Heritage Listed

The fourth edition of Cruise Passenger Magazine’s Adventure Cruise Guide contains all the information you need to travel to any of these impossibly remote locations with a comprehensive listing of all major operators. You can also learn what to pack, who is cruising and what adventurous add-ons are available to extend your adventure.

The 2011 Adventure Cruise Guide is available in selected newsagents, by direct request and online at www.cruisepassenger.com.au (page goes live on Monday April 4)

Roderick Eime is available for interview and comment. Contact


High Res images from this article can be downloaded from here. Mandatory credits apply.

About Cruise Passenger Magazine

First published in 1996, Cruise Passenger is Australasia’s only magazine dedicated to cruising. Each quarterly issue has 128 pages of in-depth insights into cruise trends and destinations, reviews of ships and cruise lines, beautiful photographs and advice on how to choose the best cruise. For more information, see www.cruisepassenger.com.au

About Roderick Eime

A journalist, photographer and adventurer for over 30 years, Rod has developed a specialty for small ship and expedition cruising in remote locations. He has covered vessels all around the world including both polar regions and many rivers. He is also an experienced scuba diver and also enjoys telling the stories and history behind his travels. See his blogs at Expedition Cruising and Guide to Small Ship and Adventure Cruising.

Win $20,000 Kimberley Cruise - Closing Soon

ENTER NOW

Entries close on 31-01-2011 at 11.59pm.

Australia's favourite small ships announced

The Cruise Passenger Readers' Choice Awards were held at a stylish function in the Observatory Hotel, close to Sydney's home of cruising, Sydney Harbour, on Monday evening, December 6, 2010.


Cruise Passenger magazine is Australasia's Number One cruise publication for lovers of big ship voyages, intimate small ship river cruises and everything in between. Featuring a round-up of the latest news from the cruise world, new cruise liners to hit the industry, popular cruise ports and land-based tour options, plus features on family cruising and expedition cruising, Cruise Passenger is jam-packed with all the latest information from the ever-expanding cruise sector.

Best Adventure/Small Ship Cruise Line
1st: Captain Cook Cruises
2nd: Orion Expedition Cruises
3rd: Aurora Expeditions

Best Adventure/Small Ship Cruise Ship
1st: Orion
2nd: True North
3rd: Coral Princess

Read full release with all winners in all categories