The first purpose-built permanent cruise terminal for Rome, Terminal Amerigo Vespucci, opened in Civitavecchia, Italy, on May 21. Jointly owned and operated byCosta Cruises, MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean International, it can accommodate larger ships.
2.4 million passengers are expected to board there each year, using 120 check-in counters and 90 boarding-status monitors. It includes a VIP lounge plus a small museum with Roman and Etruscan artifacts.
To view the total solar eclipse on Dec. 4, 2021, passengers on the ice-strengthened ship Akademik Ioffe will sail to the South Orkney Islands, just northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Chartered by Eclipse Travel (Sydney, NSW, Australia; phone +61 2 9016 2930, eclipsetravel.com), the ship leaves Ushuaia, Argentina, on Nov. 23 (cruise end date had not been announced), also visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
A 245-day ’round-world cruise aboard the 930-passenger Viking Sun departs London on Aug. 31, 2019, and visits 59 countries and 113 ports, including Reykjavik, Rio, Sydney, Mumbai, Luxor and Tunis.
Cabins run $92,990-$175,990 per person, double, which includes business-class air, beverage package, excursions and onboard gratuities. For $6,000 in excursion and onboard credit, book by Dec. 31, 2018. Viking Ocean Cruises (855/884-5464, www.vikingcruises.com/oceans).
I would like to assure world traveler Albert Podell, whose letter “Longtime Traveler’s Reactions to His First Cruise” appeared in the May 2018 issue (page 24), that not all cruises are equal.
In my experience, most cruise passengers fall into two categories: those who cruise primarily to enjoy the ship and shipboard activities and those whose focus is on the cruise’s destinations. My wife and I fall into the latter category.
On June 30, 2017, we booked the Jan. 18, 2018, sailing of Viking Ocean Cruises’ “Southern Mediterranean Discovery” itinerary. This cruise was to begin in Rome (Civitavecchia) and end in Barcelona, with stops at Trapani (Sicily), Tunis, Cagliari (Sardinia), Algiers and Valencia.
My husband, Gery, and I were quite taken with the lead article in the November 2017 issue of ITN about an 8-day “Southern Mediterranean Discovery” cruise with Viking Ocean Cruises that featured Tunis and Algiers as ports of call.
One place I had never considered visiting was Antarctica. It always seemed too far away from my world, more of an idea than a location. But when ITN received a press release from Oceanwide Expeditions (US office in Houston, TX; 800/453-7245, oceanwide-expeditions.com) announcing discounted Antarctic cruises for members of the press (airfare not included), the allure of the distant continent was too much to resist.
