Fire and ice on a single voyage? Try an ‘odd-couple’ cruise

Awards are generally handed out for outstanding achievement, and that often means refining what already exists. But I reckon attempting something new is more admirable. Sadly, that isn’t something seen much in cruise-ship itineraries.

What cruise lines tout as “new” every year is really just a tweaking of what has gone before: an added overnight, a single port change. But this year, Norwegian Cruise Line attempted something truly different when it linked Hawaii and Alaska.

Let’s hope the 16-day “Fire and Ice” itinerary is repeated because it gave magpie travellers a taste of everything. They snorkelled on reefs and admired lava fields and rainforest. They dog-sledded and saw glaciers. The only downside, surely, must have been packing for two very different climates.

That itinerary caught my eye, and I wondered if there were any more odd-couple journeys with unusual destination combinations out there. There aren’t many, but enough to scatter gold stars for unusual thinking.

Another cruise combination that blows hot and cold: Fred Olsen Cruise Line’s 87-night Amazon & Antarctica Adventure, which departs in January 2028 – guests, however, won’t disembark in Antarctica but merely enjoy scenic cruising.

I’d award a platinum star instead to Viking’s 81-day Arctic to Antarctic Explorer itinerary in September 2029 from Nuuk in Greenland to Ushuaia in Argentina, because it turns the concept of world cruising from horizontal to vertical.

The cruise will sail down the coasts of Greenland and North America, defrost in the Bahamas and Jamaica, transit the Panama Canal, and continue down South America’s west coast and on to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Seabourn sails a similar 94-day Grand Expedition: Pole to Pole between Reykjavík and Buenos Aires from August 2027. It spends more time in the Caribbean and journeys along South America’s east coast, taking in several Brazilian ports to combine sultry and sub-zero climes.

Talking of Antarctica, I give the award for most intrepid cruise to Ponant, whose icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot will make a full circumnavigation of Antarctica from January 2028.

The odd couple there is the Antarctic Peninsula and East Antarctica, which aren’t normally visited together. All the bits in between are never visited at all: this will be the first time a cruise ship circumnavigates the frozen continent.

For those not keen on endless ice, a shout-out to Atlas Ocean Voyages (represented in Australia by Cruise Traveller) for its 128-day Grand Odyssey Expedition on new ship Atlas Adventurer.

It links Kobe in Japan with Cape Town in South Africa. Suffice to say that the spice of life is fully represented on this cruise to 19 countries and 87 ports that range from Manila to Hong Kong, Melaka to Male, and Mombasa to Maputo.

Sometimes you have to do a bit of research, but look hard enough and you can go well beyond standard sails around the Mediterranean or Pacific islands. Here’s hoping that what’s worth an award today might become more standard tomorrow.