Aurora Expeditions launch 2015-2016 brochure

Aurora Expeditions have launched their 2015-2016 Expedition Guide. For the first time ever, the guide encompasses expeditions across all seven continents featuring 21 itineraries, 18 destinations and over 80 individual departures, and is jammed packed with a range of new bonus inclusions.

The expanded program includes a new 15-day 'African Cruise Safari' to some of the most concentrated wildlife regions of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The expedition highlights include a four-day cruise on the Chobe River on board luxury riverboat Zambezi Queen, with game viewing from special excursion crafts, as well as nights in traditional safari lodges and game drives through Chobe and Hwange National Parks. 

In Scotland passengers will receive a 12-month National Trust membership and an onboard genealogist will assist passengers in tracing their Scottish ancestry. Free artist workshops along the Kimberley coast will allow budding artists to create their own Kimberley masterpiece.

Other inclusions include complimentary kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and polar snorkelling in Alaska and free camping in Antarctica. 

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Silversea expedition cruises will visit 500 destinations in 2015

Silversea's three expedition ships, Silver Explorer, Silver Discoverer, and Silver Galapagos, will collectively explore more than 500 destinations on 95 expedition cruises. Included among 88 inaugural calls are Gough Island, St. Helena; Lizard Island, Australia; Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles; Ko Phra Thong, Thailand; and South Cinque Island, Andaman Archipelago.

Silver Explorer's schedule retains its expedition cruises to Antarctica, South and Central America, the British Isles, Northern Canada, Greenland, and Arctic Norway. New itineraries include a 12-day expedition to the White Sea sailing roundtrip from Tromso on 11 June, and an 18-day journey focused on Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, sailing roundtrip from Kangerlussuaq on 22 August.

Silver Discoverer's six expedition cruises along Australia's Kimberley Coast from March to May highlight an exotic programme that encompasses Africa, New Zealand, Indonesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Russian Far East, and remote Alaska. On the schedule is a new 15-day, Phuket-to-Male sailing departing 2 December to explore Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Plus, on the 17 December, the ship departs Male on a new 17-day expedition to the Seychelles, Maldives, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Highlighting this voyage is an inaugural visit to Aldabra, an amazing raised coral atoll that has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Silver Galapagos will again operate year-round voyages exploring the pristine and biologically diverse islands of the Galápagos.

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Aurora Expeditions Polar Voyages For 2013/14

Aurora Expeditions has launched its first ever Polar Voyages Brochure for 2013/14. In keeping with the company's continued efforts to be environmentally friendly, they have produced just one brochure encompassing all of their spectacular voyages to Antarctica and The European Arctic over the next 18 months. Available in ebook and printed format, the new brochure showcases some of the most spectacular Polar regions on earth, introducing readers to the concept of enriching travel through close encounters with wildlife, breathtaking scenery, informative talks and small group camaraderie (groups of 54 or less). The Polar Voyages 2013 and 2014 are expected to fill fast, with Fly/Sail options to the Antarctic Peninsula already showing strong demand. Departing South America, these voyages have been designed to reduce sea time and increase time at the destination. The new 'Across the Arctic Circle' voyages are also showing particularly strong demand, giving passengers the opportunity to sample the Scottish, Norwegian and Spitsbergen coasts over 14 days. With adventure levels to suit all tastes, exciting activities across the programme include sea kayaking, camping, photography, climbing and polar scuba-diving. Aurora, the pioneers of ship-based adventures, are committed to small, low-impact groups keen to experience the Polar Regions in many ways whether by walking, scuba-diving, sea kayaking or sitting quietly and absorbing the surrounding magnificence. The 2013/14 itineraries reflect this commitment. Voyages to The European Arctic start from AU$6,700 and to the Antarctic Peninsula from $6,365. Aurora can also book your full travel arrangements: flights, hotel accommodation, tours and transfers, making them a one-stop shop for your trip of lifetime. Voyage prices include: Ship accommodation. All public areas are open to passengers. All meals on board. All Zodiac and shore excursions from the ship. Lectures, videos, slide and film shows and guide services. Medical services. There is a resident medical officer and well-equipped clinic on board. Port taxes and port charges imposed by government authorities. Not included: Air transport to and from the ship. Visa, passport and vaccination charges and airport departure taxes. Hotels and meals not included in cruise itinerary. Optional excursions not included in cruise itinerary. Laundry, postage, personal clothing, medical expenses, travel insurance and items of a personal nature such as bar charges, phone calls and optional end of voyage tips. Credit card surcharge, if making your final payment by credit card. Emergency evacuation charges. For more info, see Aurora Expeditions, or, for more adventure-cruise ideas, follow this link to the Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's adventure cruising specialists. 

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Quark's New Polar 2013 Season

Quark Expeditions is pleased to announce the company’s Arctic 2013 season, featuring icebreaker adventures to the North Pole and luxury ship expeditions to Spitsbergen, Greenland and Iceland.

Many of the Arctic region's most sought after destinations are coming back for the 2013 season, with two North Pole voyages departing June 19 and June 30, as well as the “Three Arctic Islands: Iceland, Greenland, Spitsbergen” trip, which was named as one of the “50 Tours of a Lifetime” in 2011.

New Expedition Added

New for next year's season is the “Greenland Explorer: Valleys and Fjords” expedition, which follows the dramatic coast of the world’s largest island. Passengers will get to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Illusiat Ice Fjord, one of the largest and fastest moving glaciers. It travels approximately 100 feet per day while dropping huge icebergs into its narrow coastal inlets.

Explorers will also encounter indigenous communities as well as the rich animal life surrounding this beautiful country, including many varieties of seals, whales, dolphins, polar bears and sea birds. The journey takes passengers to two of the world’s most northern capitals, beginning in Ottawa and ending in Reykjavik (the reverse itinerary is also available). Prices start from £4,120 for 14 and 15-day itineraries for departures in August 2013.

For more adventure cruise ideas, follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's leading adventure-cruising specialists.

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Save The Albatross With Hurtigruten

Norwegian and Polar cruise specialist Hurtigruten has been an active participant in many of the remote areas it visits on its expedition voyages and often raises money for needy causes. And, from this summer, new fund-raising activities will take place on MS Fram’s Arctic and Antarctic voyages that focus on helping to raise money for the ‘Save the Albatross’ project run by the Bird Life International Foundation. The albatross, which visitors to Antarctica often see flying past from the deck of their ship, faces extinction mainly due to industrial long-line fishing.

So, to help in publicising its plight, Hurtigruten will raise funds by auctioning off items at the end of each Explorer voyage. Among the items being auctioned are the unique nautical chart of the respective voyage, signed by the captain, a Hurtigruten flag signed by all crew members, and expedition team jackets. 

Each destination MS Fram visits raises money on board for campaigns run by a range of organisations. For example, in Antarctica, funds raised go to the Save The Albatross and Antarctica South Heritage Trust. In Greenland, funds collected go to the “Association of Greenlandic Children.” Since the auctions were first launched in 2007, €140,000 has already been raised.

Hurtigruten sails to some of the most remote of destinations including Antarctica, Greenland and the Arctic’s Spitsbergen, as well as year-round along Norway's coast and Europe in the spring.

For bookings, follow this link to our sponsors and the UK's leading adventure-cruise specialists, the Cruise Line Ltd.

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Go Wild With Exodus

From gorillas in the dense jungle of Uganda, king penguins in the frozen plains of Antarctica and black bears in the National Parks of Canada, the world’s most beautiful and wildlife awaits with Exodus Travel. Responsible travel projects including Penguin Lifelines for the Antarctic penguins and the Bandhavgarh Project to conserve the Bengal Tiger.

Standing toe-to-toe with a Rwandan Mountain gorilla, looking down precision optics at a cheetah family or being just metres from a polar bear cub in the Arctic can be life-changing moments – and Exodus, the UK’s leading adventure tour operator, has a brand new brochure, Wildlife Encounters 2012–13, offering a selection of the best wildlife experiences imaginable. Here's an example:

Tigers in Focus - 11 days of wildlife in Bandhavgarh, one of India’s top tiger reserves, from £1,599, including flights. Next departure dates are March 8, October 25 and November 8. 

Cradled between mountain ranges, Bandhavgarh boasts a breathtaking mixture of dense green valleys and rocky hills. This stunning park, home to a huge variety of wildlife, including leopards, Chital deer, wild boar, sloth bear and wild dog, as well as an astounding variety of bird species, is most famous for the density of its tiger population, the highest in India. Although Bandhavgarh is remote, the journey is well worth it and, with 8 included game drives, this trip will deliver unrivalled tiger-viewing success.

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Going Cruising? Try A Kayak!

Kayaking in the far-flung corners of the world is an experience guaranteed to refresh any adventurer’s soul. From the icy waters of Antarctica and the European Arctic, to the remote, forgotten shores of Russia and the tropical fjords of Papua New Guinea, Aurora Expeditions’ kayaking journeys bring you up close to a maze of wildlife and nature.

Exploring the fascinating, wildlife-rich waters of our world’s most untouched continent – Antarctica - is an experience hard to beat, gliding silently past ice floes topped with sleeping seals and pondering penguins. Seabirds soar above, while curious leopard seals and agile Adele penguins play around kayaks that paddle the pristine bays and hidden channels, with cracking ice falling from glaciers to create small waves.

Paddling the sub-antarctic islands of South Georgia is also a rare privilege and a wildlife lover’s dream, kayaking among thousands of breeding king penguins and lively fur seals. Here, you can journey deep into glacial bays as black-browed and wandering albatross, prions, terns and petrels soar overhead, while elephant seals loll on beaches watched over by multitudes of macaroni and rock hopper penguins.

The icy waters of Greenland and Spitsbergen are a maze of massive sculpted icebergs, ice-choked fjords and sheltered bays. Paddling the pack ice, you can keep watch for polar bears, walrus, whales and narwhals. 

From gazing at sea-life through crystal-clear waters, to paddling among uninhabited tropical islands, sea kayaking around Papua New Guinea is another unparalleled experience, discovering hidden waterways and the quiet of this tropical paradise. Here you can come face-to-face and kayak with locals who live daily on the water with paddle in hand.

All Aurora Expeditions kayaking expeditions are led by experienced guides, paddling in small groups of no more than 12 to gain intimate access to beautiful coastlines in some of the world's most remote destinations. Kayaking prices are not included in the voyage price but start from only $850 in Antarctica, AU$995 in the European Arctic, $995 in Russia and AU$995 in Papua New Guinea.

Prices include use of kayaks and paddles, dry suites and guide. Intermediate experience is required. Advice on gaining kayaking experience can be provided for you to practice your techniques prior to your voyage.

For more info and booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's adventure cruise specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

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The Quad Berth Expedition

Following recent reports that the price of cruising in the Antarctic is set to rise, adventure travel specialist G Adventures has announced the introduction of its brand new - and better value - quad berths onboard their M/S Expedition.

The new quad berth cabins will be available for the 2012 Arctic and Antarctic season providing more capacity for travellers onboard, welcome news at a time when industry prices are set to rise, due to the recent introduction of new fuel regulations banning the use of heavy oil in this region.

Here's a typical G Adventures Arctic voyage:

Realm of the Polar Bear

Price: £2269pp; category 1A Quad; departure, July 6, 2012; duration, 8 days.
Description: Spot whales and polar bears, explore incredible scenery, brave the Arctic waters swimming, encounter Ny-Ålesund, birdlife and glaciers, discover breathtaking ice-covered fjords, glimpse herds of Svalbard’s many species of reindeer and take in daily lectures.

For more information, visit www.gadventures.com or contact the UK's adventure cruise specialists of The Cruise Line Ltd.

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