70 cruising: south america
“A Panama Canal cruise has long been a bucket list favourite, but we have seen more interest recently, with passengers citing they want to see how the expansion project is progressing ”
PAUL LUDLOW, MANAGING DIRECTOR UK AND IRELAND, PRINCESS CRUISES
Panama for now
Cruise lines are increasingly looking to South America, a continent that offers everything from glaciers to beaches, says Jane Archer
Madrid for £63.2 million, and Angel Di Maria going to Manchester United for £59.7 million – plus recording artists such as Shakira and Sérgio Mendes, South America has benefi ted from the cult of celebrity. This may not be enough of a hook to convince clients to cruise in the region, but factor in the rest of South America’s attractions and it’s easy to see why cruise lines are making a bee-line for its shores – many of them sailing round-trip from the UK for folk who prefer not to fl y. There’s the variety of landscapes, from beaches and rainforests to deserts and glaciers; the lively cities of Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro; the exotic wildlife, from penguins in Argentina to toucans and piranha fi sh in the Amazon. A cruise is an easy way to tick off many of these
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aspects on one holiday, which is a big selling point. The Olympic Games in Brazil in 2016 and the impending expansion of the Panama Canal add more reasons for selling South America now. Princess Cruises Managing Director UK and Ireland, Paul Ludlow, said year-on-year the demand for Panama Canal cruises is up 13%. “It has always been a bucket list favourite
but we’ve seen more interest recently, with [passengers] citing they want to see how the expansion project is progressing.” A Panama Canal cruise is one of many
favourite itineraries. Others include a voyage around Cape Horn, up the Amazon and to Peru, with land trips to Machu Picchu, as well as two months or so circumnavigating the continent.
sellingtravel.co.uk
ith its multi-million-pound footballers – think James Rodriguez, signed by Real
What’s new Sailing from the UK: Cruise & Maritime
Voyages (
cruiseandmaritime.com) is offering a 54-night journey from Bristol Avonmouth to Brazil, Argentina and Punta Arenas in Chile and back to the UK on Marco Polo, departing January 5 2016. Saga Cruises (
saga.co.uk/cruises) has a 73-night
voyage around South America, round-trip from Southampton, departing January 6 2016. On Saga Pearl II, the itinerary goes anti- clockwise around the continent and includes a day in Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Cruise operators: Swan Hellenic (swanhellenic. com) is returning to South America in 2015/16 with an all-new cruise programme of mainly 14-night itineraries down the west coast as far as Valparaiso, from where a 19-day voyage sails through the Chilean fjords to Ushuaia and back. A series of cruises then takes passengers back towards the Panama Canal via Peru and Ecuador. MSC has fi ve ships based in South America
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