Have you ever dreamed about one-day sailing to the North Pole? This might be exactly the cruise you are looking for. This week as Poseidon Expeditions commences another sold-out season of voyages from Murmansk, Russia aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Years of Victory, to the geographic North Pole, the company announces that reservations are now open for three departures during the summer of 2020.

Luxury is a word that is often abused when it comes to cruising. To some, quite literally any time spent on the water is a luxury. However, the spectrum runs from simple Caribbean cruises to something more exotic and that’s where Ponant fits in.

Choosing the right cruise vacation can be complicated but thanks to the diversification among big cruise lines the decision has been made easier in recent years. The world of luxury small ship cruising though is a different equation. Instead of looking at gee-whiz features like trampoline parks and unique specialty restaurants to draw cruisers, virtually all small ship luxury cruises offer superior service, gourmet food, exotic destinations, and a more personalized experience since the ships are designed for fewer than 1,000 guests and often only a few hundred. So, how do you pick the right small ship cruise for you?

There's a whole other world beyond just the big feature-packed cruise ships from the big-name brands you are all familiar with and that's the small ship luxury market. While I love sailing on ships like Norwegian Encore and Oasis of the Seas, the reality is that for many people the ship itself is getting in the way of enjoying a cruise. There are too many people, not enough personal attention, and the food ultimately suffers because you are cooking tens of thousands of meals each day. Plus, when you get to port there's always a long line waiting to debark and then once on shore there's more crowds to deal with. One increasingly popular alternative is small ship luxury cruises like those offered by Crystal Symphony, so we visited her in San Diego to see what all the buzz was about.

We were on hand tonight for Viking's unveiling of their latest product - Viking Expeditions. With their incredible success with taking over the river and small-ship ocean cruise market, Viking Expedition is poised to have the same disruptive impact. Most importantly, the positioning is clearly a move away from traditional expedition offerings where the experience is secondary to the destination, Viking promises to bring a similar experience that we love from the river and ocean product to expeditions as well - including features such as large comfortable bathrooms as well as accessibility and comfort. 

Expedition voyages are one of the fastest-growing segments of the luxury cruise market. While once this was synonymous with Arctic and Antarctic cruises, I'm thrilled that new players are opening new markets. While some may not see the Great Lakes as being glamourous compared to cruising past penguins and thousand-year-old chunks of ice, the Great Lakes offers a unique and relatively unexplored part of our own country that are also are central to the science and history of our global climate history. 

Viking has announced an expansion of its Egypt fleet with Viking Aton, a new state-of-the-art river vessel. Inspired by the design of the award-winning Viking Longships® and built specifically to navigate the Nile River, Viking Aton is currently under construction and is scheduled to debut in September 2022. Sailing on Viking’s popular Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary, the new vessel will join Viking’s existing Egypt river fleet, which includes its identical sister ship VikingOsiris and Viking’s first owned and operated ship on the Nile, Viking Ra.

Do you feel like you've hit a wall planning the ultimate guys getaway? A Galapagos Cruise might be the perfect destination for a bucketlist guys trip. These islands, located off the coast of Ecuador, are home to a wide variety of exotic animals found only here such as marine iguanas, Galapagos giant tortoise, and Flightless cormorants. While you can plan your adventure as an expedition tour, roughing it and getting close to nature while sleeping in tents and cooking your food on a portable grill... there's also plenty of luxury cruise options that range from charter yachts to vessels run by major cruise lines such as Celebrity Flora or Silversea cruises' Silver Origin. Of course, Uncruise Adventures also offers some of the most exciting options to explore the islands on their small expedition-style ship, La Pinta which offers a less luxury - but much more intimate opportunity to connect with the natural environment here.

As a travel advisor specializing in culinary cruises for couples, I'm thrilled about Swan Hellenic's 2025 gourmet voyages with JRE-Jeunes Restaurateurs. These MARIS cruises offer an unparalleled opportunity for food lovers to indulge in world-class cuisine while exploring diverse cultures. Unlike a single dinner in New York or Paris, these cruises foster a sense of community, allowing guests to forge new friendships with like-minded food enthusiasts.