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

Detailed summary

Cruise itineraries could often do with a bit of spicing up, so kudos to these companies for attempting the spectacularly different.

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…

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