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Avalon Waterways Offers Active Days on Danube River Cruises

2/29/2020

By John Roberts
Avalon Waterways is among the cruise lines that jumped in early to the trend toward offering more active ways to explore the rivers. A river cruise traditionally has been a slow-paced and dreamy way to relax and enjoy the villages and towns located along the wending waterways in Europe and Asia.
But we've been advocating for years for ways to break away from the pack and to inject a little excitement and vigor into these voyages.
Avalon Waterways offers great itineraries throughout the world, and we traveled on the line's ships in Myanmar on the Irrawaddy River and in Cambodia and Vietnam on a glorious Mekong River journey.

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Sailing with Avalon Waterways in Myanmar
Exotic Mekong River Cruise in Cambodia and Vietnam

The line also offers untethered river cruises through Europe. The company's Active & Discovery itineraries are helping to drive the rising trend of active travel on the rivers. Cruisers are demanding more wellness and fitness-focused options, and Avalon Waterways invites its passengers to customize every moment of their voyages to match their interests.
Since launching this series of unfettered cruises, Avalon Waterways has expanded its offerings along the Rhine, Rhone and Danube Rivers. The line's Active & Discovery on the Danube itinerary is its most popular for 2020, so I wanted to show you how you might spend your days while traveling along our favorite European river.
Here is just one way you can enjoy Avalon Waterways' Danube itinerary in a way that fits your active travel lifestyle.

Day 1 Budapest: Arrive and navigate the area using the GPS-based, AvalonGO app to see and experience what the city has to offer in terms of restaurants, museums, markets and more.

Day 2 Budapest: See the sights from a different perspective by joining a bike tour along the city's bike paths and pedestrian areas. Then, transport to the city's historic past on a "Retro Tour" via Trabant car. Enjoy a Hungarian dinner onboard while enjoying a scenic cruise through the Danube Bend.
Other active options: A walking tour of Budapest or a cave-hiking adventure through the city's underground cave system.

Day 3 Visegrad: Wake up in this small castle town in Pest with stretching on the Sky Deck with the ship's onboard Adventure Host. Join a guided visit to the Medieval Knights Tournament at Visegrad's lower castle -- an excursion that features demonstrations by members of the St. George Knightly Order.
Other active options: Take a scenic hiking tour to Count Dracula's prison tower or enjoy a canoe excursion through the picturesque Bend region.

Day 4 Vienna: Take a tour of Vienna to get a behind-the-scenes look at the sights and attractions, including meeting residents and preparing Viennese food. Spend the evening at a private concert in this majestic city of music or spend the time walking the city on your own to further explore the authentic tastes of Vienna with schnitzel or Sacher torte.
Other active options: A guided biking tour along the famed Ringstrasse lets you discover hidden city highlights or take part in a sightseeing tour that includes a visit to the Belvedere Palace to see Gustav Klimt's renowned "The Kiss" painting.

Day 5 Vienna: Enjoy a morning walking tour of the city, which includes breakfast at a Viennese cafe and VIP access into the Kunsthistorisches Museum (one hour before opening). During the evening, join a guided hike through the vineyards surrounding the city and get a taste of a Viennese Heurigen (wine tavern) for dinner.
Other options: Immerse yourself in European history with a guided tour of the Habsburg family's private art collection or take a tour of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Military Museum.

Day 6 Krems to Grein: Paddle a canoe on a guided tour through Austria's wine country or grab one of your ship's bikes (yes, it carries a fleet onboard) for a picnic along the Danube River. Then, in Grein, see Burg Clam on a guided visit and meet the Count of Clam during your tour.
Other active options: Join a bike tour from Spitz to Krems with a stop in Durnstein or partake in an interactive "Wine World Experience" and wine tasting -- with a guided visit that showcases the region's production of fruits, vegetables and wine.

Day 7 Grein to Mauthausen to Linz: Take a guided walk of Grein, including its historic theater -- the oldest one in Austria still holding regular performances. In Mauthausen, join a sobering guided tour of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp, one of the largest and most brutal Nazi camps in WWII. This evening, mix with the locals in Linz on a pub crawl.
Other active options: Take a bike tour along the Danube to discover the fertile farmland or step back in time with a visit to the 9th century St. Florian Monastery, the largest in upper Austria and home to Augustine Monks.

Day 8 Engelhartszell to Schlogen Oxbow: Visit the stunning rococo-style Engelszell Abbey and sample the cheese and beer made by the resident Trappist monks. During the afternoon, join a scenic hike along the Danubeâ€™s Schlogen Oxbow.
Other active options: Join a guided tour of the "House of the Stream" and walk across the Danube Power Station or plan for a scenic hike.

Day 9 Linz: Disembark for your journey home after a river cruise that leaves you feeling fit and refreshed.

"Our new Avalon Choice program has reinvented the river cruise experience with customizable 'Classic,' 'Discovery' and 'Active' options on every river cruise itinerary," said Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways. "Avalon's innovative Active & Discovery itineraries take that concept one giant step further with 'Classic,' 'Discovery' and 'Active' excursions to choose from every day. Our most robust and diverse itinerary is on the Danube River in 2020."

While all Active & Discovery cruises travel between Budapest and Linz, cruisers have approximately 30 customizable opportunities during this nine-day cruise. This means you can easily create an experience that suits your style or mood.
The vast majority of these excursions are included in your cruise fare.

Thanks for reading.
Remember to travel fit, travel happy and travel often.
JR

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Our Antarctic Cruise with Abercrombie & Kent on Le Lyrial

2/18/2020

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Part 2: Stunning South Georgia Island and the Highest of High Seas

South Georgia Island is bursting with wildlife. We were stunned by the size of the penguin colonies from the moment we landed ashore at Fortuna Bay.

By John Roberts
This is the second part of a two-part series.
First, a quick recap.
Colleen and I have been excitedly retelling the rich and varied tales of our Antarctica cruise (Part 1) with Abercrombie & Kent. This was our big trip that started right before the new year and stretched into late January, the longest we've been away on any one travel journey.
It was such a jam-packed itinerary that I thought it made sense to break it up into two posts. We first told you about the start of our trip in Buenos Aires, as well as our smooth cruising down to Antarctica where we had three spectacular days mixing and mingling with our new friends onboard and the penguins, whales and seals that call the stunning White Continent their home.
Now, we continue with our sailing to South Georgia, a British overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
We were thrilled with our time in Antarctica, three days in the most remote place on earth to see penguins (gentoos, chinstraps and Adelies), seals, (Weddells, crabeaters, leopards and elephants) and whales (humpbacks, orcas and fins).
The ice formations, snowcapped mountain peaks and glaciers provide an incredibly scenic backdrop when you sail in this region, as well.
Our A&K expedition guides, however, seemed even more excited to get to South Georgia. They started telling all of us that they even preferred the upcoming destination over Antarctica. "Wait until we get there; you won't believe it," said Augie Ullmann, a naturalist and Zodiac driver who had already taken us out on a couple excursions.

Smile! A young molting king penguin is just as curious about Colleen as she is about him.

So, anticipation was high among our fellow passengers onboard Ponant's luxury expedition ship Le Lyrial as we sailed for two full days toward South Georgia. We were among 170 passengers on the voyage. During this stretch we spent the time getting in workouts at the gym, utilizing the ship's Hammam steam room and attending enrichment talks. Topics included photography tips, as well as a look at the history of the whaling industry and a discussion of the geology of the region.
Colleen and I also took advantage of the chance to get massages.
We arrived to South Georgia Island on a Saturday afternoon. The seas that had been so calm during our transit from Ushuaia to Antarctica started to churn a bit while cruising to South Georgia, with waves reaching up to 26 feet and many passengers retreating to their cabins for most of the day to stay comfortable.
But we got ideal conditions to land ashore at Fortuna Bay on the north coast of the island.
This was the first stop of several jaw-dropping excursions that we took part in during our three days in South Georgia.

Fortuna Bay
We delighted in finding new species here. An incredible 95 percent of the world's 5 million fur seals make their home on South Georgia, and we saw massive colonies of sub-adults and pups all over the rocky beach as soon as we arrived.
It was an overwhelming experience to encounter all these seals while also having our first interactions with the majestic king penguins.
Our expedition leader Suzana Machado D'Oliveira describes the pristine cocktail of wildlife, color and sounds as "primeval." Indeed, you get a sense that you are seeing nature in its purest form here, with birds flying overhead and penguins feeding their young, nesting, molting and sparring -- while seal pups cry out and make their first waddles across the beaches or sneak around amid the thick clumps of tussock grasses.

The king penguins and mountain peaks fill the landscape at Fortuna Bay, out first stop on South Georgia.

Grytviken
The following morning, we awoke and found the ship anchored in the bay at Grytviken, a harbor that was the site of the first Antarctic whaling station. A small town sits along the shores, and we can get everyone ashore here at the same time (cruise lines are restricted to a maximum of 100 people at a time while making landings at other sites throughout the Antarctic region).
We saw more seals and penguins at Grytviken, but one of the main attractions for this destination was the chance to get a little more active. We had a hike up to the top of the hill overlooking the town. This started with a visit to the town's cemetery at the edge of the village. This is where famed adventurer Ernest Shackleton is buried alongside other explorers and whalers who died on South Georgia.
The town features a pretty church, a post office/gift shop and an immersive museum. You also can see the remnants of old rusted whaling vessels heaved up on the shoreline.

The grave site of Sir Ernest Shackleton is a top attraction.

Passengers enjoyed a 1 mile hike that traveled over the top of Grytviken and ended near the church.

Drygalski Fjord
Le Lyrial made its way into this blue-water fjord so we could get a look at the the massive Risting Glacier and a range of active seabirds, including the frisky snow petrels that were darting about just above our small boats as we puttered around the bobbing ice formations in the icy blue waters. Just as we were heading back to the ship, the glacier started calving. Thunderous cracking sounds preceding the heavy chunks of ice that plunged into the waters.
The ice quickly started melting, while making hissing and popping sounds. It was fascinating to witness this phenomena.

The massive face of the Risting Glacier at the head of Drygalski Fjord.

Ponant's Le Lyrial expedition ship carries up to 199 passengers on Antarctica cruises.

Salisbury Plain
It's impossible to describe the sheer numbers of king penguins at Salisbury Plain. The colony stretches from the rocky beach all the way up the valley and across the grass fields, as far as the eyes can see. This is one of the largest king penguin colonies in the world, and we all reveled in the marvelous scene as the birds carried on their activities, largely oblivious to their red-jacketed visitors.
The plain sits between the vast Lucas and Grace Glaciers, completing a picturesque setting.
The lands are further crowded as fur seals roam by the thousands, with juveniles practicing their jousting and pups playing in ponds and puddles. We also saw South Georgia pintail ducks resting in the grass and seabirds lazily tracing arcs overhead.

Salisbury Plain is home to one of the biggest king penguin colonies.

King penguins carpet the ground as an albatross soars overhear against the backdrop of a glacier at Salisbury Plain.

Elsehul
After our morning on Salisbury Plain, Le Lyrial sailed to a cove that was bursting with energy. We sat anchored in Elsehul and set off on Zodiac tours during which we felt transported into a kind of Jurassic world.
Augie took our group out, and we ventured around the perimeter of the cove over the course of our two-hour tour. We were surrounded by wildlife. Seals swam in groups riding the waves that were pulsing at the rocky coastline. Seals also frequently circled our rubber boat.
We crept as close as we could to a rocky outcropping that was occupied by a colony of macaroni penguins. Grey-headed albatrosses soared above, taking off and returning to a huge nesting rock in the middle of the cove.
Augie stealthily dragged a wooden box closer to his feet, popped off the lid and revealed bottles of Champagne smuggled aboard the Zodiac. He passed around glasses, poured out the bubbly, and the 11 of us completed a toast, cheering the amazing experience we have had but a bit sad that this celebration also marked the fast-approaching end of our voyage.
We tried to sit back and just drink it all in -- while we still could.

Cheers, Augie!

It was so much fun to make great memories with new friends.

Bracing Against the Storm
We still had a few more days, though, in this adventure with Abercrombie & Kent. Our itinerary called for us to stop for a day at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, but we were told fairly quickly during our day of sailing away from South Georgia that this was not going to happen because of a storm that was brewing in the region.
If you recall from Part 1 of this story, I described how we had been blessed with the "Drake Lake," a calm passage down to Antarctica. Well, things would be quite different on the way back north.
We had a hint of what the seas in the Southern Ocean can during our trip between Antarctica and South Georgia Island. This stretch would take those 26-foot waves and make them look like ripples.
In fact, we went through a storm that churned up violent seas that would reach 50 feet high and average more than 40 feet for the better part of 24 hours. By the end of the two days of sailing through the violent agitation, Capt. Patrick Marchesseau said that the conditions were the most treacherous that he had sailed through. This statement was coming from a man who had famously survived being taken hostage for a week alongside 30 crewmembers by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden in 2008.
Colleen and I didn't get seasick, fortunately. A number of our fellow cruisers did, however, and almost all passengers remained in their cabins during the height of the wave action.
The ship handled the rough seas well. Waters crashed over the bow and drenched all outside areas. Our balcony on Deck 4 came to resemble a small river with all swift water rolling through.
By the end, I felt a little bit of a headache and some dizziness. But we mainly were bored from sitting in our bed for hours, trying not to get thrown to the floor. We watched movies all day (the Godfather coming in at more than three hours was a good choice to kill a chunk of that time) and tried to sleep during the night as best we could.

VIDEO: When seas get rough on an Antarctic voyage (10 seconds)

The crew on Le Lyrial took good care of us, delivering dinner to our cabin because restaurant services had to be suspended. The captain and crew also gave frequent updates and details of the progress so that we always felt safe and informed.
Eventually, the winds and seas calmed and were arrived back in Ushuaia. We were all excited to get off the ship after more than three straight days onboard. Most everyone got off for a walk around the port town or to eat at a restaurant, and we found a nice dining spot, Bodegon Fueguino, where we went with our new friend Rick Sammon, who was onboard as a photo lecturer, for pizza and beers.
The next day, Abercrombie & Kent provided a bus tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park and other points of interest around Ushuaia to cap the memorable journey.
The three weeks was filled with a diverse range of activities, and it was hard to believe we had been traveling for so long. Yet it felt like it passed so quickly.
The trip certainly offered a little bit of everything you would want or expect for an expedition to Antarctica, and traveling with A&K is a great way to do it in style.

Thanks for reading,
JR

Full video recap of our expedition to Antarctica

We are an affiliate of Cruise Critic Smart Deals, where you can find the best prices for your upcoming cruises. Check out the deals here. We get a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you click through and visit the website. Happy sailing!

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MSC Cruises Opens Ocean Cay Marine Reserve in the Bahamas

2/13/2020

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MSC Divina at MSC Cruises Ocean Cay private island in the Bahamas

By John Roberts
Cruise lines have long battled the perception that they are part of the problem when it comes to the environment and conservation.
In decades past, that reputation was well earned.
MSC Cruises, however, has made it a mission to be part of the solution. And the signature project for the world's fastest-growing cruise line is something the entire cruise industry can be proud of -- and should use as a template for responsible development of private cruise destinations.

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve features a Lighthouse that has a light show at night. You also can climb the tower for amazing views of the entire island.

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve is an eco-friendly port that opened in December 2019 after a three-year cleanup and rehabilitation project that transformed a former industrial sand-excavation site in the Bimini Islands chain.
The 95-acre island is located just 65 miles from downtown Miami, and MSC partnered with scientists and engineers to build a gorgeous cruise destination that features soft white sands, mesmerizing blue waters and plenty of watersports activities.

The marine life, such as sharks, rays and tropical fish, is returning to the waters as the coral reef around the cay and the seabed and seagrasses improve. The marine reserve features 64 miles of protected waters, and you won't find swimming pools, ziplines or waterslides at Ocean Cay.
Instead, it's a destination where cruisers can come to embrace the beauty of nature and interact a bit with the marine life in a natural way. Ocean Cay also will have a Conservation Center that will be an active base for resident scientists to study the coral, seagrass and marine creatures. The educators will also interact with passengers to help them learn more about Ocean Cay and marine conservation.

Dr. Owen R. O'Shea, a research scientist at the Centre for Ocean Research & Education (CORE), has worked alongside MSC Cruises on the development of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. I spoke with him at length about the significance of the project and its importance in raising awareness among travelers.
Check out the full interview in my video below:

If you are interested in cruise deals that take you to Ocean Cay and what you can do at this revolutionary new cruise destination, you might also like . . .

Discover Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve

We're excited that companies like MSC Cruises are taking a leadership role in educating travelers and creating new experiences that aim to have a positive impact on the environment. What do you think?

Thanks for reading, and remember to always travel happy!
JR

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<<Previous

Avalon Waterways Offers Active Days on Danube River Cruises

Our Antarctic Cruise with Abercrombie & Kent on Le Lyrial

Part 2: Stunning South Georgia Island and the Highest of High Seas

Full video recap of our expedition to Antarctica

MSC Cruises Opens Ocean Cay Marine Reserve in the Bahamas

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