As the iconic company’s second ship, SH Vega, sails on its inaugural arctic cruise, the cultural expedition cruise pioneer reveals its set to return to its roots with SH Diana, its third and largest vessel, exploring sites of antiquity across the Mediterranean from 2023.
Swan Hellenic released full details of its 2022-2023 cultural expedition cruises, offering an extraordinary choice worldwide as its fleet grows to two and three purpose-built, ultramodern ice-class cruise ships. Exploring across seven continents, the adventurous and curious-minded can now access unique experiences previously out of reach.
Moreover, Swan Hellenic is celebrating the arrival of its full fleet on the waves with Early Swan Savings of 30% off its brochure prices for all bookings made between now and the end of September 2022. As the 2023 season unfolds, SH Minerva will be centred on the Pacific, SH Vega on the Atlantic and West Africa, and SH Diana on the Mediterranean, Red Sea and East Africa. Swan Hellenic has provided an interactive world map to portray and assist the exploration of this unique world coverage.
SH Minerva, the first ship in the expedition cruise pioneers ultramodern new fleet, will be voyaging extensively down under and keep coming back After a full Antarctica season, shell embark on an exceptional semi-circumnavigation of the globe from Ushuaia to Dunedin, New Zealand, exploring the vast expanses of the White Continent and islands of the South Pacific. Highlights of her Pacific season include expeditions to Bali and Komodo with their vibrant traditions and extraordinary wildlife, as well as exploring the richly rewarding lesser-known regions of Papua New Guinea.
Australia’s Kimberley will be a massive draw, one of the continent’s remotest, most unspoilt and sparsely populated regions. It was among the first to be settled by humans around 65,000 years ago. They developed a complex culture with yam agriculture, striking art and some of the earliest boomerangs. Swan Hellenic offers a choice of four separate cruises to explore Kimberley’s extraordinary landscapes, fascinating wildlife and unique Wandjina Aboriginal art, visiting unforgettable locations inaccessible by road. Think cliff and cave art, Horizontal Falls, humpback whales, mangroves and sea crocodiles.
Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago is sure to prove another irresistible attraction. Straddling the Equator at the heart of the Coral Triangle, it hosts the richest marine biodiversity on earth. But then, Swan Hellenic has also ensured the allure of Japan is stronger than ever. Voyaging where others can’t, SH Minerva is not only taking guests to explore its justly famous and diverse cities but also enabling them to discover magical remote landscapes and fisher ports that have retained the vigour of their traditional lifestyles for hundreds of years.
SH Vega, the twin sister ship of SH Minerva, which recently sailed from Troms, Norway, for a season of maiden cruises exploring the magic of the Arctic, will be making her way in a full circle around the Atlantic, coasting the Americas to cruise Antarctica from November until March 2023, when she sails up the West Coast of Africa to the Canary Islands and Western Europe for her Arctic season.
Exceptional highlights include her touching the islands crossing from Ushuaia to Cape Town via Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world. Then there’s the astonishing, timeless world of the Conkouati Reserve in the Congo, home to forest elephants, lowland gorillas, buffalo, leopards, chimpanzees, red river hogs, humpback dolphins and leatherback turtles, the largest living turtle species in the world. Or how about the South Loango National Park in Gabon, Africa’s Last Eden?
It’s a paradise of savanna, pristine beach, forest, and mangroves where you can see elephants, buffalos, hippos, gorillas, and leopards make their way out onto the white sand beaches. At the same time, humpback whales and orcas swim by. Equally noteworthy are the Bissagos Islands in Guinea-Bissau, another exploration opportunity unique to Swan Hellenic, with a fascinating indigenous culture featuring strong matriarchal characteristics and a history of fierce and successful resistance to early colonisation.
Swan Hellenic’s third and largest next-generation ship, SH Diana, will see the pioneering company return to its roots, sailing the length and breadth of the Mediterranean and voyaging from the Red Sea to East Africa and beyond.
Every one of them is available to explore now on an interactive world map and the Swan Hellenic website, with the company’s generous 30% Early Swan Savings immediately available.
Written by: Jill Walsh
.jpg){kind=tracking}
