September 12, 2007

World

Maritime Mundi

By Nicole Cotroneo

Give them three months; they'll give you the world.

Some adventurers may aim to travel the world in 80 days, but true bon vivants do it in no less than 100. That’s how long it takes to circumnavigate the globe on the latest grand tours by Silversea and Crystal Cruises — the two premium players in luxe-ship travel. Silversea will embark on its second-ever world journey January 16, starting from Fort Lauderdale and taking in over 50 ports of call. A slue of onshore experiences will punctuate the 110-day odyssey, including a gourmet feast at Honolulu’s historic Iolani Palace and a three-day overland journey from Ho Chi Minh City to the Angkor temples of Cambodia.

Crystal’s global voyage is a little trimmer — 105 days — but then they’ve had a little more practice with such ambitious excursions. “Priority waitlists” are now open for the 14th Crystal World Cruise setting out from Los Angeles in January 2009. The tour will make six maiden calls, including Rangiroa, French Polynesia; Komodo, Indonesia; and Petropavlovsk, Russia — plus, for the first time since 2000, Crystal will return to Bali. Fares won’t be revealed until October 15, though they shouldn’t be far off Silversea’s: starting at $58,000, consider it an epic price for an epic journey.