Cruise West Announces Four New 2009 Itineraries

Cruise West has announced 26 itineraries for the 2009 season, including four new and one re-introduced cruise. The four new voyages will visit Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, the Danube River, the East Indies and Melanesia. The Vietnam itinerary is being re-introduced by popular demand. The 2009 cruises include stops in 29 countries and 165 ports worldwide.

The voyages will include 253 departures throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific, with visits to 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Alaska, Cambodia, China, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Romania and Vietnam. Cruise lengths range from three to 24 nights, and fares start at $1,149 per person, double.

Among the new itineraries: The Galapagos cruise will take place aboard the 40-guest Isabela II. The 10-day tour will include two days in Quito and an eight-day cruise. A post-cruise Machu Picchu Land tour option is also available.

Three departures will be initially offered: Aug. 23, Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, 2009. Cruise West will venture to Europe for the first time with its 11- or 12-day Vienna to Bucharest cruise on the Danube River aboard the new, 148-guest Amadeus Diamond.

The cruise includes tours in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Croatia and features cruising in the Danube Delta. The four departure dates are July 16, July 24, Oct. 13 and Oct. 21, 2009. A pre- or post-cruise Prague or Transylvania Land tour is also available.

The Singapore to Sydney cruise for the holidays aboard the Spirit of Oceanus is available Dec. 16, 2009. The 17-day itinerary includes New Year’s Eve in Sydney. Port calls will be announced in fall 2008. And the 17-day Sydney to Fiji voyage departs Dec. 28, 2009, and visits Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and other exotic destinations.

The reintroduced Vietnam itinerary, originally offered in 2007, spans 12 days and cruses from Haiphong to Ho Chi Minh City via Ha Long Bay, Hue, Danang, Hoi An, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang and the Mekong River. The cruise departs Nov. 21, 2009, aboard Cruise West’s flagship, the 120-guest Spirit of Oceanus. Pre- or post-cruise Cambodia and Angkor Wat land tours are available.

In addition, Cruise West has added departures and extended the seasons of several of its existing itineraries. Among them: The line is adding 20 departures of its Columbia River itineraries, with four spring and six fall departures of the Taste of the Pacific Northwest epicurean cruise and 10 spring and 15 fall departures of the River Voyage of Discovery itinerary.

The Panama & Costa Rica cruise season has been extended season, with one enhanced and two new land tours available on the nine-night Between Two Seas itinerary, traveling from Panama City to San Jose, Costa Rica or reverse, aboard the recently upgraded, 100-guest Pacific Explorer.

The enhanced cruise/land tour includes the 10-day cruise plus five nights in Sarapiqui and Arenal, Costa Rica. Alaska’s Inside Passage itinerary will offer an extended cruise season with value pricing and two new add-on land tour options.