Chandris Fantasy Cruises in the Caribbean

Chandris Fantasy Cruises, one of the few cruise lines to give senior discounts (on sailings from New York to Bermuda), has extended its offer to travelers age 65 and older on a series of one-week Caribbean cruises out of Miami.

Seniors will get a 50% discount off the full cabin fare when sharing the cabin with another full-fare passenger on sailings set for Sept. 5, 12, 19 and 26. The Monday Miami departures include calls at St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbados, Grenada and La Guaira on the Chandris liner Victoria.

Rates for the seven-night cruises range from $849 to $1,649 per person double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from the West Coast.

While the offer is a good one, it would be wise to check similar cruise deals to the Caribbean offering across-the-board discounts, regardless of age. This is best done through a travel agent or cruise-only agency. For more information about the Chandris senior discount, check with your travel agent or call toll-free (800) 621-3446.

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Sunset Affiliates has a one-week “Colonial Circle” tour of Mexico, which provides for a senior discount on Mexicana Airlines for travelers 65 and older.

Leaving Nov. 7, the weeklong tour includes visits by motor coach to Guadalajara, Morelia, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, in addition to many other charming towns and villages along the route. No meals are included in the price of $576 per person, double, but all hotels are first-class.

Seniors 65 and older get the discounted price of $547 per person, double. For more information, contact Sunset Affiliates, 6312 Variel Ave., Suite 213, Woodland Hills 91367, (818) 992-7576. Sunset also has a five-day, four-night “Baja Breakaway” priced at $445 per person double, set for Oct. 26-30.

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A new series of 16-day “Gauguin Cruises” from Papeete, Tahiti, to the Marquesas Islands, aimed specifically at mature travelers, has been established by Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime.

The cruise itinerary aboard the 264-foot Aranui follows the route of the famous French painter from Tahiti to exotic destinations in the Marquesas and Tuamotu Islands of French Polynesia, including land tours of sites associated with such writers as Herman Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as Gauguin.

Cruise director Jules Wong says the Gauguin cruises are for active seniors who have tired of the typical luxury cruises and want to see a slice of old Polynesia.

“We call ourselves an adventure cruise,” Wong says, “because we go off the beaten path and because our vessel is an inter-island trading boat, not a typical cruise liner.”

Wong stressed that though the Aranui has hosted passengers as old as 80, those interested must be in good physical condition. “This is a voyage for active, healthy seniors, not sedentary types.”

Fares for the voyages, which are offered twice monthly on the completely refurbished steamer (with 15 air-conditioned cabins), begin at $1,920 per person, double. Top rate is $3,160. Air fare is not included, but all meals and land excursions from the Aranui are part of the package.

The Aranui is the only regularly scheduled passenger ship service to islands such as Takapoto, Ua Pou, Nukuhiva, Ua Huka, Tahuata, Manihi and Fatu Hiva.

The Aranui has no pretensions to being a luxury cruise liner. “On the contrary,” Wong says, “it is a working freighter, providing passengers (35 or fewer) with a glimpse of the island rhythms and a life style harking back to the days of steamships and Yankee Clippers.”

For more information about schedules and tariffs for the Gauguin cruises, contact Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime, 595 Market St., Suite 2880, San Francisco 94105, (415) 541-0674.