Austral Summer Beckons in the Lands Down Under

Fans of the Olympic Games who watched the contests on television this summer got a generous serving of information about Australian scenery, wines, culture and music. You’ll find both big- and small-ship cruise lines promoting the lands Down Under in a big way this winter, many of them because they already have a ship positioned in Sydney that was chartered for corporate luxury lodging during the Games.

Both the giant land of Australia and the small, cozy country of New Zealand are inviting cruise destinations, and with the austral spring in progress and summer coming up, the weather should be warm and sunny.

Silversea Cruises Ltd. adds new Australian ports of call--the cities of Fremantle, Adelaide and tropical Broome--on its 16-day Dec. 22 Christmas-to-New Year’s cruise.

Other ports of call on Silversea’s “Around Australia” itinerary, leaving Singapore on Dec. 22 and arriving in Sydney on Jan. 7, include Indonesia’s port city of Semarang and Melbourne. Fares start at $13,295 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, all wines, spirits and beverages on board and all gratuities and port charges. Australia’s Outback and Great Barrier Reef can be added with optional post-cruise land tours, and golfers can book tee times at Raffles Country Club in Singapore, Royal Perth Golf Club in Fremantle, Royal Adelaide Golf Club in Adelaide and Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne for $1,495 more.

Clipper Cruises is sailing around New Zealand this winter with its elegant 128-passenger Clipper Odyssey, a Sea Goddess-type ship originally built for the Japanese market as the Oceanic Grace in 1989. Ideal for luxury-loving passengers who enjoy small ships and American-style cruising, the Clipper Odyssey has single and open seatings for meals, where passengers sit where and with whom they please. The cruise line permits smoking on outer decks only. The bridge is open so passengers can talk with officers, and a staff of naturalists and historians lectures aboard and leads excursions.

Three 14-day New Zealand itineraries sailing between the North Island’s Auckland and the South Island’s Queenstown are slated for Nov. 22 and 29 and Dec. 10, with fares beginning at $5,670 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles. A Dec. 17 cruise from Queenstown to Auckland and a Jan. 2 sailing from Auckland to Queenstown are also on the schedule.

Orient Lines’ adventure-minded Marco Polo usually cruises Australia and New Zealand for the line, but this winter its bigger, more luxurious flagship Crown Odyssey will be dispatched on Down Under land and sea itineraries between Jan. 4 and Feb. 13. A 25-day Singapore-to-Sydney package is slated for Jan. 4; a 13-day Great Barrier Reef package round trip leaves from Sydney on Jan. 20; a 17-day Sydney-Auckland program on Feb. 3; a 24-day in-depth voyage through Australia and New Zealand from Sydney to Auckland on Jan. 27; a 14-day New Zealand cruise round trip from Auckland on Feb. 13; and a 19-day Auckland-Tahiti cruise on Feb. 22. Published prices range from $2,650 to $13,500 per person, double occupancy, including air and land travel, and vary depending on length of cruise and type of cabin.

While Princess Cruises is a veteran of Australia and New Zealand sailings, the line is introducing its first Australian cruise-tours this winter on 14-day Sydney-Auckland itineraries aboard the newly refurbished Regal Princess. These are add-on land packages to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef (four days), Ayers Rock and Alice Springs (six days), or the Great Barrier Reef and the rain forest at Daintree National Park (six days). The land tours can be taken before or after the cruise.

This winter’s ship departures from Sydney are scheduled Nov. 22 and Feb. 11, Auckland departures Dec. 6 and Feb. 25. Fares for the 18- to 20-day cruise-tours begin at $3,895 per person, double occupancy, with a Love Boat Savers discount. Air fare is extra. Ports of call include Melbourne and Hobart, Tasmania, in Australia; and Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Tauranga and Bay of Islands in New Zealand.

Royal Caribbean International’s Legend of the Seas is sailing from Singapore to Sydney on Jan. 13, between Sydney and Auckland on Jan. 29 and Feb. 12, and from Sydney back to Singapore on Feb. 26.

Both Sydney-Auckland itineraries include a day of cruising in New Zealand’s Milford Sound at the southern tip of the South Island and a day in port in the North Island’s Bay of Islands. The Singapore-Sydney itineraries offer an optional shore excursion to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Fares start at $3,099 per person, double occupancy; discounts and air add-ons are available.

And for passengers who like to plan ahead (and save money), Windstar Cruises will make its debut in New Zealand next winter, sailing its 148-passenger Wind Song between Auckland and Christchurch between December 2001 and March 2002. This is the company that created the “casual elegance” cruise style--no jacket, tie or tipping required, restaurant-style open seating and fine cuisine.

Ten-day itineraries cruise between Auckland on the North Island and Christchurch on the South Island at brochure fares that begin at $6,690 per person, double occupancy. Book early enough to qualify for the Advance Savings Advantage Program and you can knock off 35%. Air fare is extra.

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises has just announced its first-ever world cruise, a 119-night voyage aboard Seven Seas Navigator, leaving from Los Angeles on Jan. 20, 2002, and returning May 19. Bookings open Wednesday, with a 10% early booking discount good on the entire cruise or one of two major segments--Los Angeles to Rome or Sydney to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.--if made before Jan. 31. Veterans of a world cruise with rival lines or Radisson Seven Seas repeaters get an additional 5% off these bookings. The fare for an outside suite for the full cruise starts at $39,406 per person, double occupancy, round-trip from Los Angeles.

For more information or brochures, contact a travel agent or the cruise line: Clipper Cruises, telephone (800) 325-0010; Orient Lines, tel. (800) 333-7300; Princess Cruises, tel. (800) 426-0442; Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, tel. (800) 285-1835; Royal Caribbean International, tel. (800) 659-7225; Silversea Cruises Ltd., tel. (800) 774-9996; Windstar, tel. 87-STAR-SAIL.

*

Shirley Slater and Harry Basch travel as guests of the cruise lines. Cruise Views appears twice a month.