Travel packages: Regent Seven Seas; Arctic Cruise; Sydney holiday houses; COMO The Treasury
Adventures on the high seas and two luxe local destinations are among the temptations.
Sail away
Around the world
Reservations for luxury line Regent Seven Seas’ epic 132-night world cruise in 2024 went on sale on Thursday. The voyage on the 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner (pictured) will visit 31 countries including India, Malta, Malaysia, Tahiti and Egypt. More than 60 World Heritage sites, such as Tuscany’s Medici Villas and the Leon Cathedral of Nicaragua, are on the itinerary.
Fine print Departs Miami on January 6, 2024; from $93,080 a person, twin-share.
Pearl of the west
Perth
COMO Hotels and Resorts is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a special offer that adds an extra night’s accommodation to three-night stays. While Australians can’t take advantage of the deal at COMO properties in The Maldives or Tuscany, for instance, Perth’s COMO The Treasury has the four-for-three Year of the Pearl package.
Fine print From $539 a night in a Heritage Room; book by August 31 for stays before December 23.
Go wild
Sydney
Two premium lodgings are reviving hopes of family getaways with a pay-five-get-seven deal for when lockdown lifts. Wild Luxury properties Calabash Bay Lodge on the Hawkesbury River and Crane Lodge at Palm Beach offer a dose of nature with plenty of pampering.
Fine print From $1395 a night (Calabash Bay), $2200 a night (Crane Lodge) for six guests. Book by July 31 for travel from August 1 to December 17. One free deferral for 12 months per booking.
True north
Arctic
Heritage British cruise brand Swan Hellenic will be reborn when its first ship, SH Minerva, launches in November. The 152-guest, polar-class vessel will sail Antarctica and South America, among other destinations. A fascinating 20-day Arctic Discovery voyage visits the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Siberia to see polar bears and walrus, meet Indigenous people and visit the Russian islands of Novaya Zemlya.
Fine print From $31,840 a person, twin-share; departs July 9 next year.
In the news
Vivid Sydney has been postponed because of the city’s Covid outbreak. The event, which had been due to start on August 6, will now run from September 17 to October 9. Ticketholders can transfer bookings to revised dates or request a refund.
Qantas is reviving daily return flights between Brisbane and The Whitsundays for the first time in 20 years. The service, which will commence in time for the September school holidays, will increase access to the region by 50,000 seats a year.
August sees South Australia’s Barossa Valley turn the spotlight on its food and wine producers with a month-long festival. Participants in the A Little More Barossa program include Henschke, Hentley’s Farm, Seppeltsfield, JamFactory and The Louise. Seventy events will deliver everything from haloumi-making classes to long lunches.
Reservations have opened for Hilton’s largest property in the Asia Pacific, the 1080-room Hilton Singapore Orchard, due to open in January. The downtown hotel is currently operating as Mandarin Orchard Singapore, but will undergo extensive refurbishment before its rebranding.