Charting The Globe On A World Cruise

January marks the month that cruise ships begin their longest sea journeys. While it’s too late to embark on such an epic adventure this year, it’s not too late to begin charting your course for a 2011 world cruise. Even for those who call themselves seasoned travelers, world cruises invariably will open the window to new destinations, new cultures or a new way of looking at the world.

Since the first world cruise in 1922, by Cunard’s Lanconia, the world cruise has been seen as the pinnacle of luxury travel. Traditionally, these voyages circumnavigated the globe, or at least as close as you can come to doing so on a ship.

The classic itineraries embarked in New York or Southampton and worked their way westward. Routes varied, either traveling through the Caribbean and then into the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal, or around Cape Horn. From there ships usually made their way to Hawaii, the islands of the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, then northward to Hong Kong, South East Asia and India.

At that point, again, courses varied: One route went through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean; the other was around the Cape of Good Hope and then up the west coast of Africa. These cruises ended in the port where they started.

Today, world cruise itineraries focus less on the strict definition of circling the earth and more on the concept of a fascinating voyage. In most cases, a world cruise can be broken into segments that allow travelers to join the journey for three weeks or a month.

First timers often commit to one or two segments in order to be sure that they are comfortable with the extended itinerary. This option also works for people who don’t want to buy the complete cruise or for people who can’t get away for up to four months at a time.

Special moments occur regularly on a world cruise as the ships call on the great wonders of the world and other destinations that are off the path that American travelers typically follow. A world cruise will provide access to exotic cultures, enchanting islands and jaw-dropping natural wonders.

Australia and New Zealand are excellent examples of these juxtapositions of culture and nature that one finds on a world cruise. The welcoming nature of these destinations are well known, but what a stark contrast they offer: Their cast open spaces and dramatic landscapes are populated by curious wildlife, and yet their cities are clean and modern, surging with an upbeat spirit and some world class attractions.

Unless you are so well read and so well traveled that there can be nothing new under the sun, a world cruise is sure to deliver you to new experiences, people and places – a trip to be savored and remembered.