13 Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Coast for the first time in 2026. The season will feature 42 departures, including new expedition voyages to Indonesia and Borneo, as well as new Arctic destination combinations on the cruise line’s established polar voyages. “Our 2026 ‘Arctic and Beyond’ season heralds an exciting evolution for AE Expeditions,” said Michael Heath, CEO of AE Expeditions. “We have grown from our core offering of polar and remote area expeditions to a greater diversity of destinations, climates and exploration styles to allow our passengers to experience more.” Azamara Cruises will visit five ports in Europe for the first time on 77 new sailings during 2026, including Sarande in Albania; Fredericia in Denmark; Turku in Finland; Menton in France and Karlskrona in Sweden. “Europe continues to be a leading destination for us globally, so we are delighted to be announcing one of our biggest European deployments to date,” said Michael Pawlus, head of itinerary planning at Azamara Cruises. “With three ships in the region from March to October 2026, we can offer our guests more options than ever before; taking them to ports less travelled and hidden gem destinations and delivering new immersive land experiences for the very first time.” Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)’s 2026 spring/summer season includes maiden port calls to three destinations in Europe. On 10 May 2026 Norwegian Gem will make the cruise line’s first visit to Palamós, Spain, and on 17 May Norwegian Sky will make its inaugural call in Portree, Scotland on one of NCL’s 10- and 11-day British Isles voyages. Finally, on 21 May Norwegian Star will call at Leirvik, Norway, for the first time. “At NCL, we take pride in offering our guests various options to plan where they want to holiday,” said David J. Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line. “Whether they choose our sevenday sailings, longer immersive voyages, or cruises that begin and end in a new destination, we make it so our guests can holiday with ease with us from start to finish.” Windstar Cruises’ newest ship, Star Seeker, which is scheduled to join the fleet in December 2025, will spend its inaugural season sailing itineraries in the Caribbean, Alaska and Japan. The ship’s christening cruise, which departs Miami in Florida on 15 January 2026, will sail to San Juan in Puerto Rico with stops in the Dominican Republic and British Virgin Islands. This is the first of several Star Seeker sailings in the Caribbean region before the yacht sails through the Panama Canal towards Alaska and Japan. “I’m really excited we’ll be able to sail the new Star Seeker in the Caribbean before the ship continues on to its final destinations of Alaska and Japan,” said Christopher Prelog, president of Windstar Cruises. “Star Seeker will likely not return to the Caribbean again, so it’s a wonderful but fleeting chance for our Caribbean destination fans to experience the ship. We have some celebrations planned to bring Star Seeker together with other Windstar ships in the Caribbean, such as a sunset sailing parade past the pitons in Saint Lucia with Wind Spirit and Star Pride. It will be a warm welcome to the fleet for our new ship.” The cruise line is also expanding its South Pacific itineraries, offering new voyages visiting Fiji, Tonga and the Cook Islands. Cruise lines are adding new destinations in Japan, Norway and the South Pacific to their 2025-2026 itineraries Photo: iStock/Oleh Slobodeniuk
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=