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If you plan to only ever take one cruise, the
smart choice is to visit Alaska. The Inside
Passage routing from Vancouver, Canada
to Seattle, USA is a spectacular seven-day
itinerary, only available during the South
African winter months as an alternative to the
usual game-hunting holiday. Watching great
sheets of ice carve off a glacier and plunge
into the sea creating waves is one of the most
memorable experiences while in Glacier Bay,
sailing with Holland American Lines. HAL
is a sophisticated experience and while an
Alaskan itinerary is generally supported by
older people, HAL does have an excellent Kids
programme. The wilderness of Alaska will thrill
anyone of any age: You might go kayaking
for whales or, as I did, take a helicopter flip
to walk on the glaciers. A foodie experience
cooking and eating just-landed Alaskan salmon
in the harbour of Ketchikan is recommended.
Highlights on board are enjoying steaming
Dutch pea soup and rich hot chocolate when
you return to the ship.
A second, must-do-before-you-die trip, is to
round the Cape Horn, the southern-most tip of
earth. We sailed, also with HAL, from Buenos
Aires, Argentina to Valparaíso, the port city
in Chile which is about an hour away from
the capital of Santiago. Rounding the Cape
Horn is a trip for those with an adventurers’
spirit and is famously choppy. That said, when
we sailed, in December two years ago, seas
were disappointingly calm. Standouts - aside
from following the same routes as Magellan,
Shackleton and Darwin, are to experience
the drop-in temperature from the balmy
Argentinian capital to the near freezing
Chilean fjords and then back to mid-summer
temperatures of Santiago within 12 days.
There's even a night dedica
ted to the finest
cheeses in France from Bor
dier on Ponant.
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