26 Cruising
Social Media in the South Pole
Adventure cruise line Aurora Expeditions has implemented a new social media tracking service on their remote voyages to Antarctica and the Arctic. The system, dubbed Track My Trip, allows passengers aboard Aurora Expeditions voyages to share their experiences in real-time with friends at home via their preferred social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
Despite passengers travelling to some of the most remote locations on earth, the Track My Trip system maps the position of Aurora’ s ship, Polar Pioneer, by GPS every 15 minutes, delivering updates on passengers’ social media pages and Aurora’ s website map as the ship reaches key landing points. This allows followers to check voyage progress, read fascinating facts on the regions and view imagery of the destination. Recent research has shown that sharing travel pictures is the one of the ultimate reasons to use Facebook, with over 70 percent of people updating their status whilst on holiday. www. auroraexpeditions. com. au
The Crystal Shores
If you’ re looking for the ultimate bragging rights, ultra-luxe Crystal Cruises is launching a new, uber-exclusive collection of Boutique Adventures only available to Crystal passengers. Debuting on this spring’ s Mediterranean cruises, the intimate Boutique Adventures take guests inside private and enigmatic estates, art studios, museums, and castles, and also includes exclusive workshops, meals and lessons. Only available to groups between 1-5 guests, itineraries include viewing the Uffizi Gallery’ s private Contini Bonacossi collection in Florence; a visit to a family-run Madeiran winery in Funchal; a jewellery workshop with a former Valentino model-turned-designer in Rome; a private painting lesson in Corfu; and a behind the scenes opera experience at the world’ s smallest historic public theatre in Vetriano. There is also a hands on cooking class in Sorrento as well as meals with Michelin-starred chefs in Taormina. Participation is first come, first serve, so early booking is recommended. www. crystalcruises. com
Cuisine at Sea
Fans of Silversea’ s cooking schools should book early for the 2013 line up, to be led by acclaimed culinary trainer David Bilsland, a former instructor at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London. The exclusive and complimentary Relais & Châteaux L’ École des Chefs cooking schools will be held on 14 ultra-luxury cruises across the globe, providing guests with a special culinary curriculum, including hands-on instruction, and entertaining events. Highlights include specialised workshops covering an array of topics from basic knife skills and kitchen terminology to sauces and baking; cooking demonstrations with wine pairings and interactive Q & A sessions; lively cooking competitions between Chef Bilsland and the ship’ s own culinary team; and a Lunch and Learn event offering small groups of guests a chance to sample a delicious meal of specially prepared dishes.
Also look out for the Market to Plate experience, which includes an escorted tour of a local market followed by a cooking class, on selected cruises. www. silversea. com
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