'Lost World' In Russia to be Discovered on Australia's Longest Ever Cruise
Date: 06 Sep 2007
A remote, little-known part of Russia with more active volcanoes than anywhere else in the world, will next year prove a highlight of the longest round-trip cruise ever offered from Australia.
The remote port of Petropavlovsk on the World Heritage-listed Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia is one of 29 ports the Princess Cruises superliner, Sun Princess, will visit on an epic 75-night voyage around the Pacific Ocean departing Sydney on July 14, 2008.
Princess Cruises has announced that Australians can now join one of five newly available sectors on the voyage – 28 nights from Sydney to San Francisco, 51 nights from Sydney to Beijing, 23 nights from San Francisco to Beijing via Alaska, 47 nights from San Francisco to Sydney or 24 nights from Beijing to Sydney – or stay onboard for the entire Grand Pacific World Cruise. Sector fares are available from A$6023 per person*.
The rarely-visited port of Petropavlovsk will feature in the leg between San Francisco and Beijing. Branded the “Lost World’ and also the ‘Alaska of the East’ because of its abundance of brown bears, glaciers, snow-capped mountains, steaming geysers and salmon, the surrounding Kamchatka region boasts 160 volcanoes – 29 of them active. Volcanologists describe the icy-capped cone of Kronotsky near Petropavlovsk as the world’s most beautiful volcano.
Named by Danish-Russian explorer Vitus Bering in 1740 after his two ships, St Peter and St Paul, and surrounded by rugged mountains, Petropavlovsk (population 200,000) is the second largest city in the world after Iquitos in Peru that is inaccessible by road.
With less than one person per square kilometre, the Kamchatka Peninsula also features 100,000 lakes, 14,000 rivers, 414 glaciers and 37 kinds of wild animal including more brown bears than any other place in the world.
Sun Princess’ historic voyage will see her 1950 adventure-seeking passengers visit Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Hawaii before arriving in San Francisco. Passengers will then need to don warmer clothes as they head north to Canada and frontier Alaskan towns as well as Alaska’s famous Glacier Bay and Kodiak Island. After crossing the Bering Strait and Petropavlovsk, Sun Princess will cruise south to Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam and Cambodia before returning to Sydney via Darwin.
The biggest cruise ship – and the first premium liner – ever based in Australia year-round, Sun Princess will debut in Sydney on November 7. She will offer more than 400 balcony cabins as well as a grand four-storey atrium, eight restaurants and cafes, three pools, five whirlpool spas, seven lounges and bars, ocean-view gym, teak-line wrap-around promenade deck, library, spa sanctuary, internet centre and golf simulator.
Fares for the newly available sectors on Sun Princess Grand Pacific World Cruise start at A$6023* per person in an ocean-view stateroom for the 24-night leg from Beijing to Sydney. The 47-night sector from San Francisco to Sydney via Petropavlovsk is priced from A$12,103* per person in an ocean-view stateroom. The whole 75-night voyage is available from A$19,820* per person in an ocean-view stateroom. Passengers joining the full round voyage will receive an onboard credit of A$350 per person* to spend on spa treatments, drinks or shore tours, as well as free return coach transfers to Sydney from Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong and Canberra. The onboard currency will also be in Australian dollars, adding to the savings. Fares include all main meals and entertainment onboard.
See a travel agent, call Princess Cruises on 13 24 88 or visit www.sunprincess.com.au
* Maximum credit of $700 per cabin. Fares are based on twin share accommodation and conditions apply. Subject to availability.
