Viking Orion, Grand Pacific Explorer ex Auckland to Vancouver – 21 Feb 2022

92 Night Cruise sailing from Auckland to Vancouver aboard Viking Orion.

This 93-day cruise combines Australia & New Zealand, Komodo & the Australian Coast, Bangkok, Bali & Beyond, Southeast Asia & Hong Kong, Far Eastern Horizons and North Pacific Passage. Bridge oceans and continents on our most epic Pacific itinerary yet. Overnight stays in 15 ports help you immerse yourself in a fascinating array of cultures and let you embrace endless opportunities to get to know locals from East to West. It is an enriching journey unlike any other.

Highlights of this cruise:

Auckland
Auckland is located on the north island of New Zealand, situated between two magnificent harbours, the Waitemata and the Manukau. It is the largest city in NZ and is often referred to as the ‘City of Sails’ due to the large number of yachts which travel in its waters.

Auckland city has a great range of shops including designer boutiques, markets and stalls. It is also home to many fine galleries and museums including the Auckland Museum and the Auckland City Art Gallery. Restaurants in the waterfront suburbs such as Mission Bay or St Heliers and the inner city specialise in local seafood delicacies. There are also a number of attractive public gardens and reserves surrounding the city.

The large Polynesian population in Auckalnd include Maori, Samoan, Cook Island and Tongan people whom all contribute to the city’s vibrant culture. Local markets and churches in particular provide an insight to the local cultures.

Melbourne
Melbourne, in Australia’s state of Victoria (VIC), is home to an interesting mixture of historic Victorian architecture and breathtaking modern buildings. With a vibrant, street café culture and excellent shopping, Melbourne is also widely considered to be the dining capital of Australia, with an enormous selection of cuisine. It is a lively, exciting city with a friendly multicultural population.

Melbourne has an abundance of parks, wide roads, and boulevards and is also the cultural and sporting capital of Australia, with world class sporting facilities and an abundance of museums, galleries and theatres.

Lying directly on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne offers easy access to the many different areas including the the Victorian Alps in the east, the Grampians and Great Ocean Road in the west and the fertile river valleys of the Murray in the north, to name just a few.

Sydney
Sydney is located on the south-east coast of Australia. It is the largest and most populated city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. The city is built on hills surrounding Sydney Harbour where the Sydney Harbour bridge and the Sydney Opera House are located. The region features many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches including the famous Bondi Beach. Within the city are many picturesque parks including Hyde Park and the Royal Botanical Gardens.

The most well-known attractions include the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Other attractions include Royal Botanical Gardens, Luna Park, some 40 beaches and Sydney Tower. The Rocks precinct includes the first colonial village of Sydney and some great shops, cafes and galleries are located here. Sydney also has several popular museums, such as the Australian Museum (natural history and anthropology), the Powerhouse Museum (science, technology and design), the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Cairns
Cairns is the gateway to tropical north Queensland and is a popular travel destination because of its tropical climate and proximity to many attractions. The Great Barrier Reef is only one-and-a-half hours away by boat. The Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation, about 130km north of Cairns, are popular areas for experiencing a tropical rainforest. It is also a starting point for people wanting to explore Cooktown, Cape York Peninsula, and the Atherton Tableland.

Cairns city itself is a modern, sophisticated city in the heart of the tropical north, with international standard restaurants, boutique shopping, modern art galleries and classy nightclubs to keep visitors entertained. Cairns also boasts outstanding hotels, offshore island resorts, big Reef-cruise catamarans in the harbor, and too many souvenir shops. The only beach right in town is a man-made 4,000-sq.-m saltwater lagoon and artificial beach on the Esplanade.

Komodo
Komodo is one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia. Komodo is part of the Lesser Sunda chain of islands and forms part of the Komodo National Park. The island has just one village of about 450 people. The island’s volcanic slopes are generally hot and barren, though briefly during the annual monsoon season they turn green. A few tall lontar palm trees grow on the hill slopes, and tamarind trees (tropical evergreens) are found around the village.

The island of Komodo is one of the few remaining areas inhabited by the Komodo dragon, which is protected in Indonesia. Komodo dragons are giant monitor lizards that roam wild over the island. They measure up to 3 m (up to 10 ft) long, weigh up to 135 kg (up to 300 lb), and can live 100 years. Park officials regularly supply pig and goat carcasses to attract the lizards to viewing areas for tourists. About 1,000 of the dragons are known to live on the island of Komodo; another 1,000 live on the neighboring island of Rinca.

Benoa
The port of Benoa is located on the island of Bali, Indonesia. It provides easy access to nearby Kuta, the best known resort area of the island. Other nearby towns and villages include Seseh (6.4 nm), Denpasar (4.5 nm), Ujung (1.8 nm), Pesanggaran (2.0 nm), Kedonganan (2.9 nm) and Tuban (1.0 nm).

Kuta is known internationally for its long sandy beach, varied accommodation, many restaurants and bars. Outside of Kuta visitors can visit nearby Seminyak, Sanur, Nusa Dua and further out, the quaint town of Ubud.

Singapore
Singapore is an island-state in Southeast Asia. Singapore City is by far the largest and most significant island alongside 63 others that make up Singapore state. Located at the mouth of the Singapore River, it is a modern, affluent city and the world’s busiest port.

A blend of the ancient and modern can be seen from the gleaming skyscrapers to Chinese and Hindu temples. Combining a lush tropical climate, with tasty food, good shopping and a happening, vibrant nightlife scene, this Garden City makes a great stopover or springboard into the region.

Bangkok
Laem Chabang is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Chonburi Province, Thailand. It is home to Thailand’s largest port by the same name, about 25 kilometres north of Pattaya, and south of the city Chon Buri. It serves as a gateway to nearby Pattaya and further out, Bangkok.

Bangkok is divided into 50 districts and 154 subdistricts. In central Bangkok is the Siam Square district, a modern commercial area full of shopping malls and hotels. Sukhumvit is an exlusive district, while Silom is a primary party area by night. In Rattanakosin visitors will find ‘Old Bangkok”, home to Bangkok’s best known sights such as the Grand Palace and Wat Pho.

Ho Chi Minh
The port of Phu My is the gateway to Ho Chi Minh City and the seaside resort of Vung Tau. From Phu My you can discover the fascinating tunnel network at Cu Chi, used by the Viet Cong during the war. At their height they stretched from the South Vietnamese capital to the Cambodian border.

Vung Tau is a beach resort about an hour and a half by road from Ho Chi Minh City. From Vung Tau you can visit the Mekong Delta, Yagon and the Temples of Bagan as well as Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon) is the largest city in Vietnam and is located near the Mekong River delta. The city center is situated on the banks of the Saigon River, 60 km from the South China Sea.

Most places of interest are located in the central District. A walk along the riverfront is an ideal way to enjoy the constant activity on the Saigon River, as small and large boats ply to and from the opposite bank. The rooftop bar of the Majestic Hotel gives the best bird’s eye view of the river. The main shopping street in the city is Dong Khoi Street, which is full of gift shops, tailors, jewellers and restaurants. At one end of this street are Notre Dame Cathedral and the huge central Post Office, with its enormous portrait of the former President, Ho Chi Minh. Just off this busy shopping area on Dong Du is the Saigon Central Mosque. A cyclo ride through the busy streets to the Botanical Gardens is worth it, as is a trip to the small pagodas in Cholon.

Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a city-state situated on China’s south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. It is a major tourist destination as well as being one of the world’s major business centres. It is also a bustling port and commercial centre with many luxury hotels and a highly developed transport system.

Places worth visiting include Tsimshatsui complex – shops, restaurants and a space museum, the harbour and its magnificent skyline, The Peak – take a tram to the ‘top’ of Hong Kong Island for exceptional views and the Peak Tower, night markets, Ocean Park, with performing dolphins and killer whales, the floating restaurants, Repulse Bay, with the Tin Hau Temple overlooking the beach, Stanley Market, the New Territories countryside, the Chinese markets; Miu Fat Monastery, Chinese temples, Aberdeen, Lantau Island and the splendid Po Lin Monastery. There are delightful beaches on the islands of Lantau, Lamma and Cheung Chau.

Hiroshima
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon near the end of World War II.

The main attraction in Hiroshima is the Peace Memorial Park. There are more than fifty memorials, statues, and other structures in the Park. Some will be obscure in their meaning; others are immediate and devastating. As well as memorials there is the Peace Memorial Museum which documents the atomic bomb and its aftermath.

Other attractions in Hiroshima include the Hiroshima Castle, Chuo park area, Hijiyama park area and many interesting museums. A highlight for motoring fans is a tour of the Mazda Museum.

Tokyo
Tokyo is the capital city of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. It is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo is a huge metropolis spanning the city, mountains to the west and subtropical islands to the south. It is made up of central Tokyo, Old Tokyo, 23 central special wards, 26 more cities, five towns and eight villages.

The metropolis blends high-tech industries, many exciting tourist attractions and cultural heritage sights that have been preserved in a variety of forms including beautiful temples, nature reserves, and parks. On the agenda of most visitors are the temples of Asakusa, the gardens of the Imperial Palace (in Chiyoda) and the Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, in Harajuku).

There are many unique areas to visit such as as dazzling Shinjuku, youthful Shibuya and upmarket Ginza. Akihabara, Tokyo’s Electric Town, is now also the unquestioned center of its otaku community, and the stores along Chuo-dori are packed to the rafters with anime (animation) and manga (comics). Another popular district for all things manga/anime is the Nakano ward and its Broadway Shopping arkade.

Korsakov
Korsakov is a port town in Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It is the administrative center of Korsakovsky District. The town is located some 42 kilometers (26 mi) south from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, at the southern end of Sakhalin Island, on the coast of the Salmon Cove (bukhta lososei) in the Aniva Bay.

There are very little in the way of sights in Korsakov. But there is a great view over the harbor, along with a monument, on the hill just behind the sea terminal. The main street, Sovetskaya street is lined with small street stalls during spring and summer months, selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

Kodiak
Kodiak is one of six communities and the main city on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is famous for huge Kodiak brown bears, world-class sport fishing and is one of the largest commercial fishing ports in Alaska.

Attractions at Kodiak include the Russian Orthodox Church, the Baranof Museum, Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository and the Fish Industrial Technology Center at Herman Harbor.

Bear viewing can be done at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, habitat of the brown bear. Kayaking, fishing and hiking are also popular activities in and around Kodiak.

Sitka
Sitka, Alaska’s historic Russian-American island city, is situated on the west side of Baranof Island. Mt. Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano that looks like Japan’s Mr. Fujiyama, dominates the horizon and tiny islands dot the harbour.

Once called “the Paris of the Pacific,” Sitka stands out among other ports as a city rich in culture. Built on the empire of Russian fur trade, Sitka is Alaska’s fifth-largest city and has grown to be the cultural and artistic center of the Southeast.

The local economy is strongly centered on the timber, fishing and tourism industries. Famous for its sport fishing, Sitka’s two harbors are dotted with brightly colored boats that look out over the pine-covered islands of the Tongass National Forest.

At Sitka National Historical Park (Totem Park), visitors can recapture Sitka’s Native and Russian history and see a collection of totem poles, a fort site and the battleground of 1804. Also, it is home to the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center where visitors can watch and talk to Native artisans.

Vancouver
Vancouver is the largest city in Western Canada, and third largest in Canada. Located at the southwestern corner of the coastal province of British Columbia, it is nestled between the coastal mountains and the Pacific ocean and is well known for its natural beauty. It has often been named the “World’s Most Liveable City” and is certainly a beautiful destination to visit.

In Vancouver you can ski in the mountains, windsurf in the ocean, and play a round of golf all in the same day. Surrounded by water on three sides, Vancouver is a major sea port on the Pacific Ocean, and a base for many Alaska Cruise Ships in the summer. Around the edge of its waterfront, Vancouver has fabulous beaches, parklands and a bustling harbour.