In 1922 Cunard chartered out its newbuild ocean liner, The Laconia, to the American Express Company for a round-the-world cruise. It was the line’s first continuous circumnavigation of the globe, following in the path of Magellan’s fleet 400 years earlier.
Cunard plans to celebrate the centennial with World Voyage from January to April 2022. The Queen Victoria will operate a full westbound itinerary traveling more than 37,600 nautical miles, visiting 29 ports in 19 countries.
Cunard announced its 2022 World & Exotic Voyage Program, Thursday. The Cunard fleet, including the Queen Victoria, the Queen Elizabeth, and flagship the Queen Mary 2, will call at 93 destinations in 42 different countries, including five maiden calls in Australia, Brazil, Vanuatu and Japan. In addition, the Queen Elizabeth will sail her 2021 Alaska season with seven roundtrip voyages from Vancouver or Victoria, ranging from 10-12 nights each.
The Queen Mary 2 will sail a new 71-night winter escape through the Caribbean and South America. She will call at 17 ports in 14 countries with access to 12 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a journey through the Chilean Fjords, sailing around the bottom of the world at Cape Horn. She will also chart her first-ever Northern Lights voyage in Norway, offering guests the chance to see the Aurora Borealis in early spring.
Queen Elizabeth will embark on her Voyages of Discovery series with regionally-focused itineraries in Australia and Japan, ranging from seven to 23 nights. With six overnight calls and seven evenings in port, guests will have time to immerse themselves.
In addition to the 2022 World & Exotic voyages, Cunard has announced Queen Elizabeth’s 2021 Alaska season from June through September which consists of seven roundtrip voyages from Vancouver or Victoria, ranging from 10-12 nights. The itineraries feature the region’s highlight ports such as Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, as well as cruising in the narrow waterways of the Inside Passage offering up close views of glaciers, mountains, fjords and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Glacier Bay National Park.
“Cunard’s ships will be at opposite ends of the earth for our 2022 World & Exotic voyages so guests can explore whichever part of the globe calls them,” said Josh Leibowitz, SVP Cunard North America. “Whether it’s the legendary World Cruise on Queen Victoria, exotic sailings on Queen Elizabeth, or exploring South America on our flagship Queen Mary 2, guests can see the world in style, only on Cunard.”
Cunard World Club members will be able to book exclusively beginning on Dec. 18, 2019, and booking will open for the public on Dec. 19.
Queen Mary 2
In 2022, Queen Mary 2 will embark on a new route, sailing to the Caribbean and South America, which can be taken as a roundtrip from Hamburg (73 nights), London (71 nights) or New York (55 nights) or a number of smaller segments. The voyage begins in January from Southampton with a Transatlantic Crossing to New York, then calls at a series of destinations in the eastern Caribbean. From there Queen Mary 2 will continue south to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, retracing the steps of famous explorers as she rounds Cape Horn and traverses the Magellan Straits and Beagle Channel. On her return north, the ship will stop at Rio de Janeiro, in time to celebrate the world-famous Carnival. She will call at additional Caribbean ports on her journey back to New York before Crossing the Atlantic to Southampton.
In late March, Queen Mary 2 will sail her first-ever Norway Northern Lights voyage, which features an extended call to Tromso above the Arctic Circle offering guests the opportunity to witness this awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria’s World Voyage will be a classic Westbound circumnavigation through the Panama Canal which can be taken as a roundtrip from either Hamburg (112 nights) or London (108 nights). Her voyage will begin by crossing the Atlantic to Florida via Bermuda, followed by a trans-Panama segment. Queen Victoria will then cross the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii and Samoa to New Zealand and from there she will call in Sydney, Australia’s Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef before traveling to Hong Kong via Papa New Guinea and the Philippines. Following her Asia visit, she will return to London via Singapore, the Indian Ocean and South Africa.
Queen Elizabeth
From mid-November 2021 through early March 2022, Queen Elizabeth will spend time in Australia, operating three roundtrip voyages from Melbourne and five form Sydney covering the regions of South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. She will sail a new South Pacific Islands voyage featuring calls in Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia and will also offer open-jaw New Zealand voyages, traveling from Sydney to Auckland and the reverse.
At the end of the Australia season in March, Queen Elizabeth will travel north to Japan via Southeast Asia. The voyage will include a variety of exciting destinations such as Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shanghai and a maiden call to Beijing.
From mid-April to early June, Queen Elizabeth will spend time in Japan with five nine-night and one seven-night roundtrip voyages and from Yokohama. The nine-night voyages will highlight the multi-faceted nature and deep cultural roots of Japan’s main islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Hokkaido, as well as a southern Islands voyage that includes islands in the Okinawa archipelago and two Taiwanese port calls. These voyages are timed to take in the spectacular spring blooms across the region. The seven-night itinerary coincides with Golden week which is one of Japan’s most popular holiday seasons.
