Discover new HAL expedition cruises

The popularity of expedition cruising has soared over recent years and the World’s best cruise lines have all jumped onboard. Holland America have recently launched a great range of bespoke expedition voyages too. These new HAL expedition cruises are called EXC In-Depth voyages and they visit the most remote and beautiful places.

Meet the villagers on Komodo Island, Indonesia.

HAL guests can touch the massive stone statues on Easter Island. They can experience the rarely seen beauty of the Kimberly region of Australia. Or they can meet the villagers and come face-to-face with prehistoric dragons on the island of Komodo in Indonesia.

Visit Easter Island in the Pacific to see the iconic stone statues.

The EXC In-Depth voyages take place exclusively aboard the mid-sized ms Maasdam which is perfect for this type of cruising. It is able to get into the smaller ports and harbours that bigger vessels simply can’t reach.

HAL say the itinerary planning process for the EXC In-Depth voyages has been completely different. Rather than keeping a strict itinerary schedule, the voyages are built around the most interesting places that offer the most in depth experiences.

HAL ms Maasdam is small enough to go places other ships can’t.

Most of these HAL expedition cruises are longer than 21-days. We especially like the 48-day Kon Tiki & Polynesian Voyager which departs Fort Lauderdale in September 2018. This remarkable expedition cruise will take you to exotic South America via the Panama Canal, then on to Easter Island and the black-pearl islands of Tahiti in French Polynesia.

The idyllic island paradise of Bora Bora, Tahiti.

For the ultimate expedition experience guests can climb aboard a fleet of Zodiac inflatable boats. These are crewed by experts and local guides, offering a unique hands-on field trip. The Zodiac experiences are available on selected EXC In-Depth sailings.

EXC In-Depth voyages also offer guests the opportunity to explore food cultures. Sharon Kenny has helped craft the food programs for these voyages and says the EXC In-Depth tours will do more than just take guests to the markets, rather they’ll visit the farms as well, like topical vanilla plantations in Tahiti.

“I think this is a great opportunity to learn about culture that we’ve only read about in books”, she said. “We’re going to have the opportunity to understand each other better and explore our common humanity.”

EXC In-Depth offer premium cruisers an innovative and customised approach to cruising. We think these HAL expedition cruises are a great way for curious, thoughtful and eager travellers to find new ways to experience the world. For more information visit the HAL website.