Azamara's 2018 has 30 maiden calls, world events

[HostDave]

Thirty new ports and world events are in the charts for Azamara Club Cruises in 2018, when the line returns to Australia and New Zealand and introduces a 102-day world cruise. As earlier reported, that will embark in Sydney on April 8 and call at 61 ports in 29 countries before arriving at London on June 17.

Among the world events are the British Open, during a July sailing from Southampton to Edinburgh. An Auckland to Sydney voyage on Feb. 22 will provide opportunities to golf at Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers, while a Barcelona to Lisbon cruise on May 29 features golf at Vilamoura and Valderrama. And during a Copenhagen to Stockholm voyage on Aug. 9, golfers can tee off at Restonian Golf & Country Club and Bro Hoff Slott.

Adrenaline junkies can fuel their passion on Azamara voyages to the Monaco Grand Prix and the Classic Grand Prix, held every other year. Azamara Journey will sail from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Barcelona for on May 29, with two days at Cannes for the Cannes Film Festival and two days at Monte Carlo including race day. Azamara Quest will also feature a four-day voyage focused on the race that sails round-trip from Nice.

With itineraries that don’t repeat in the calendar year, Azamara offers ample opportunities to book back-to-back voyages. In 2018, 30 of the 228 ports will be new. These span the globe including Gdansk, Poland; Dundee, Scotland; and Klaipeda, Lithuania, as well as more exotic locales like Hambantota, Sri Lanka, and Geraldton and Fremantle (Perth), Australia.

Other highlights are the opportunity to visit War Cabinet Rooms where Winston Churchill directed British participation in World War II, during an Azamara Quest voyage from Lisbon to London in June.

And in July the ship will be in Venice during the annual Redentore Festival when a temporary bridge floating on pontoons is erected over the Giudecca Canal between the Zattere and the Church of the Redentore. There are feasts and a fireworks display.

Travelers can ring in the New Year with fireworks at Sydney Harbor on the Perth to Melbourne sailing of Azamara Quest in December 2018. After an evening of sipping champagne, cruisers can visit sites such as Sydney Opera House, Manly Beach, Darling Harbor and Taronga Zoo.

Azamara president and ceo Larry Pimentel said the 2018 program will deliver 'meaningful, enriching immersions to those who consider themselves global citizens.'