Page 26 - Explore Magazine Winter 2018
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                                       SMALL IS




                                  BEAUTIFUL







            helloworld Mairangi Bay clients Stephanie and Richard Zajkowski are converts to the joys of small-ship cruising.
          Cruising – apparently it’s on the up as more and   America and the South Pacific. This was our   small ship cruise people have a desire to meet
          more of us choose to take to the oceans for our   second “small-scale” cruise: a few years ago   and chat with you, which is a bonus if you like
          holiday adventures. With some cruise ships   we experienced Southwest Alaska on board   to make new friends while travelling. Plus, it’s
          accommodating thousands of passengers, it   UnCruise Adventure’s Safari Endeavour with   a great way to broaden your own horizons.
          can feel like sailing on a floating city. So you’ll be   approximately 70 other passengers.  So while you may be “giving up” some of the
          happy to know that smaller cruise vessels are                        bells and whistles, discos, activities, cabarets,
          voyaging in style to many corners of the planet.   If you long to stand on   multiple restaurants and kids’ programmes of
          If you want to go where (almost) everybody   deck and gaze out at the   the larger ships, you’ll be gaining so much more.
          knows your name and you know theirs, small   open ocean without the   It didn’t take us long to familiarise ourselves
          vessel cruising could be for you. If you long to                     with the simple layout of the ship and where
          stand on deck and gaze out at the open ocean   thumping beat of the all-  the cabins were in relation to the three eating
          without the thumping beat of the all-night disco   night disco shattering your   locations and the bar. Wind Spirit’s cabins
          shattering your peace, read on. As cruisecritic.                     are located on two deck levels and are all the
          com states, “a burgeoning industry niche now   peace, read on.       same size. Handy to know when booking, as
          revolves around small vessels – a wide-ranging   Our 148-passenger ship, Wind Spirit, a beautiful   prices do vary. We were on the lower level of
          group that includes yachts, rugged expedition   motor yacht with four imposing masts and   cabins (Deck 1), which proved advantageous
          ships, riverboats and classic sailing schooners   six sails, was a step up again in passenger   when sea swells rolled us around a little. As
          – where passenger counts top out at closer to   numbers. In the brochures, Wind Spirit looks like   my husband pointed out, being closer to the
          300, rather than 3,000 plus.”     the epitome of a romantic tall ship. In reality, the   waterline means less ship movement and the
                                            ship doesn’t disappoint, looking very grand as   ocean makes a delightful sloshing noise right
          Courtesy of the top-notch experts at                                 outside your two portholes. The cabins are
          helloworld Mairangi Bay, we chose a seven-  she waits portside in Papeete to welcome her   really spacious and hold an ingenious amount
          night cruise around the romantic islands   excited guests.           of hidden storage that may inspire many Tiny
          of French Polynesia with Windstar Cruises,   After a smooth embarkation it was straight   Home aficionados. The bathrooms are small
          an upscale line sailing to some 150 ports   into drinks and mingling with fellow cruisers   but are well stocked with L’Occitane toiletries
          throughout Europe, the Caribbean, Central   in the ship’s lounge. In my limited experience,   and have great dual-head showers.

          HELLOWORLD : EXPLORE : WINTER EDITION
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