Luxury Travel Magazine | Issue 79

I’ll be truthful; I resisted cruising for years. Being ‘stuck’ on a ship never seemed an attractive way to spend my time. I envisioned endlessly walking the decks, going to the gym twice a day and eating too much food. But, I finally broke the ice and now I want more.

SeaDream is at fault here. The luxury small-ship line was behind my first cruising experience and I was quickly taken by the yacht, and the great food and service. I particularly loved waking up in a new port each day, ready to explore. There were early morning bike rides to wake up to, excursions aplenty… I loved it.

And so do plenty of Australians. We are the world’s fifth-largest cruising nation with more than 1.34 million passengers in 2017 – up from just 250,000 in 2007. To maintain its appeal, the industry is changing all the time, and there is no one better to sum up the evolution than our Cruise Contributing Editor, Sally Macmillan (New Horizons, page 46). Sally’s deep dive is just the beginning of our commitment to cruising this issue with Pamela Wade (Silver & Gold, page 62) and Barry Stone (High Tech on the High Seas, page 66) both sharing recent on-board experiences.

From luxury ships to all-terrain vehicles, Keith Austin brings you the colour of Kenya (Under the Kenyan Sun, page 104) after experiencing the country’s incredible diversity. Also in this issue, our Digital Editor, Madelin Tomelty, paints a beautifully vivid picture of Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda (A Sardinian Gem, page 114), and Kelly Allen leads us into the Ecuadorian rainforest for a peek at her Adventures in the Clouds (page 122).

We also welcome a special guest contributor this issue. Daniel Turner is the Director and Co-founder of ANIMONDIAL, a UK-based animal welfare consultancy. I am truly grateful to Daniel for taking the time to share his insights on wildlife tourism (Born to be Wild, page 30). It is encouraging to see many travellers seeking responsible operators and agents but, as Daniel says, it is important we don’t take things on face value. I learnt a lot from what Daniel had to say. His work is making a difference. As travellers, we can too. Just being conscious of the animals you encounter during your travels – what they are doing and what their living conditions are like – can really make you question whether you are having a positive impact or not.

As always, thank you for flipping our pages and safe travels.

Gary Allen | Publisher