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Award winning luxury cruise operator APT, along with UK partner Noble Caledonia,
has announced the arrival of a third sister to its fleet of luxury small
expedition ships. Joining the MS Island Sky and MS Caledonian Sky later this
year will be MS Sea Explorer. All three vessels were formerly part of the
Renaissance Cruises fleet of eight vessels. With the acquisition of Sea
Explorer, APT now has Renaissance vessels 6, 7 and 8. (Ed: Sea Explorer was
formerly Corinthian II, operated by Travel Dynamics)
Commenting on the latest acquisition, APT’s CEO, Chris Hall, said, “We are
delighted to welcome the Sea Explorer as the latest addition to our growing
fleet of luxury small expedition ships. Demand amongst our guests in Australia
and New Zealand for our bespoke one off round the world voyages featured in our
Luxury Small Ships program is increasing. This new addition enables us to
service this demand.
‘Sea Explorer’, will join the APT fleet in October 2014. Various existing
charter commitments will be honored and in early 2016 she will undergo a
refurbishment to bring its standards to the same level as the Island Sky and
Caledonian Sky, which are widely recognized as two of the finest Small Ships in
the world. She will begin cruising in Scotland, Norway and beyond for APT. Like
her sister vessels, she will be equipped with a fleet of inflatable Zodiacs
allowing her to offer trips to the more remote places for the 100 or so
passengers looking for something different to a regular cruise.
According to Chris Hall, it is the smaller capacity, ‘off the beaten track’
cruise itineraries, and of course repeat APT travellers that is driving the
increasing interest in the product:
“Many of our guests who travel on our luxury small ship product have already
sailed on one of our river cruises. They are attracted to this different cruise
style because they’ve already created an affinity with the intimacy of
travelling with an average of 150 people, and our ‘all-suite’ ships hit the
right note with these guests who love the comfort and relaxed atmosphere but
want to try a cruise aboard a private yacht-like expedition ship.”
APT now has the world covered with the Caledonian Sky exploring the Pacific
Ocean whilst Island Sky sails the Indian Ocean and from 2016 will spend the
summers in the Mediterranean. |
