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At Tripaway, we believe a cruise should feel effortless from the moment you begin planning. That’s why we hand-select a range of limited-time specials from trusted cruise partners around the world — so you can enjoy more, for less.
Whether you’re dreaming of island hopping, discovering ancient cities or unwinding on a relaxing coastal voyage, our latest cruise deals combine great savings with thoughtfully crafted itineraries. Simply browse our featured specials or use the Cruise Finder to tailor your search.
Popular Holiday Experiences
The first thing you notice when you hit the Aussie outback is the colours. That deep, almost rusty red that feels so distinctly Australian it’s hard to explain unless you’ve seen it properly; the wide-open blue of the sky, going on forever. It feels vast, relentless and totally mesmerising.
In the midst of this, The Ghan stands waiting, the train’s distinct red matching its environment perfectly.
Sitting in the lounge of The Ghan with a glass of champagne in hand, watching the Outback roll past the window – it’s a contrast that should feel strange, but somehow feels exactly right.
That’s kind of the whole trip, really. A perfect mix of quiet indulgence meets authentic Outback Australia.
Red dirt and champagne. Turns out it’s a match made in heaven
Inside, everything is calm. Not flashy or over the top, but think: soft lighting, good wine and food that feels like someone’s really thought about. You settle into train life quickly, without really noticing how easy it has been made for you.
Outside, it’s quite the opposite. Harsh, wild, quirky and the dusty, sunburnt reality of regional Australia.
This is where the beauty of it lies for me.
It’s the balance that Journey Beyond has managed to nail. Understated comfort against the ruggedness and wildness of the Outback that makes the journey feel so special, proving luxury doesn’t have to disconnect you from a place but can actually help you slow down and understand it more deeply.
Switching off (properly): no service, no stress
Time behaves differently on the train. Both in a romantic, poetic way and practically. There’s nowhere to rush to, so you don’t.
You stop checking the time because it doesn’t really matter. Unless it’s an Off Train Experience – don’t be late for those!
Without your phone constantly pulling you back into everything else, your brain gets a bit quieter. You talk to strangers, you stare out of the window, and you actually enjoy the journey. It’s a rare feeling for probably most of us, and that feeling has stayed with me. It’s things like this that make the whole experience special and stay with you long after you disembark.
Strangers to familiar faces: the social side of The Ghan
You sit down in the dining car and suddenly you’re in the middle of a conversation. Different people each time. Different stories. Some hilarious, some a bit random, some surprisingly honest considering you met 30 minutes ago.
It doesn’t seem forced. It just happens naturally, and that human connection over shared experiences is a beautiful thing. The crew are a huge part of that too; they are so warm, welcoming and genuinely friendly in a way that immediately puts you at ease and makes the whole experience feel relaxed from the moment you step onboard.
I particularly felt this way in Gold Premium. It felt very social and like you’re all part of the same slightly strange, very enjoyable bubble moving through the middle of the country. It’s pretty surreal.
Outback moments that stay with you
There are moments on this journey that quietly stop you in your tracks. The Australian Outback has always had that effect on me.
Maybe it’s the scale of it, the silence or the endless openness of the landscape, but it has a way of making everything else feel smaller and less important for a while.
Stepping off The Ghan into the dry heat of the Outback really brings that feeling home. The red dirt, the huge skies, the stillness – it’s impossible not to pause and take it in.
Then you’re back on board with a chilled drink in hand, dust still on your shoes, watching the landscape roll past from the comfort of the lounge. That contrast stays with you. And somehow, instead of feeling disconnected from the place, the comfort of the train makes you appreciate the rugged beauty of the Outback even more.
Why you shouldn’t wait to do The Ghan
What stayed with me most wasn’t one standout moment or single highlight. It was more the feeling that comes with the whole experience, that rare sense you’ve genuinely slowed down and done something special.
It’s the kind of trip people tend to put in the “one day” basket. Something to save for later or to celebrate a milestone. A special occasion.
But somewhere along the journey, it struck me that I reckon we’ve got it backwards. This is the special occasion. Connecting with people, with the land, maybe with yourself too. The simple luxury of being fully present. We’ve lost that in our day-to-day lives. Sharing good food, good conversation and uninterrupted time with the people around you, without the usual noise of everyday life pulling you (mentally or physically) somewhere else.
The takeaway: just go
Go with your partner, your family, your closest friends or go solo and lean into the experience for yourself.
Because what makes The Ghan so memorable isn’t just the landscapes or the train itself. It’s a rare opportunity to properly slow down and spend uninterrupted time together. Long lunches, drinks in the lounge, conversations without phones on the table and hours spent either watching Australia pass by outside the window or getting out amongst it.
In a world where everyone is busy and constantly rushing, that kind of time feels pretty special.
I checked for you, and yes, there’s still some availability left on select 2026 departures. So, what are you waiting for? Find out more at Journey Beyond Rail.
Dani Tuffield travelled as a guest on The Ghan.
The Joy of Travelling Well – a new global campaign and evolved brand expression that reflects Oceania Cruises continued commitment to intentional, enriching travel at sea.
As traveller expectations continue to evolve, modern luxury is increasingly defined not by excess, but by depth, intention, and a sense of ease. The Joy of Travelling Well captures Oceania Cruises’ belief that the most meaningful journeys are those taken at a considered pace, where every detail is thoughtfully curated, and every moment feels personal.
“The launch of The Joy of Travelling Well campaign offers a clear expression of who we are and what sits at the very heart of Oceania Cruises,” said Jason Montague, Chief Luxury Officer of Oceania Cruises. “This brand evolution reflects what our guests have been telling us for years: that true luxury lies in the freedom to explore at your own pace. Our tagline used since day one – Your World. Your Way – has always encouraged this. The Joy of Travelling Well celebrates the unique Oceania Cruises experience through thoughtful details, genuine warmth, and an understanding of what truly matters to our guests. It’s a celebration of what travel can be at its very best: enriching, rewarding, and full of joy.”
The refreshed brand framework is guided by four foundational tenets, each defining an element of the Oceania Cruises experience:
- Immersive Itineraries – Port-rich, thoughtfully designed voyages that invite guests to explore well-loved destinations through a new lens or uncover new favourites, to discover at their own pace and form deeper connections with places that inspire them.
- Intimate, Luxurious Ships – Beautifully designed, smaller ships foster a relaxed, elegant ambience, augmenting a serene adults-only atmosphere.
- Genuine Hospitality – Warm, thoughtful service and enriching experiences delivered with sincerity, care, and a personal touch, ensuring every guest feels recognised and effortlessly cared for throughout their journey.
- The Finest Cuisine at Sea – A defining cornerstone of the Oceania Cruises experience, where cuisine serves as a gateway to culture, creativity, and connection, brought to life through thoughtfully crafted culinary excellence.
The brand evolution also aligns with Oceania Cruises’ transition to an adults-only experience, reinforcing its commitment to a tranquil, sophisticated atmosphere designed exclusively for discerning travellers. By curating an environment free from distraction, the line ensures every voyage feels calm, immersive, and intentionally refined.
The Joy of Travelling Well will launch across digital, social, print, TV, onboard touchpoints and direct-to-consumer channels, supported by a new brand film (here), refreshed creative assets and comprehensive brand guidelines.
Supporting the new brand identity is the cruise line’s Your World Included® value promise, designed to give guests greater choice and ease throughout their journey. All voyages include gourmet specialty dining, unlimited Starlink® WiFi, shipboard gratuities, laundry services and a thoughtful selection of onboard amenities. Guests also have the flexibility to choose between a generous shore excursion credit, usable across more than 8,000 small-group immersive tours worldwide, or complimentary wine and beer during lunch and dinner hours, ensuring each journey can be tailored to how guests prefer to travel.
For additional information on Oceania Cruises’ small-ship luxury, exquisitely crafted cuisine and expertly curated travel experiences, contact Tripaway on 07 5601 6669.
The response to our first list of breathtaking, bucket-list destinations was so overwhelming that I knew a follow-up was inevitable. Clearly, I’m not alone in feeling that pull — that quiet urgency to see the world’s wonders while we still can. So here are five more places that have captured my imagination: destinations that are extraordinary, irreplaceable, and — in some cases — genuinely running out of time.
1. Machu Picchu – Peru
There are places that photographs simply cannot prepare you for, and Machu Picchu is chief among them. Perched at 2,430 metres in the Peruvian Andes, this 15th-century Inca citadel emerges from the cloud forest like something conjured from a dream. The scale of it, the precision of those ancient stones fitted together without mortar, the vertiginous drop into the valley below — it stops you in your tracks.
But here’s the sobering truth: Machu Picchu is under serious pressure. UNESCO has repeatedly warned that the site is being loved to death, with erosion, landslides, and unchecked tourism threatening its very foundations. Peru has already introduced strict daily visitor caps and timed entry — and those restrictions are tightening. The Inca Trail, once a rite of passage, now requires permits booked months in advance. If this is on your list, don’t leave it another year.
2. Antarctica
I’ll be honest — Antarctica isn’t a destination so much as a reckoning. There is nowhere else on Earth quite like it: a continent of blinding white silence, broken only by the thunderclap of calving glaciers and the improbable comedy of penguin colonies going about their business. It is the coldest, driest, windiest place on the planet, and it is utterly, breathtakingly alive.
And it is changing faster than anywhere else on Earth. The ice shelves that have existed for millennia are collapsing. The seasons are shifting. Scientists who have worked there for decades speak about it with a quiet grief that I find impossible to ignore. Expedition cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula are still possible — and they are genuinely life-altering — but the window to see it in its full, frozen majesty is narrowing. This is not a destination to defer.
3. Angkor Wat & Ta Prohm – Cambodia
Angkor Wat at sunrise is one of those experiences that makes you feel the full weight of human history. The largest religious monument ever built, reflected in the still waters of its moat as the sky shifts from ink to gold — it is almost too beautiful to be real. But venture beyond the main temple into the wider Angkor complex, and you’ll discover something even more haunting.
Ta Prohm is where the jungle is winning. Enormous silk-cotton and strangler fig trees have grown directly through the temple walls over centuries, their roots wrapped around stone doorways and gallery roofs in a slow, inexorable embrace. It was left this way deliberately — a reminder of what nature reclaims when we step back. Walking through it feels like stumbling into another world entirely. Both sites face mounting threats from mass tourism, groundwater depletion undermining the foundations, and the creeping structural damage caused by those magnificent trees. Visit with a guide, tread lightly, and give yourself more time than you think you’ll need.
4. The Galápagos Islands – Ecuador
When Charles Darwin stepped ashore in the Galápagos in 1835, he encountered wildlife so utterly unafraid of humans that he could pick up iguanas with his bare hands. Remarkably, not much has changed. These islands, stranded in the Pacific some 900 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador, are home to creatures that evolved in near-total isolation — and they still greet visitors with the same blithe indifference to our presence.
You can snorkel alongside sea lions who treat you as a playmate. You can sit two metres from a blue-footed booby performing its elaborate courtship dance and be completely ignored. You can watch giant tortoises — the very species that helped shape Darwin’s theory of evolution — move through the landscape with the unhurried authority of animals that have never needed to fear anything. The Ecuadorian government limits visitor numbers strictly, and access is controlled through licensed expedition vessels. It is not a cheap destination, but it is an incomparable one — and the regulations that make it expensive are also what keep it extraordinary.
5. The Kimberley – Western Australia
I think there’s something particularly powerful about discovering that one of the world’s great wonders is in your own backyard. The Kimberley in Western Australia’s far north is, by any measure, one of the most spectacular and ancient landscapes on Earth — and most Australians have never seen it.
This is a place of epic scale: 420,000 square kilometres of red gorges, tidal waterfalls, hidden freshwater pools, and coastline so remote it still has no road access in places. The Horizontal Falls — a natural tidal phenomenon that defies easy explanation — will make you question the laws of physics. The ancient Gwion Gwion and Wandjina rock art, some dating back more than 17,000 years, puts into perspective just how long this continent has been home to human story.
The Kimberley is best experienced by expedition cruise or fly-drive, and the window is genuinely short — the wet season renders much of it inaccessible for months at a time. But it’s not just the seasons that create urgency. Climate change is altering the region’s hydrology, and increasing visitation brings its own pressures to an ecosystem of extraordinary fragility. This is Australia at its most ancient, most dramatic, and most alive. See it.
One last thought
Writing this list, I’m struck again by the same feeling that closed our first five: these places exist right now, in all their improbable, irreplaceable glory — and not one of them is guaranteed to look the same in twenty years. Some face the slow erosion of climate change. Some are being managed out of accessibility to protect them. Some are simply being worn away by the weight of our collective wonder.
None of that should stop you going. If anything, it should hurry you along.
EVERY year, from November to April when the northern Pacific swells sweep in from Hawaii, the Solomon Islands’ reefs and northly coastlines come alive with some of the most perfect waves to be found on the planet.
The destination’s two best-known surf regions are Gizo in the Western Province and Santa Isabel, but there are still dozens of secret spots throughout this 992-island archipelago, the locations of which are closely guarded by a handful of hard travelling board riders.
The best places for surfers to stay are the dedicated surfing camps, all of which package accommodation, meals, and boat access to the waves.
Waves-wise, Gizo in the Western Province offers Paelonge, a speedy right hander while just a few hundred metres away, Titiana is a goofy footer’s paradise.
Nafinua Surf Retreat in Makira-Ulawa Province, which opened in March, is already attracting a steady stream of surfers .
But without doubt, the jewel in the crown is Papatura Island Retreat, one of the best set-ups to be found anywhere in the South Pacific.
With board riders’ numbers limited to 14 at any one time and with some 20 breaks on hand, surfers are guaranteed an uncrowded surf, a rare commodity in these days of ever-more crowded waves in an ever more crowded world.
Still too busy? Two hours away you’ll f ind Vavagio Guesthouse which limits its numbers to just eight.
With the Easter long weekend approaching and travellers already thinking ahead to their next escape,
Norwegian Cruise Line is inviting Australians to make every moment count with its first-ever four-day round-trip ‘Tassie Taster’ sailings from Sydney to Hobart, on board Norwegian Spirit in January 2027. Perfectly timed for the summer holidays, with departures on 6 and 21 January 2027, these new itineraries tap into the growing appetite for short, close-to-home escapes that don’t compromise on experience.
From skipping long-haul flights to enjoying a different restaurant at every meal, to relaxing by the pool or indulging in a spa treatment, four days at sea with NCL feels like a world away.
An Exciting New Product
As demand for domestic cruising continues to surge, NCL is expanding its footprint to meet guest demand – with a fresh, high-appeal product to bring to market.
These new four-day sailings offer a compelling opportunity to engage seasoned cruisers, including those new-to-NCL. They deliver an accessible and seamless experience that showcases the brand in just a few days. A low-commitment cruise that can introduce new customers to NCL, while creating a natural pathway to longer, higher-value voyages in the future.
The perfect long weekend upgrade
NCL’s Tassie Taster sailings are designed to maximise time away without the complexity of extended travel – and with minimal impact on annual leave. The itinerary blends time at sea with a full day in Hobart, allowing guests to explore highlights such as Salamanca Markets, Mount Wellington, cool-climate wineries, fresh seafood and iconic wildlife encounters.
At the same time, the onboard experience ensures the journey itself is just as rewarding, offering space to relax, recharge and reconnect.
A premium, adult-friendly experience
Norwegian Spirit delivers a more refined on board environment tailored to adult travellers.
With no kids’ clubs or waterslides, guests will enjoy quieter decks, elevated dining and curated entertainment, making it an ideal choice for couples, groups of friends or families travelling with adult children.
This positioning gives agents a clear point of difference: a premium local cruising option curated for adults, without sacrificing the entertainment, service or amenities NCL is known for.
Smaller ship feel, big ship benefits
Completely reimagined, Norwegian Spirit combines a boutique feel with the features of a larger ship. Guests can choose from 14 dining options, including favourites such as Onda by Scarpetta, Cagney’s Steakhouse, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki, alongside nine bars and lounges.
The ship also features the adults-only Spice H2O retreat, the expansive Mandara Spa, and a full entertainment lineup including headline shows, comedy, game shows and live music.
Together, these elements create an impressive mix of variety and value , all delivered in a more intimate setting.
A strong signal of local commitment
Following her current season, Norwegian Spirit will return in December 2026 for NCL’s fourth and most extensive local season to date, featuring 10 convenient Sydney departures, including five round-trip sailings. This expanded program, combined with the introduction of new short break options like the Tassie Tasters, reflect the depth of choice NCL is bringing to Australia and New Zealand, giving agents more ways to inspire, convert and grow their cruise business.
With sailings already attracting strong interest, agents are encouraged to act quickly.
Carnival Encounter resumes year-round sailings from Brisbane, emerging from dry dock in Singapore and sailing into port with a refreshed look inside and out, including a new hull design, spa relaxation zone and entertainment lineup
Passengers boarding the seven-night Queensland cruise on 20 March 2026 were the first to check out the new-look ship upgrades of the former Pacific Encounter as it transitioned from P&O Cruises to Carnival, including the branded red, white and blue livery.
Brand new to Carnival Encounter is a Cloud 9 Spa Thermal Suite, featuring heated lounges, saunas and steam baths, plus new onboard entertainment with debut shows for Australian ships: Broadway Beats and Rock Revolution: Summer of 69.
The Marquee Theatre has also had audio-visual upgrades, plus the addition of a new stage area.
The refresh also includes general updates to ship interiors and public spaces with new carpeting, paint and soft furnishings.
Meanwhile, all five pool areas have been revitalised, all seven hot tubs replaced, the sports court had a glow-up and the renewed Twin Race slides are now extra-speedy.
Behind the scenes, the 2,600-passenger ship has undergone energy-efficient upgrades to the galleys, laundry and cold rooms.
All dining venues remain on board with Luke’s Bar & Grill and Luke’s Burgers (from celeb chef Luke Mangan) to be rebranded as Fahrenheit 555 and Topside Grill in May 2026. Bonsai Sushi Express is a new onboard culinary addition.
Homeporting in Brisbane, Carnival Encounter will offer year-round itineraries to Queensland and South Pacific destinations, including Airlie Beach, Great Barrier Reef, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Carnival Cruise Line Assistant Vice President Sales & Marketing Anton Loeb said: “We are excited to be offering Queenslanders a whole new spa experience and fresh fun on board the only cruise ship sailing year-round from Brisbane.”
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