Expedition tips

‘Tis the season for making new year’s resolutions. Many lists include losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more. Those are all worthy goals but, with travel expected to be at all-time high in 2024, it would be huge if we could all resolve to be better travelers – for ourselves, for others and for the planet.

When you travel, there are a few pieces of information you probably like to keep handy, including your frequent flyer number, your passport number and your trip confirmation number.

Virgin Voyages has unveiled its very best deal of the year, where you can set sail with your favorite travel buddy with a 70% savings off of their ticket price. This offer will not stick around for long—you only have until January 31, 2024, to lock in the great deal. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for a romantic escape, a fun trip with friends, or a solo expedition, now’s the perfect time to book your extraordinary voyage. 

There’s a growing appetite for expedition travel, including cruising, among intrepid families. From gazing at serrated teal icebergs in Antarctica to island-hopping in the Galápagos, there are a slew of exhilarating expedition voyages designed to meet the needs of families looking for more meaningful shared travel experiences. As an added boon for parents, some even offer onboard kids programming, nature guides for younger travelers, and interconnecting cabins to accommodate larger broods.

The cruise industry is seeing a surge in demand for expeditions that bring us closer to the diversity of wildlife inhabiting some of the most pristine parts of our natural world. From journeys through Arctic waters, expeditions in the Amazon rainforest and island-hopping in the volcanic Galápagos archipelago, we round up 11 of our favourites for the year ahead.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has added four more international airlines to its popular trusted traveler program, TSA PreCheck. 

Travelers looking to plan international trips in the New Year got some good news this week: Passport renewal will no longer take months on end. Processing times for US passports have finally returned to what they were before the pandemic, according to an update from the State Department.

When it comes to trends, expedition cruises are the gift that keeps on giving. New Zealand’s fascinating wildlife and ecosystem, the US’s plethora of iconic national parks, and Madagascar’s paradisical diving and hiking sites — these are just some of the exhilarating expedition cruises new for 2024 and beyond. We whittle down nine of our favourites.

If your passport's expiration date is coming up in the next year, there's a bit of good news. For the first time, passport processing times are back down to what they were before the pandemic, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.

Passport processing times have once again returned to normal, pre-pandemic levels.

Ice slams into the brine. An avalanche follows like poured powdered sugar. A wave breaks with the boom of cannon fire. Moving to the safety of more remote waters, we survey the trauma from afar. The glacier growls once again. 

Traditionally nomadic, Sámi people have been herding reindeer across Sápmi (Lapland) for 7,000 years, long before the region was divided into Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Reindeer are integral to the Sámi way of life, yet the Indigenous people’s lifestyle is under threat from climate change, mines and cultural appropriation. Sweden is home to 20,000 Sámi, a fifth of whom roam with their herd around Laponia — a UNESCO World Heritage Site that stretches across Sweden’s Artic North. The others keep their customs alive by continuing age-old traditions and sharing stories about their heritage. Here are some exciting ways to explore their culture.

Seasoned travelers are pretty familiar with TSA PreCheck, the service that expedites your security experience. Now PreCheck is leveling up with this new initiative designed to make it even faster and more efficient. To help address the rise in passenger numbers without requiring tons of new TSA workers, the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) created the Screening at Speed Program – a passenger self-screening service that allows PreCheck passengers to complete the screening with almost no assistance from human agents.

As a kid, I’d write letters to George Bass, an American professor of underwater archaeology who used to contribute to National Geographic magazine. He actually responded, and we carried on this correspondence for many years — me begging him to take me along on one of his expeditions, him always finding a reason not to. Until, many years later [following Mensun’s studies in ancient history and archaeology], he asked if I could be on the Greek island of Kos in a week’s time. I didn’t ask any questions. This was my open door, and I walked through it.

The Miami cruise port just became the first seaport with a Global Entry Enrollment Center, allowing travelers to complete their applications for the Trusted Traveler program when sailing.

When Ada Blackjack arrived on Wrangel Island as part of a 1921 polar expedition, she knew nearly nothing about Arctic survival.

It's not enough for cruise lines to talk about sustainability anymore. Passengers want action — and now they are getting it.

Every day at 11:11am there is a ritual: we make a wish. And every day at 11:11am, we have been wishing for this year’s most over-the-top, extraordinary and extra-plus travel experiences (and luggage).

In the impossibly abundant rainforests of central Africa, one of the world’s great travel experiences awaits. Mountain gorillas live in only three countries—Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda—hidden in the dense bush; complex family units unknowingly fighting for their very survival.

Cruise Critic just announced its annual list of the Best Cruise Lines of The Year. This is the 15th iteration of the list compiled by the online cruise community’s international team of cruise experts.

Civitatis has seen 115% growth since 2019, with a 31% surge from 2022 to YTD 2023. Civitatis’ top selling destinations are, in descending order, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, London, Porto, Barcelona, New York, Budapest, and Prague.