Nicko Cruises (fleet) has placed South Africa at the centre of its 2027-2028 World Cruise, with Vasco da Gama scheduled to spend more than two weeks exploring the country's coastline and neighbouring Indian Ocean islands as part of a 172-day global voyage.
Departing Lisbon on November 4th, 2027, the itinerary will visit 41 countries across 6 continents before returning to the Portuguese capital on April 24th, 2028. Guests may book the complete 172-day World Cruise, a shortened 125-day voyage between Panama City and Lisbon, or any of the nine individual cruise sectors.
The voyage begins with calls in the Azores, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde before crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean, where ports include Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts, the British Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. The itinerary continues through Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica before transiting the Panama Canal.
During the Christmas and New Year period, Vasco da Gama will sail along the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico before crossing to French Polynesia. The route then includes Bora Bora, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia before reaching Sydney. From Australia, the vessel proceeds via Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Darwin before continuing through Indonesia with calls at Timor, Komodo, Bali and Java.
The Indian Ocean section includes Singapore, Malaysia, the Maldives, Seychelles, Zanzibar and Mombasa, followed by visits to the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and La Réunion before arriving in South Africa. The South African itinerary features Durban, the Garden Route, Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope, with safari excursions also available ashore. The voyage then continues north along Africa's Atlantic coast with calls at Walvis Bay in Namibia, Angola and Ilhéu Bom Bom in São Tomé and Príncipe before a final call at Tenerife en route back to Lisbon.
According to Nicko Cruises, the itinerary has been designed to offer a broad combination of cultural, natural and scenic experiences while providing flexible booking options through the full voyage or individual segments.