AURORA Expeditions’ new Vantage Explorations brand will offer a different range of voyages in new destinations, potentially including Australia, the cruise line’s Chief Marketing Officer Hayley Peacock-Gower told travelBulletin.
The cruise line recently confirmed its third currently unnamed ship is expected to be delivered in Oct 2025, and with her, Aurora is looking at cruising voyages in its home market of Australia through the Vantage brand, which was recently acquired by the company’s offshoot Pacific Travel Partners.
Other destinations being considered by Aurora for its third ship include the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, and the Baltic.
“We’re currently looking at what the offering will look like and where the ship’s going to go,” Peacock-Gower said.
Aurora also recently hinted at the introduction of river and land product through its new Vantage brand, although Peacock-Gower maintained the cruise line’s plans are still very much a “work in progress”.
“We’re looking at what’s available and what opportunities there might be for that – third-party operators or an acquisition,” she added.
“We’re deciding whether we’re going to operate the trips ourselves, or if we’re going to partner with third-party operators – some of these could be operators Vantage has partnered with in the past.”
However, Peacock-Gower said amidst the excitement of the opportunities available to Aurora, the cruise line’s ultimate goal is to present a full product offering to Vantage customers, so they can recoup their losses from the prior operation’s collapse, through the utilisation of their travel credits.
“We are moving as quickly as possible to get the operations up and running so that we can look after Vantage customers who have been impacted by the demise,” she added.
The court settlement which handed Vantage to Aurora for US$2 million stipulates that the credit offered to the customers of the defunct company should be available for five years.
