OVERSEAS Adventure Travel

Overseas Adventure Travel

This major tour company covers the world with land tours, and many of these trips are integrated with a cruise component, some as short as three nights and up to two weeks or longer.

Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) has been in business for more than 40 years and is part of Grand Circle Travel, so there may be overlapping bookings from both sources. The multitude of O.A.T. itineraries are highly creative, and often they are cruises on ships taking between 16 and 210 passengers, many with land extensions.

South China Seas sunset. * Photo: Ted Scull

Fleet

Because there are so many choices, numerous ships are involved, some owned by Grand Circle Cruise Line, others chartered by Grand Circle or Overseas Adventure Travel, and in two cases, ships that also carry passengers who are not booked through O.A.T. or Grand Circle. These are cruise tours that include the Chilean fjords and the Yangtze River portion of a much longer China/Tibet cruise tour.

O.A.T. also charters ships for adventures in the Galapagos and Ecuadorian Amazon and gulets for voyages in Turkey. These gulets carry up to 14 passengers, and the Galapagos/Amazon small ships carry up to 16 people.

Additionally, the company charters from among eight Hurtigruten ships for its Arctic cruises in Finland and Norway.

The rest of the O.A.T. fleet:

M/V Athena (built 2007 & 50 passengers)

M/V Atherusa (b. 2007 & 50 p)

M/V Artemis (b. 2007 & 50 p)

M/V Clio (b. 1998 & 89 p)

M/V Corinthian (b. 1990 & 98 p)

M/V Hondius (b. 2019 & 170 p)

M/V Stella Australis (b. 2010 & 210 p)

M/V Ventus Australis (b. 2017 & 210 p)

Nefertiti (b. 2000 & 75 p)

Passenger Profile

Americans, mostly 50-plus and active. Levels of activities are noted with every departure. Most cruise tours rate 2 on a scale of 1 to 6, but overall they range from 1 to 4 in terms of level of how active they are.

With every itinerary, there is additional specific information about the distance to be covered on foot, the presence of uneven surfaces, and if significant, the number of stairs to be climbed.

Price

$ to $$$ – The spread depending largely on the wide diversity of the fleet.

A wide range of rates depends on the ship involved, with most moderately priced. Singles are well catered for, and often there is no single supplement, and if there is, it is a smallish extra charge. Passengers who wish to share can apply for a roommate. Every cruise tour has a chart that includes the availability of single accommodations.

250 foot tower of ice. Antarctica * Photo: Ted Scull

Itineraries

O.A.T. offers a huge range of small-ship cruises in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Middle East, Central and South America, Egypt, China and Antarctica. Groups of no more than 25 go ashore with separate guides.

There are simply too many choices, especially in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, to list them all here. Where the ship is not specifically named, the number passengers carried is mentioned.

Sample Itineraries

Mediterranean: A new 17-day cruise tour (10 nights on the ship, M/V Athena or M/V Artemis) called “French and Italian Rivieras” starts in Marseille and ends in Rome, with visits to Calanques National Park, Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Imperia, Cinques Terre, Corsica, Elba and Giglio Island.

Northern Europe: A 15-day “Maritime Jewels of the British Isles” on the 98-passenger M/V Corinthian visits England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Egypt: A 16-day cruise-tour includes Cairo and the Pyramids; a 7-night Nile cruise from Karnak to Aswan aboard the privately-chartered 75-passenger Nefertiti.

Note: The day visit to Abu Simbel facing Lake Nasser involves a very early start and a four-hour bus ride in each direction. Participants have the option to remain in Aswan for the day.

Israel, Egypt & Jordan: An 18-day land and cruise tour begins and ends in Israel with 6 nights aboard the 89-passenger Clio operated by Grand Circle Cruise Line. The cruise leaves Israel (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Tiberias, Dead Sea) and sails for Egypt with calls that give access to Cairo and the pyramids, and after a Suez Canal transit, the Nile Valley (Karnak, Luxor) and Jordan, including Petra. Then return to Israel.

South America: The “Machu Picchu & The Galapagos” land and cruise adventure utilizes a 16-passenger ship and starts in Lima, with exploration of the Sacred Valley, Cusco and Quito before a four-day cruise in the Galapagos.

100-passenger VENTUS AUSTRALS. * Photo: Australis

Antarctica: A 14-day cruise tour from Buenos Aires includes a 9-night expedition cruise aboard the company-owned 98-passenger Corinthian sailing from Ushuaia. Groups of no more than 22 passengers go ashore at landings along the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

China and Tibet: A 22-day land tour uses air, coach, train and a 3-night downstream Yangtze River cruise. Riverboat (various used) holds from 208 to 378 passengers, and O.A.T. group never exceeds 25 when going ashore. Itinerary includes Beijing, Xian and the terra cotta warriors, Chengdu (panda sanctuary), Wuhan, 3 nights in Lhasa, Tibet and finishes up in Hong Kong.

Note: New are women only departures, and those that include a small ship cruise component are to Argentina’s Patagonia region and a Chilean cruise aboard M/V Australis or M/V Ventus Australis, and another including the Galapagos and the Peruvian Amazon. .

Included Features

It varies because so many different types of trips are involved, but it is safe to say most meals (all on ships), excursions and most tips are included in fares.

Why Go?

Overseas Adventure Travel and Grand Circle Line are long-time professionals in the travel business, and if you (as an American) prefer traveling with your own country folk, then you have found your operator. The firms offer worldwide itineraries so someone who wants a one-stop shop, here it is.

When to Go?

All itineraries include the best time of the year to go, and also fringe season when the weather may be hot, rainy or cold. Check the climate averages for wherever and whenever you are thinking of going.

Cabins, Public Rooms, Dining, Activities & Entertainment

With so many different ships used, but most under control of O.A.T. or Grand Circle Travel and Grand Circle Cruise Line, the ships will be of a high, if not necessarily a luxurious standard.

Special Notes

The Overseas Adventure Travel website has an abundance of resources to help visualize and understand the part of the world in which you are interested. If you are anxious to know your ship’s reputation, just Google the ship’s name and add “reviews.”