STUTTGART, 1 July 2026 – nicko cruises has opened bookings for a 172-day world cruise aboard VASCO DA GAMA, sailing round trip from Lisbon between 4 November 2027 and 24 April 2028. According to the official press release, the itinerary will span six continents and 41 countries across nine individual cruise sectors.
The full voyage can be booked as the “Grand World Cruise”, while a 125-day “Small World Cruise” will operate from Panama City to Lisbon. Guests may also reserve individual sectors or combine multiple consecutive itineraries. The company’s new World Cruises and Long-Distance Voyages 2027/28 catalogue contains details of the routes, destinations and ship.
Atlantic crossing opens the voyage
VASCO DA GAMA will depart Lisbon for the Azores, followed by calls at La Gomera and El Hierro in the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde archipelago. The opening sector will then cross the Atlantic to Bridgetown, Barbados, before concluding in Fort-de-France, Martinique.
A 14-day Caribbean sector will continue from Martinique to the Dominican Republic. Planned destinations include St Lucia, Dominica, Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint-Martin and the British Virgin Islands, ending in Santo Domingo.
The following 16-day cruise will connect the Caribbean with Central America and Panama. VASCO DA GAMA will visit Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize, Honduras, San Andrés and Costa Rica before completing a daytime transit of the Panama Canal. The sector ends in Panama City following a visit to the Miraflores Locks and the canal’s visitor centre.
Pacific route continues to Australia and Asia
The fourth stage will take guests from Central America towards French Polynesia, with Christmas spent in Costa Rica and Guatemala. Calls in Mexico will include Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, where the ship is scheduled to welcome the New Year before continuing across the Pacific to the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Moorea and Tahiti.
From Tahiti, VASCO DA GAMA will sail to Moorea, Bora Bora, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The ship will cross the International Date Line between 20 and 22 January before completing the sector in Sydney.
The Australia-to-Indonesia itinerary will include Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Darwin. An optional overland programme to Uluru/Ayers Rock will also be available. The route then continues to Timor, Komodo, Bali and Java, with the 20-day sector ending in Jakarta.
VASCO DA GAMA will subsequently visit Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, where an optional overland programme to India is planned. The ship will then sail across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives and Seychelles before calling at Zanzibar and concluding the 24-day voyage in Mombasa, Kenya.
African coastline leads back to Lisbon
The next sector will connect Kenya with South Africa through calls in the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and La Réunion. The itinerary will include opportunities to visit national parks, beaches and South African wildlife reserves.
The final stage begins in South Africa and follows the continent’s western coastline towards Europe. Destinations will include Durban, the Garden Route, Addo Elephant National Park, Cape Town, the Cape of Good Hope, Walvis Bay in Namibia, Angola and Ilhéu Bom Bom. A final call at Tenerife will precede the ship’s arrival in Lisbon on 24 April 2028.
VASCO DA GAMA accommodates approximately 1,000 passengers and has five restaurants, seven bars and lounges, two swimming pools, outdoor sports facilities, a jogging track, fitness centre, sauna and steam room. Accommodation is offered across 15 cabin categories, ranging from interior cabins to suites, with sizes extending from 13 square metres to the 102-square-metre Penthouse Suite.
Source: Official announcement by nicko Cruises on 1 July, 2026, Stuttgart.
