Nicko Cruises Plans 172-Day 2027-28 World Cruise

Nicko Cruises has announced a 172-day 2027-28 world cruise aboard Vasco da Gama, with the ship scheduled to sail roundtrip from Lisbon on Nov. 4, 2027, and return on April 24, 2028. The voyage is planned to cover six continents and 41 countries, with bookings available for the full sailing, a 125-day Panama City-to-Lisbon option and nine individual sectors.

Nicko is selling the voyage as the complete “Big World Tour,” the shorter “Small World Tour,” single sectors or combinations of sectors. The program is built around Vasco da Gama, the Stuttgart-based operator’s only ocean ship in a fleet otherwise made up of more than 20 river vessels.

Route begins with Atlantic islands, the Caribbean and Panama

The opening stretch runs from Lisbon through the Azores, Canary Islands and Cape Verde before an Atlantic crossing to Bridgetown, Barbados, and Fort-de-France, Martinique. A 14-day Caribbean sector then sails from Martinique to Santo Domingo, calling at Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts and bays in the British Virgin Islands.

The ship then continues to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica before transiting the Panama Canal and ending a 16-day sector in Panama City. The 125-day option begins there.

Pacific and Indian Ocean sectors form the middle of the voyage

The Central America-to-South Pacific leg includes Christmas calls in Costa Rica and Guatemala, continues to Mexico, and has New Year’s in Cabo San Lucas before reaching French Polynesia, including the Marquesas, Tuamotu Archipelago, Moorea and Tahiti. From Tahiti, Vasco da Gama is scheduled for Bora Bora, the Cook Islands, the International Date Line, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Noumea before arriving in Sydney.

A 20-day sector covers Australia’s east coast and northern Australia, including Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Darwin, before calls in Timor, Komodo, Bali and Java. The sector ends in Jakarta. The next 24-day leg calls at Singapore, Malaysia, the Maldives, Seychelles and Zanzibar before ending in Mombasa, Kenya.

Africa sectors close the world cruise

From Mombasa, the itinerary heads via the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and La Reunion to South Africa, where safari excursions are planned. The closing Durban-to-Lisbon sector follows the Garden Route, Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope before continuing along Africa’s Atlantic coast via Walvis Bay, Angola and Ilheu Bom Bom, then Tenerife before Lisbon.

Nicko has scheduled fitness coach Detlef Soost and yoga expert Kate Hall for the March 29-April 24, 2028, Durban-Lisbon cruise. From Cape Town, their program includes dance and cardio sessions from Soost and Hall’s YoDaQi yoga, dance and Qi Gong courses, with workshops, performances at Hollywood’s Theater and guest encounters included for passengers without an additional fee.

Before the new sailing, Vasco da Gama is scheduled to begin Nicko’s 2026-27 world cruise on Nov. 3, 2026.