In 2022, we announced our first-ever luxury superyacht cruise, and it sold out in 30 minutes.
Which told us, obviously, that there was a demand for this type of luxury small-ship cruising in the LGBT+ travel space. So, every year since then, we’ve offered three different luxury superyacht cruises each year, all over the world.
And you might tend to think that these cruises are all basically alike.
But they’re not. Nor are the cruise lines we use.
EXPEDITION VS. REGULAR CRUISING
Some of our luxury cruises, like, say, our 2026 Athens to Barcelona, or our 2027 Turkey and Greek Isles, are luxury superyacht versions of a Mediterranean cruise. Lots of fascinating European ports, sightseeing, food and wine, that kind of thing. These ships are a great way to do these “typical” cruise itineraries because the ships are fabulous, the experience is top-of-the-line, and because the ships can go into smaller ports that big ships can’t. (Or, if the big ships do go there, they have to dock at a larger port and bus you for hours to get there.)
Where an “expedition” cruise is different from these is that it typically goes to more exotic places, and/or the excursions it offers are more expedition-style in nature.
Two examples: our 2026 Panama to Belize “Panama Canal” cruise and our 2026 Skeleton Coast (West Africa) cruise.
2026 PANAMA TO BELIZE CRUISE
Many of us have taken a cruise through the Panama Canal, and it’s a spectacular experience. (Incidentally, if you haven’t done it in the last decade, you haven’t seen the new locks that handle the megaships of today. They’re jaw-dropping.)
But at Brand g, we didn’t want to just do another Panama Canal cruise. Our version of this cruise, aboard Swan Hellenic’s sleek and sophisticated superyacht Vega, will feature all kinds of expedition-style excursions.
These are excursions that frequently leave directly from the ship in zodiac-style boats, which allow for very small-group outings with naturalist guides (highly trained guides who tell you about everything you’re seeing in terms of sea life and animals and plants and such). On these excursions, you can not only learn but be more active than you would be just sitting on a bus tour.
Some examples:
- A snorkeling adventure among the coral reefs of the San Blas Archipelago, and at Old Providence National Park
- A canoe adventure through Colombia’s narrow mangrove waterways, where you’ll see all kinds of wildlife, followed by an Afro-Colombian drumming performance on land
- A nature trek across volcanic rock and powdery white sand beaches on Providencia Island
- Private speedboat or barge hires for you and your group of friends in Roatan, Honduras, where your captain will take you to see reefs, mangroves, hidden cays and whatever is most of interest to you
Of course, if you’re not up for splashing around or going on a hike or whatever, there are lower impact excursions, too. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. We want our guests to always have options!
2026 SKELETON COAST (WEST AFRICA) CRUISE
This is a truly exotic, once-in-a-lifetime cruise, along the west coast of Africa, from Angola through Namibia and into South Africa, aboard another sleek Swan Hellenic superyacht, the Diana. How many people can say they’ve cruised in Africa, especially to these super exotic west coast countries?
Cruising anywhere in Africa is difficult. A number of cruises go to Cape Town, but that’s generally the only port in Africa that they hit. And those cruises typically tend to be quite long ones – at least a month, many much longer (world cruise itineraries).
We’ve worked with Swan Hellenic to create an enormous array of both expedition-style and cultural experiences tailored specifically to our guests for this Skeleton Coast cruise.
Some examples:
- Enjoy an array of flamingo, dolphin, cape fur seal, tortoise, and whale encounter options in Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Explore a ghost island in Angola
- Have tribal experiences in Namibia
- Explore the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve in South Africa
As you can see, this is much more active than a typical cruise filled with bus and walking tours and the like. (No discredit to those – different places in the world beg for different experiences.)
THE DIFFERENT LUXURY SUPERYACHT LINES WE CHARTER
We currently partner with three different lines in the luxury superyacht space. These brands all offer ships built in the last three or four years, all with a guest count under 200. (Generally, for a Brand g trip, because of staff, solo travelers and the like, the guest count will be 160-170.)
These superyachts are essentially small luxury ocean cruise ships, offering many of the bells and whistles of a big ocean ship, just scaled down to a more intimate size, since you’re talking 160 guests instead of 4,000. This, of course, is the big appeal of these superyachts – you don’t spend your day waiting in line for a table at a restaurant or having to run out first thing in the morning to nab a chair by the pool. The crowd is small, there’s plenty of room for everyone because there’s more space per person on these ships, and there are staff everywhere to take care of things for you.
The three superyacht cruise lines we work with are all similar in the size of their ships, and in the layout and general offerings on their ships. What differentiates them is their décor, the crew count (and thus the service level, to a degree) and their reviews from past guests.
ATLAS
We’ve done 6 or 7 cruises with Atlas, and they were our first partner when we began chartering luxury superyachts. A Portuguese brand, their ships are mid-century modern glam – lots of glossy woods, marble, that kind of thing. Very contemporary, very cool. The ships (and staterooms) routinely get glowing reviews for their design and style.
Our Athens to Barcelona cruise in 2026 and our Baltic – aka Northern Europe – cruise in 2027 are on Atlas ships.
SWAN HELLENIC
Swan Hellenic is a British brand with a sleek Scandinavian style. Think lots of light woods, grey and white cabins, minimalist décor, etc. Very contemporary, very chic.
Swan features one of the highest crew-to-passenger ratios in the business (virtually 1-to-1), and it’s reflected in the reviews they get from customers for their extraordinary food and service. Check Cruise Critic – their reviews are among the best in the cruise industry.
Our 2026 cruises – Panama to Belize and the Skeleton Coast (West Africa) are on Swan Hellenic.
PONANT
For 2027, we’re partnering with French line Ponant for two sexy cruises, our Greek Isles and Turkey cruise and our French Polynesia cruise.
What makes this superyacht line special is its French cultural influences. There’s a real sense of French cultural elegance onboard (without any French snootiness, of course) – incredible gourmet French food, and contemporary French coolness in the décor and amenities. Think sexy Paris restaurant kind of vibe, with a really relaxed feel.
If you haven’t tried one of these superyacht cruises, it will spoil you for any other kind of cruising. It combines the best of big-ship ocean cruising with the intimacy of river cruising. We have extremely limited availability remaining on all 2026 and 2027 cruises – but know that even though the cabin selection is now limited, there are literally NO bad cabins on a superyacht, so whatever cabins remain will still be great ones.
So come on – get your expedition on. Get your culture on. Get your gourmet and your luxury and your sense of fabulous on. We’re ready whenever you are!
