For twenty-five years, the Queen Elizabeth 2 has been circling the world, no one knows her way around the world like her. 2007 is your Silver Jubilee and you will visit more of the world than ever on your Silver Jubilee World Cruise; 41 major cities and 25 nations on five continents in 108 days. It has become the international symbol of luxury travel and at virtually every stop on your way you will be greeted with all the fanfare of a celebrity.

The full 108-day cruise will begin from New York City on January 8, 2007 and return to New York on April 22. Two alternatives are available for those on the west coast of the US One departs from Los Angeles and ends in New York City in 94 days; the other leaves San Francisco and ends in New York in 92 days. Whether you book the full 108-day cruise or just part of it, you’ll have a chance to see the highlights along the way, with multi-day tours of places like Beijing and the Great Wall of China. And you are sure to enjoy the days you spend on board, as the QE2 is practically a “city on the sea” with all the comforts you might need for an extended voyage.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 will sail from New York City to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and two days later will call at Georgetown, Grand Cayman. You then head to Puerto Moín, Costa Rica, with an additional trip available to visit the Braulio Carillo National Park. Here’s an aerial tram that glides silently and easily over the jungle canopy – no walking required!

Next is the passage through the Panama Canal and north to Acapulco, then to Los Angeles and San Francisco to face those who will join the cruise from these ports. Four days later, you are in Honolulu, Hawaii. The next day, a tour of Haleakala Crater on Maui, followed by four days at sea crossing the South Pacific to Papeete in Tahiti and then Moorea. Another four days at sea to the Kingdom of Tonga, called the Friendly Islands by Captain Cook, not much has changed over the intervening centuries. Continuation to Suva in Fiji, where passengers will have the opportunity to taste the ceremonial kava drink, made from the root of the pepper tree.

The next cruise is New Zealand with visits to the ports of Auckland, Wellington and lastly the picturesque city of Christchurch, a nostalgic recreation of an English university town on the South Island with ivy covered brick houses, manicured gardens and even a river Avon. . From New Zealand, head north to Hobart, Tasmania with an excursion to Bonorong Wildlife Park, where you can get a glimpse of the rare Tasmanian devil.

Melbourne is the first of four ports of call in Australia. One of the side trips here will be a ride on the historic “Puffing Billy” steam train, ending with lunch at a Yarra Glen vineyard. Next up is Sydney with its famous Opera House. After a short stop in Brisbane, there will be a two-day respite at Yorkey’s Knob spa on the outskirts of Cairns. You can even learn to throw a boomerang at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park.

Leaving Australia, the next port of call is Rabaul in Papua New Guinea and then five days at sea before docking in Yokohama, Japan. In Japan’s second city, you will have the opportunity to tour the old Imperial Palace, home to the ruling dynasty for 140 years. Leaving Japan after a stop in Kyoto to see the Golden Pavilion, a two-day cruise will end with a stay in Shanghai. Here, passengers will have the option of taking excursions into Beijing’s Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the 400-year-old Wu Gardens. After two days in Hong Kong, the beautiful and quiet beaches of Da Nang will be a welcome change in Vietnam.

After a two-day visit to Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand, the QE2 will sail for two days to Singapore and then cross the Indian Ocean to Colombo in Sri Lanka, the former Ceylon. A short tour of Kandy is on the menu here. Here is also the start of an optional multi-day adventure to Jaipur and the Taj Mahal before meeting QE2 in Mumbai. Those who choose to stay on the ship will visit Cochin, India next. Once one of the main stops on the Spice Route, this ancient port city predates Roman times. You can walk through streets lined with 15th century Portuguese houses and enter an old synagogue; the local Jewish community dates back more than 2000 years.

The next port is Mumbai, previously called Bombay. Here you can take a tour of Bollywood, the center of the Indian film industry. After passengers who left the ship at Columbo re-board, the ship heads to Port Victoria in the Seychelles followed by Port Louis in Mauritius. A one-day stop in Durban, South Africa, will be followed by two days in Cape Town, the capital of South Africa, at the foot of Table Mountain. Here you can take a tour of the Stellenbosch countryside with its famous vineyards, Dutch gabled houses and an old trading post.

From here, QE2 will head north as it cruises to Walvis Bay, Namibia. Six days sailing the South Atlantic and crossing the Equator before mooring at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, with a quick visit to Funchal, Madeira the next day. Three days later, the Queen Elizabeth 2 will moor in Southampton. The port from which the Mayflower sailed centuries ago is now Britain’s main seaport and has a historic harbor. A tour of the medieval Salisbury Cathedral will be available. Lastly, QE2 heads west across the North Atlantic and finally docks in her home port for this tour, New York, after 108 days at sea.

Thus ends a once-in-a-lifetime world cruise on Queen Elizabeth 2, celebrating her Silver Jubilee.