Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is heading to India.

The luxury river line will cruise the Ganges River beginning in January 2016. Ganges Voyager II will carry 56 pax in 28 staterooms ranging in size from 261 sq. ft. to 400 sq. ft. The guest to crew ratio will be 1:2.

“We will sail 16 cruises the 1st year — January to March and then September to December,” said Wanda Kowalczyk, Uniworld’s V.P. Product Development. She calls the Ganges Voyager II “the most luxurious ship on the Ganges.”

The Ganges Voyager II will launch in January 2016

Land and cruise packages will allow guests to see well-known sights in India both along the river and inland. Prior to boarding the ship, guests will spend 5 nights in 5-star hotels: 2 nights in New Delhi at The Oberoi, 1 night in Agra at The Oberoi Amarvilas and 2 nights in Jaipur at the ITC Rajputana.

Pax will then set sail on a 7 night, roundtrip cruise from Kolkata, visiting such sights as Bandel and the Victoria Memorial Museum; Kalna, Bengal’s shrine complex of terracotta temples and the 18th century temples of Baranagar.

Other sightseeing highlights include Khushbagh’s beautifully preserved mosque complex, the Greek-style Hazarduari Palace at Murshidabad and the former French Governor’s residence and Sacred Heart Church of Chandannagar.

Uniworld also will offer an optional 2 night post-cruise Varanasi extension, which will include a sunset cruise on the Ganges to witness the Aarti Ceremony at the sacred Dasaswamedh Ghat.
At sunrise, another cruise will give pax a unique perspective for the morning rituals along the nearly 100 ghats in Varanasi, considered the most holy of the 7 sacred cities of India and one of the world’s oldest inhabited spaces.