Azamara has signalled its return to South Africa with Azamara Pursuit’s expected arrival in Cape Town this November, underscoring the city’s growing importance as a global cruise destination. 

The 710-guest ship departed Lisbon earlier this month on a 21-night voyage that combines the Canary Islands with a series of calls along the West African coast before rounding the Cape in South Africa.

The voyage represents a rare long-haul itinerary that connects Europe and southern Africa by sea, highlighting Azamara’s destination-focused approach and Cape Town’s increasing prominence as a turnaround port for luxury and boutique cruise lines.

En route to Cape Town, Azamara Pursuit will visit eight ports across six countries and islands, including Dakar in Senegal, Banjul in The Gambia, Walvis Bay and Lüderitz in Namibia, and Saint Helena, a remote British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. 

With a population of just 4,000, Saint Helena will welcome the vessel for a ten-hour call in early November, an event that underscores Azamara’s focus on off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Upon arriving in Cape Town, Azamara Pursuit will embark on a 13-night cruise to Port Louis in Mauritius. The itinerary crosses the Indian Ocean, calling at ports in South Africa, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius, offering guests a mix of wildlife encounters, volcanic landscapes and Indian Ocean culture. 

The open-jaw voyage will be followed by a second repositioning sailing linking the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

Departing from Mauritius, the 16-night itinerary will travel to the Maldives, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia before concluding in Singapore. From there, the Azamara Pursuit begins a series of cruises in Australia and New Zealand through early 2026, with departures from Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland.

Its 15- to 21-night sailings will visit destinations such as Adelaide, Hobart, Napier, Dunedin and the Bay of Islands, with scenic cruising through New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park as a central feature.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, the 30,200-ton vessel will complete its Australasia deployment before repositioning to the Far East for a spring season in Japan and South Korea. 

By mid-2026, the ship will move to North America, sailing trans-Pacific to Alaska and Canada, where it will operate 10- and 11-night cruises between Vancouver and Whittier through late August.

The Azamara Pursuit’s return to South Africa forms part of a broader resurgence of long-haul cruise deployments to the region, with Cape Town emerging as a sought-after embarkation port for both ocean and expedition itineraries as the city cements its role on the global cruise map.