Three New Floating Campus Voyages for People Who Love to Learn
- Road Scholar’s Floating Campus® programs, part of Adventures Afloat®, combine onboard instruction with field trips ashore and a ship exclusively for Road Scholars.
- In Greece and Turkey, explore Aegean history and island life, with seven nights aboard the renovated Blue Zephyr.
- In New Zealand, sail aboard Heritage Adventurer to explore Fiordland by Zodiac and learn about native birdlife with local experts.
- In Egypt and Jordan, combine Petra and Egyptian archaeology with a Suez Canal transit and six nights aboard Variety Voyager.
An island known for longevity. A rainforest sanctuary for endangered birds. A waterway carrying ships between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Each offers something worth exploring, and with experts to help you understand what you’re seeing, each becomes a different kind of learning experience.
Three new Road Scholar Floating Campus® programs bring those experiences into focus in Greece and Turkey, New Zealand, and Egypt and Jordan. Each pairs a distinct region with a ship suited to the voyage, from the newly renovated Blue Zephyr to the expedition ship Heritage Adventurer and the 72-guest Variety Voyager.
A ship full of people who love to learn
Part of our Adventures Afloat® collection, Floating Campus programs bring the learning community aboard. The ship is exclusively for Road Scholars, with expert instructors available throughout the voyage for lectures, questions and discussions. Ashore, participants explore in smaller groups.
The questions you bring back from shore have a place on board, too. A lecture offers context for what you’ve seen. A conversation with an instructor gives you room to follow an interest further, and your fellow participants bring their own observations to the discussion.
Across these three programs, the subjects change. The pleasure of learning together, however, carries through.
Greece and Turkey: Island life, ancient ideas and Blue Zephyr
On Ikaria, the subject is daily life. Known for its residents’ longevity, the island invites a closer look at how people eat, move and spend time together. Exploring the Aegean means learning about contemporary island culture as well as the ancient world.
Onboard instructor Simon Poole, a specialist in wellness and longevity, will explore the Mediterranean diet and its place in island life.
“On Ikaria, we want participants to look more closely at the connections among food, lifestyle and longevity,” says Ion Casulli, senior manager in Road Scholar’s Program Operations team. “Our onboard instruction will help them connect what they learn about the Mediterranean diet with what they experience on the island.”
The 11-day program Greece & Turkey: Island Life, History & Culture connects those perspectives. Walk through the archaeological remains of Delos with a local expert, learn about the mathematician Pythagoras on his home island of Samos and explore Ephesus in Turkey. Onboard lectures continue the learning between ports.
Seven nights aboard Blue Zephyr are an important part of the experience. Fully renovated in 2026, the ship accommodates up to 114 guests in 57 suites. Even the standard suites offer approximately 244 square feet, with a sitting area and twin portholes. Other categories feature larger windows or private balconies.
And then there’s the shared spaces — an open-air taverna offers meals with Aegean views, while the main restaurant draws on Greek and international cooking. A panoramic lounge and library provide places to read or settle into a conversation between island explorations.
For a program about island life, the ship adds another connection to the region: Greek flavors at the table and the sea in view as you travel from one community to the next.
New Zealand: Learning close to the water
In Fiordland, moving from the ship into a Zodiac changes your perspective. You’re closer to the coastline, looking toward forested slopes and watching for wildlife. On deck, naturalists help you spot seabirds and marine life as observation becomes part of the day’s learning.
The 15-day New Zealand Coastal Expedition & Discovery includes Dusky, Milford and Doubtful Sounds, with nine nights aboard Heritage Adventurer. Near Stewart Island, local experts help participants identify native birds in Ulva Island’s sanctuary. These encounters give the voyage a strong focus on wildlife and conservation, alongside opportunities to learn about New Zealand’s communities and history.
Heritage Adventurer was built for expedition travel and welcomes 140 guests. Its 14 Zodiacs support exploration beyond the ship, while the observation deck offers space to keep watching the coast. Back inside, the lounge hosts lectures and port talks, and the dining room’s tall windows keep the surroundings in view.
Here, the ship supports two complementary ways to learn: getting closer to the natural world and taking time aboard to understand what you’ve observed.
Egypt and Jordan: Ancient history, connected by sea
Petra and the Pyramids of Giza belong to different civilizations. Bringing them into one learning adventure creates room to consider their differences — the societies behind the monuments, their beliefs and the choices their builders made.
The 13-day Ancient Egypt & Petra: A Voyage of Discovery combines exploration in Jordan and Egypt with six nights aboard Variety Voyager. An overnight stay in Luxor makes room for learning at the temples and the Valley of the Kings. At Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, monumental architecture and surviving objects offer different perspectives on ancient Egyptian life.
The Suez Canal adds another subject to your studies. Transiting this working waterway brings the movement of people and goods into the present. Onboard lectures provide further opportunities to explore the region’s history between field trips.
“Ancient sites and modern life intermingle throughout this region,” says Lindsay Ortega in Road Scholar’s Program Management team. “Exploring in person gives you experiences and memories to draw on beyond the images you’ve seen before.”
With room for 72 guests, Variety Voyager offers the smallest ship setting of these three programs. Its lounge includes presentation equipment and a small library, while indoor and open-deck dining areas provide space to share a meal and compare observations.
The voyage brings together learning on land and at sea, with time to consider how each place adds to your understanding of the region.
Which subject will bring you aboard?
Perhaps you’re drawn to the relationship between island traditions and daily life. Perhaps you’d rather have binoculars in hand, watching New Zealand’s coast. Or perhaps ancient history has held your attention for years, and you’re ready to study the places behind your passion.
Each voyage offers a different starting point. Aboard one of our Floating Campuses, you’ll have instructors to learn from, fellow Road Scholars to exchange ideas with and a ship ready to carry the conversation onward.
