New luxury cruise: New York to Archangel, Russia and back

Want to travel to Russia from the United States without getting on an airplane? It'll be doable in 2018.

Luxury line Regent has announced plans for an epic, 89-night voyage from New York to Russia and back that will include stops in the far-north Russian cities of Murmansk and Archangel.

The Grand Arctic Splendors voyage, as it's being called, will take place on Regent's recently renovated Seven Seas Navigator — one of the world's most luxurious cruise ships.

The trip will kick off June 21, 2018 with a transit up the East Coast to Canada. From there, Navigator will sail northeastward across the Atlantic Ocean to Greenland and Iceland before making nearly a dozen stops in Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. Stops in Belgium and The Netherlands also are on the schedule before the vessel enters the Baltic Sea for visits to Sweden, Finland and its first port in Russia, St. Petersburg.

First look: The mind-blowing suites on Regent's new cruise ship

After St. Petersburg, Navigator will make several more stops in the Baltic region before heading northward along the coast of Norway to the Arctic Circle and the White Sea. It'll then stop at Murmansk and Archangel — two of Russia's northernmost cities and destinations rarely visited by cruise ships from major lines.

Navigator will return to New York via a more southerly route across the Atlantic that includes stops at Portugal's Madeira Island, the Azores and Bermuda. It'll arrive back in the Big Apple on Sept. 18, 2018.

Fares for the voyage start at $39,999 per person.

In sailing from New York to Murmansk and Archangel, Navigator will be following in the wake of the U.S.-led Arctic convoys of World War II, which delivered much-needed supplies to the Soviet Union. More than 1,000 merchant ships escorted by U.S., British and Canadian naval ships took part in the convoys. The convoys put the two ports on the map in the West.

Regent also has revealed that Navigator will sail an epic, 131-night world cruise in early 2019 that features calls at 62 unique ports. The trip will include stops in the Hawaii Islands, French Polynesia, Australia, Asia and the Mediterranean.