For seasoned world travelers, taking a cruise is often regarded as something to save for the twilight years, when cycling in the Dordogne is replaced with shuffleboard on the upper deck. But Cunard Line, founded in 1835 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, is set to reinvent a vacation genre in January with a 38-day South American Odyssey maiden voyage. It takes passengers to culturally stimulating destinations while re-creating Old World elegance on a ship that some call the world’s most luxurious. This is a cruise where the destination is taken as seriously as the journey.

The trip is a return to the traditional and rather glamorous world of cruising that became fashionable in the first half of the 20th century, when the glitterati were first enamored with going to sleep in one country and waking up in another.

Passengers set sail aboard the Queen Mary 2 on January 15 from New York and arrive in Los Angeles on February 22 after rounding Cape Horn. The cruise follows in the tracks of 16th- and 17th-century explorers. Dutch adventurer Willem Schouten was the first to navigate the dangerous waters through the Drake channel at the southern tip of South America. In January 1616, Schouten rounded the cape (dubbing it “Kaap Hoorn,” after the city where he was born) and entered the Pacific.

Unlike Schouten and his men, passengers who embark on this modern-day South American odyssey can undertake a historic journey in five-star luxury. The $800 million Queen Mary 2 is the longest and widest passenger ship in the world, and completed its maiden voyage from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale in January 2004. The ship’s whistle is from the original Queen Mary and can be heard for 10 miles.

The Queen Mary 2 departs from New York first, but the journey can also be taken eastbound, leaving Los Angeles on March 8 and arriving in New York on April 15. For passengers who embark on the former voyage, the first stop is Basseterre in St. Kitts, and after a day wandering the beaches and adjusting to the climate change, it’s on to Bridgetown, Barbados. After spending 10 hours there, passengers once again set off for the next leg, which takes them southeast for a four-day sail to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. The city’s historic city center includes the Church of Sao Francisco, which boasts opulent gold leaf woodcarvings.

After a day in Salvador de Bahia, guests set sail at sunset for a two-day stopover in Rio de Janeiro. The two most popular sights in Rio are Corcovado (the statue of Christ the Redeemer) and the Sugar Loaf, a massive granite rock at the entrance to the bay that can be reached by cable car. Travelers can also take a drive through the mountains into breathtaking Tijuca National Park to the Chinese Lookout Point to admire panoramas of Corcovado, Ipanema, and the south beaches.

After a stop at Montevideo, Uruguay, the ship rounds Cape Horn. Stop that follow include Ushuaia, Argentina (the southernmost city in the world); Punta Arenas, Chile; Puerto Montt, Chile, and Callao, Peru (home to the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu). Throughout the voyage, the ship will play host to explorers including mountaineer Sir Chris Bonnington; a co-host of the History Channel’s “Deep Sea Detectives,” John Chatterton, and the first American woman to walk in space, Kathy Sullivan.

The massive ship boasts restaurants, a 20,000-square-foot spa, and a planetarium. This is luxury almost to the point of absurdity: A “pillow concierge” offers a choice of nine different types of pillow. Of the 1,310 guest quarters, almost 80% have ocean views, and nearly all feature private balconies.

A standard double room with an ocean view starts at around $12,689 (an “early booking savings” for the same room is $9,499). For $22,239, passengers will find themselves in a junior suite, welcomed with champagne, fresh flowers, and Frette linens. Not fancy enough? The top of the line are the five duplex apartments ($92,239 and up) perched two-stories high over-looking the ship’s stern. Those lucky enough to be staying in such opulent quarters will get an unhindered sea view through a two-story glass wall, two full marble bathrooms, a private exercise area, and the services of a butler. (Cunard also offers 12-day cruises over various legs of the route. Standard rooms start at just over $3,000.)