Adventurous Travelers Turn to Cruises for Excitement
Port Excursions Now Include Soft Adventures, Personalized Tours
The Signal - Business Section, June, 2006
Long gone are the days when cruising held the impression of a ship full of retirees playing shuffleboard, bingo and feasting on endless buffets. In case you haven’t noticed, the 21st century cruiser is younger, fitter and ready for new experiences, especially when the ship anchors at port.
Travelers are looking for adventure and stimulating ways to explore destinations. Call it the spirit of adventure, but land excursions have taken on new meaning. From climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to helicopter tours of Alaskan glaciers, shoreline parking offers cruisers a smorgasbord of opportunities to enjoy and indulge unique port cities. But to do so, you’ve got to plan ahead.
If you’re interested in seeing the countryside by bicycle, arrange to have a tour company specializing in local bike adventures meet you at the dock and ride from there. Been to Spain before and would rather spend the day with a private driver and car touring the city, or want to walk the back roads of Lisbon with your own interpreter guiding you to the local sites, it’s all possible. Work with your travel professional or cruise company agent for specific details about interesting excursions available along your itinerary. You can customize these port adventures to meet your own personal interests.
Many people like to add days to their travel by arriving earlier than sailing date or staying on after the cruise is over. This allows the chance to fully explore a destination and see the places that are not included on the port stops. To arrive prior to sailing, travelers have time to download from jetlag, get into the spirit of the country they are traveling to, and ensures that a delayed flight will not cause missing the departure of the cruise ship.
Most recently, I have taken some interesting excursions while on a cruise. Among them, perhaps the most adventurous – requiring the most faith and daring – was a port stop at Puerto Vallarta. This is a city I have visited before, done the day shopping in town and lounging at the beach thing, and wanted to try something new and character building. I took a zipline tour.
Dangling by what seemed like a thread above ravines and gulches, harnessed in to my safety gear I was launched some 30 feet and more above ground from one platform to another. Talk about a rush. Off you go and the scenery flies by while you relax into the role of thrill seeker. Sure, I would do it again, but in a different port town.
Cruising today is great fun and offers so much more than our old-school impressions hold. Ships now are full of families and couples, travelers of all ages, diversities and fitness levels. And these people want to have a remarkable experience both on board and at port.
Arguably, one of the most adventurous land activities of all is one offered by Crystal Cruises, who last year introduced a Russian MiG fighter excursion to travelers. Flying at twice the speed of sound, would-be Top Guns see Moscow zoom beneath them while riding shotgun in a fighter jet. By comparison, this somehow makes my zipline adventure seem tame.
While shuffleboard and all-you-can-eat buffets may be forever in your mind as the quintessential definition of cruising, forget everything you thought you knew. Try a cruise soon. Buckle in and make it the ultimate thrill seeking adventure of a lifetime.
For more information
contact Nicole Stinson, Public Relations
(310) 312-3368
