The Best Kept Secret in Cruising…

…But not for long.

I love cruising.  The cruise industry has been a part of my life for 37 years!  The first ship that I worked on was the Royal Viking Sea in 1983.  Royal Viking Line was legendary, and it was a real privilege to be sailing the world, doing something I loved, performing, on the premier luxury cruise line of the time. Years later, I joined Crystal Cruises during its inaugural season as the Lead Vocalist in their production shows, and I met my husband, a tall, handsome Austrian. He also happened to be the Hotel Director.

Little did I know when I walked onboard the beautiful Crystal Harmony, that cruising would become such an integral part of my life.

My husband was offered a VP position shore-side for an up and coming cruise line, Celebrity Cruises, and from that moment, his career would encompass executive positions at Celebrity (2 times) and Crystal Cruises (2 times), a stint at Tauck World Discovery, before heading to Seattle to head up a smaller American cruise line.  I write about this because, during these last many years, I cruised a lot. Some of the time, it was as an entertainer (years), but other times it was as a guest. I have also sailed on many other brands and have probably visited Alaska at least 40 times on a cruise ship. 

I had no idea that I had never really seen Alaska.

In 2008, my husband was tapped to lead an expedition cruise line based in Seattle.  The ships (9) were unlike anything I had experienced before.  Unlike premium and luxury brands, which are more like floating resorts (a destination in itself) with lots of choices, activities, and nightlife, expedition cruising was utterly foreign to me. The vessels were small and quite old, and while they were clean, they were definitely not resorts; there was no fancy theater with production shows, no elegant spa nor grand dining room, let alone specialty restaurants.  I thought to myself, what would I do onboard? Clearly, I would not be partaking in a seaweed body scrub! 🙂

Well, I am here to tell you that Expedition Cruising is the best kept secret in cruising!

The owners of the brand thought it would be wonderful if the kids and I could take a cruise in Alaska and see what this genre of cruising was all about.  I remember thinking when I walked on board that the ship was possibly older than I was, and, hopefully, the kids (who were pretty young) wouldn’t be too bored, especially since there was no kids club. 

Boy, was I wrong!

There was no dress code except for the nametags we all wore; there were no assigned tables or times for dining. We met in the lounge as an entire ship to enjoy a cocktail and get to know each other.  I don’t think I ever saw such excited guests on a cruise ship. The anticipation of what was ahead was palpable. I had never experienced that before, and I was struggling to figure out how an older, small (about 100 guests) ship could command per diems that were competitive with luxury cruising.  What was I missing?

Dinner was absolutely delicious, despite being in a dining room with low ceilings and definitely in need of a facelift. Clearly, food and beverage and service were top-notch. The size of the ship lent itself to a certain intimacy I had not experienced before.  And after dinner, we went back to the lounge where an expedition leader would prepare us for the next day. I realized at that point, that destination was everything.  

OK, that was really different.

No music, dancing or production shows, but rather, a really interesting talk about things I had not heard before.  I found myself captivated by a marine biologist, a geologist, a professional photographer (no, not the kind that takes pictures of you, but one who teaches you how to photograph nature), and a full expedition team of young adults insanely in love with their jobs.  Wow, this was crazy. My curiosity was peaked.

By the next day, I realized that in 40+ trips to Alaska, this wasn’t a cruise, it was an ocean safari.

For the next ten days, I was captivated by everything (and so were my kids). I no longer even saw the worn carpet or yellowed-with-age walls of the ship.  We were given binoculars to use while onboard, and they did not leave my neck even during dinner.  The fabulous thing about Expedition Cruising is that if something interesting happens in nature, they stop and experience it. That is what makes it so unique. Even if it is in the middle of dinner and we suddenly find ourselves amid a pod of Orcas, we all leave the table, run outside, and up comes the binoculars. The last thing you would want is to be the one who left them in the cabin. 

Because of the size of the ships, the ports of call are infinitely more interesting, off the beaten path, up close and personal. You don’t just see a port; you experience the destination. The minute something exciting happens, the Zodiacs are lowered, and we are on our way–exploring.  I finally saw Grizzly bears in the wild; it was fascinating. One never knows what is around the next peninsula. If we were blessed to see breaching humpbacks and we were late to our next port, so be it, what we witnessed was pure magic. Expedition guests seem to be of one mind; they are there for the experience, and deviations are particularly appreciated, especially when nature plays a part. 

It changed me.

The more I learned about the area, the more I wanted to know.  I was at every debrief and could not wait to hear what the next day would bring.  Not once did I think about the lack of “entertainment,” which was surprising since that had been my life.  Alaska was a new destination. I was a believer. 

Another destination that turned upside down for me when I finally experienced it onboard an expedition cruise ship was the Panama Canal and Costa Rica, which was highlighted by a day with the indigenous people of Panama, the Embera.

The generosity of these people so moved me that I can barely speak about it without tearing up. It was life-changing. What a gift it is to have these culturally enriching experiences from a cruise ship! Usually, one would need to hike miles and miles into the jungle to reach a tribe such as the Embera, but we were able to access it from a Zodiac up on a beach. It was this experience that made me want to work in travel. Suddenly there was a conduit between my world and theirs; I was no longer visiting the destination but immersing myself in it. And that is really why we travel, isn’t it? To experience the world?

It was too good not to share, and I had found my passion.

Over the next several years, I had the opportunity to revisit numerous destinations through the new lens of expedition cruising, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Norway, and Iceland, and each time it was profoundly different than previous visits.

Expedition Cruising is definitely the shiny new object in the industry (although it is decidedly not new).  For a market that has been slowly gaining momentum these last twenty years, now, even the big guys have taken notice.  Celebrity Cruises had a vision when they purchased a small expedition vessel for the Galapagos Islands and began Celebrity Xpeditions in 2001 and now have a fleet of three vessels. Crystal Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Seabourn, Viking Ocean, Windstar, and Scenic, have expanded to include expedition products and have joined the 40+ expedition operators currently in the market.  There are over 40 new builds on order, which means the notion that the guest must tolerate only older ships is a thing of the past.  It is an exciting time for Expedition Cruising, and now the destination-driven industry offers beautiful new ships, alternative dining, and even spa services.

I have always said that cruising has something for everyone.  But for the explorer, who longs for more immersion in a destination or doesn’t want to dress for dinner, expedition cruising does just that.  It gives the best of both worlds: a safari experience with your home away from home right there.  You unpack once and then explore. And at 100-200 guests, this is certainly an alternative to a 6000-guest ship.  

If you have never experienced an expedition cruise, I encourage you to see what it is all about.  It is fascinating.

Most likely, it will change how you look at everything; it certainly has for me. 

So while we wait for COVID 19 to say farewell and travel to open up, smaller venues and fewer people will be the order of the day.  Expedition cruising, river cruising, and luxury cruising by definition are smaller ships with considerably fewer people so they may be one of the best options moving forward.  Some US-flagged, US-based and almost all US-crewed small-ship cruise lines are beginning to operate: UnCruise, Alaskan Dream Cruises, American Cruise Lines, American Queen Steamboat Company, and Lindblad Expeditions. Whether it is exploring the Deep South on the Mississippi, the Pacific Northwest wine country on the Snake River, or exploring the majesty of Alaska, the depth of experience is exponential on a small ship cruise line. And of course, it goes without saying that these cruise lines are adjusting their way of doing business to ensure the safety of all their guests!