Travel
Anyone who thinks cruising is boring has never been on a cruise
White water rafting? Helicopters? Dune buggies? Submersibles? Cruising can be so much more than lazing by the pool if you want it to be.
By Andrew Jarrett
Things I’ve heard when I’ve mention I’m off on a cruise:
- “Why would you want to go on a cruise at your age?”
- “Mid-fifties? You’ll be bored senseless on a cruise?”
- “What will you do all day?”
- “Cruising?… nah doesn’t sound like fun to me, it’s a lazy way to travel.”
Now everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, and cruising certainly isn’t for everyone, but it’s time to dispel a few myths with some facts and personal anecdotes.
In the last 12 months, I have been on 3 cruises and I’ve experienced a range of activities, attractions and adventures that I doubt I’d have had the opportunity to do otherwise. To give you an idea, here are just some of the action adventures I’ve had in the past 12 months whilst cruising…
Your helicopter is ready, Mr Jarrett
On a recent cruise to Antarctica, I probably came as close as I ever will to a true “rockstar” experience: we took off and landed back on the deck of our cruise ship by helicopter.
Add to this a 30-minute flight over pristine glaciers, seeing whales, penguins and seals from the air and this was a unique, memorable and awe-inspiring helicopter experience.
Read more here: Close encounters of the wildlife kind in Antarctica
As a true sea junkie with a love for all things nautical, while in Antarctica I also jumped at the opportunity to descend to a depth of 70 metres in a state of the art, six-seat submersible.
At this depth, it’s pitch black and, with near silent electric motors and lights blazing, I was able to experience something few people on the planet ever get to see and enjoy.
This was physically the hardest of all the action adventures we participated in, but we managed. Again, at the halfway mark, we were rewarded with a well-earned break and swim at a remote but picturesque beach (with its very own pirate cave).
Other action-packed adventures onboard were sea kayaking through pack ice and icebergs – a humpback breached the surface a mere 100 metres from our kayaks; trekking up slippery hills; daily zodiac adventures and stand up paddleboarding. And, not to be forgotten, an icy polar plunge, jumping with a rope tethered back to the ship (in case anything went wrong!).
Us, hiking in canyons?
On an immersive cruise of the Croatian Coast, my wife and I barely had time to catch our breath with the dizzying array of action-packed adventures we managed to squeeze into our 9-day cruise.
Our first day at the Port of Opatija, we ventured out with a guide into the Kamačnik Canyon and hiked 8 kilometres through pristine pine forests to the site of one of Europe’s deepest freshwater springs. The spring turned into a river that was crystal clear, lined with fallen logs and full of hundreds, if not thousands of trout (if only I’d brought my fly or spinning rod along!).
The trail was challenging at times but not too difficult and we both felt rewarded for stepping outside our comfort zone as we are not regular hikers.
Taking the wheel of a 45-foot yacht
The following day, we sailed the outer islands of Sibenik, aboard a 45 foot sailboat. Here I had the opportunity of taking the wheel of the yacht and merrily sailed the next half day away, stopping at a secluded bay where we swam, jumped off the boat like teenagers and assisted the skipper in hoisting and lowering the sails.
The next day we arrived in Zadar and chose another hike. This time, Krka National Park. We had the privilege of seeing the stunning Skradinski Buk waterfalls.
Having missed out on doing this as a tour through Azamara (the tour was over-subscribed), we simply organised our own taxi, were driven to the national park and then walked the trail with hundreds of local super friendly Croatians as we did the 6 km circuit to the falls and back.
The trail rose and fell sharply at times, it was very hot and we sweated buckets, but, when we finished, we high-fived each other and again grinned like teenagers having had such a great adventure.
Upping our game with white water rafting
Day 4 of the cruise on Azamara and we eagerly signed up for white water rafting just out of Split. Decked out with the appropriate safety gear of helmet and life jacket and some basic paddling instructions, we were off down the Cetina River.
Over the next 3 hours we paddled through some of the most stunning river canyons I have ever seen. Again, the river seemed full of trout and other species (I really should have packed that fishing rod!) and the trees and colours were magical.
The rapids were encountered every 5-10 minutes and ranged from pretty mild Grade 1 to Grade 2 which made for a fun (but at no time dangerous) experience. At the completion of the rafting adventure, I turned to my wife and said, “Now this is living!”
Hooning like teens around Korcula
We had been keen to try an ATV or dune buggy experience in Korcula, but again missed out on booking via the cruise ship (who would have thought so many over-50 cruisers would want to be driving ATVs? Never underestimate us!). Not to be deterred, I jumped online the night before our arrival in Korcula and snagged a reservation with a different ATV operator.
The ATV experience was extreme and very exciting. In a two-seater ATV, we hooned at speeds up to 60 kilometres an hour along unsealed, pot-holed, single lane roads or tracks though wineries and olive groves and past tiny, beachfront villages. Halfway through the ATV safari, we stopped at a remote beach for a swim before we headed back to Korcula an hour away to visit a winery and taste some delicious fortified liqueurs (thankfully after we handed the keys back). Our need for speed had truly been satiated.
All topped off by sea-kayaking
Our final action experience in Croatia was a sea-kayaking expedition in Dubrovnik. Here, we had the opportunity to paddle around the Hollywood-esque fortifications of Dubrovnik for 2 hours, marvelling at the sheer height and architectural brilliance of the old town walls.
This was physically the hardest of all the action adventures we participated in, but we managed. Again, at the halfway mark, we were rewarded with a well-earned break and swim at a remote but picturesque beach (with its very own pirate cave).
On the way back, we paddled and took photos of the Dubrovnik fortifications and again commented how lucky we were to experience such a great view from the water rather than from land.
We’ve learned that we enjoyed great things every day when we put ourselves outside our comfort zone and had a “go.”
The perfect balance
I should add that every day after the adventure experiences we would finish with a walking tour of the magnificent, historical, old towns where we were docked. Most days, we would slink back to the ship by 6pm, having racked up over 10 kilometres of walking for the day. We’d then get to relax in ‘our’ room before venturing out to enjoy a terrific dinner and live music show with our new travelling buddies.
Is cruising for everyone? Maybe not. But, I can assure you it’s not all relaxing on the deck with a book (although that’s always welcome, too). No matter where you cruise to, I can tell you now that there will be more than enough unique action adventures available to satisfy.
See you on the water somewhere!
The writer travelled on the Scenic Eclipse at his own expense but as a guest of Azamara.
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