Earlier this year, I was careering down Hobart's Mount Wellington on a mountain bike on a shore excursion when I realised I was being overtaken by whizzing septuagenarians in Lycra, and out-ridden by hollering, habitual cruisers I had quite wrongly assumed would be more at ease remaining on board Seven Seas Mariner for afternoon tea.
I returned to the ship saddle-sore and chastened, and began mulling over the way cruising has changed in the last decade. Traditionally, cruising has been seen as a holiday afloat, aimed at doing not much on board, and little more than sightseeing coach or walking tours while ashore.
There are passengers who still want that, of course. But as the average age of cruise passengers falls and the desire for more active alternatives rises, many cruise companies are creating experiences to suit the energetic, the youthful and the young-at-heart.
"We've noticed a distinct trend towards more activities sought by guests," Heritage Expedition's general manager Dave Bowen says. "We're seeing more participants – and not necessarily just younger ones – asking for extended walks, hikes and organised bush bashes." The company has now added sea kayaking on several departures and has equipped Spirit of Enderby for snorkelling.
The days of the relaxing resort cruise are far from numbered, but the number of adventure and expedition cruises is growing, and even mainstream cruise lines are upping the adrenaline and perspiration levels in their shore-excursion offerings.
Actually, you don't even have to leave the ship to get active, and I'm not just talking about shuffleboard and a pool paddle. The world's biggest ships, operated by Royal Caribbean, have ice-skating rinks, surf simulators and rock-climbing walls. Carnival Spirit and Carnival Legend have the fastest and steepest waterslide at sea and three swimming pools. Norwegian Escape, set to launch at year's end, will feature the largest ropes course at sea, with 99 challenges that include zip lines and walking planks set out over three storeys. There will also be an Aqua Park, nine-hole mini-golf course and full-size basketball court.
Mid-sized and small ships can't compete with such amenities, but many have improved on the gym, which once featured a few exercise bikes lurking in a dingy basement room. Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity emerged from refurbishments with fully staffed fitness centres, and offer specialty classes such as Tour de Cycle spin, yoga and pilates sessions on some cruises. Silversea's ships, too, feature impressive fitness centres with free weights, weight machines, elliptical trainers and treadmills; you can take classes in aerobics and circuit training.
Once you get off the ship, however, things start to get really interesting, especially on small-ships cruises. "Small-ship cruising is the option if travellers are looking for active and adventurous shore excursions," says Todd Smith, founder of AdventureSmith Explorations. "The big cruise ships focus on activities on board. On small ships, the focus is on the wilderness ashore, explored through hikes, sea kayaking and snorkelling."
Expedition specialist Wild Earth Travel offers scuba diving in Antarctica, golf in the caldera of an Icelandic volcano, stand-up paddle-boarding in Hawaii, even ice camping in the Antarctic.
"Over the last few years we've seen a definite trend towards more adventurous activities being requested by more active clients," says Aaron Russ, Wild Earth's manager. "Shore excursions often include options for extended hikes, with snorkelling, sea kayaking, diving and mountaineering also popular."
Mid-sized luxe company Ponant's offerings range from a swim from the rear-marina deck in the Mediterranean to excursions by bicycle, kayak and raft. Its hiking programs take you through Saguenay National Park in Canada, or up the slopes of a volcano in the Kuril Islands of the Russian Far East.
Even the big players are extending the ways in which you can get active. Disney Cruise Line's 'Active Adventures' might see you kayaking near waterfalls on Norway's Geirangerfjord, sport fishing off the Mexican coast or snowshoeing in Alaska. Carnival Australia takes you rafting, tubing, golfing, kayaking and sailing. Its adventure category includes an aqua-safari helmet dive in Bora Bora, off-road buggy rides and waterfall abseiling in Port Vila, and sea kayaking off Hobart.
While some shore excursions still walk you to the nearest shops or around a museum, choose the cruise and your walk could be far more challenging. Saga Ocean Cruises has a new Canary Island Coasts cruise that takes you trekking in Morocco's Atlas Mountains through a rocky landscape of ochre-red rocks. Aurora Expeditions takes passengers on a 9.5-kilometre trek along the Kimberley coast, and Princess Cruises brings you walking in Kushiro Marshland, Japan's largest wetland and home to Japanese cranes and Hokkaido deer. Aurora Expeditions offers tundra walks on some Arctic cruises, for opportunities to see musk ox, Arctic hare and Arctic fox.
Last year, Crystal Cruises introduced European Site Running shore excursions on Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity, offering runs of between five and 10 kilometres past historic sites and through parks in ports such as Dubrovnik, St Petersburg, Monte Carlo and Amsterdam. The running tours include instructor-led warm-ups and stretching, and guide-narrated sightseeing stops.
"We're always looking for ways to combine fitness interests with sightseeing, and the Site Running adventures are yet another way," says John Stoll, vice president of land operations. "Other active adventures include river rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, volcano hiking and bicycling."
Some cruise lines now carry their own bicycles, and many offer two-wheeled excursions. Ponant, for example, takes you beyond Dubrovnik for a pedal into the surrounding vineyards and olive groves, stopping at villages and the River Konavocica along the way. Hapag-Lloyd's luxury ship Europa 2 recently created mountain-bike excursions lead by a dedicated bike guide. Guests can opt for tour levels from easy-going to active and high energy, which offers more fast-paced rides, sometimes off-road on rough terrain.
As for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, it won't only plummet you down Mount Wellington, but take you on a 2.5-hour cycle tour of Montevideo in Uruguay or Lucca in Italy, where cobblestones add to the challenge. In Sitka in Alaska, an advanced bike trip explores the scenery on a mountain-bike ride of between 25 and 37 kilometres, which certainly puts paid to the notion that cruise passengers are sedentary types.
Water sports and cruising are an obvious match, and options are legion. P&O Cruises provides mask, snorkel and reef shoes for snorkelling excursions in Vanuatu, and Carnival Australia recently launched a guided snorkel safari off Vanuatu's Mystery Island, where passengers can also stand-up paddle-board. Disney's private Caribbean island, Castaway Cay, allows for snorkelling, swimming with string rays, sea kayaking and water cycling.
Expedition ships often carry their own gear. Lindblad Expeditions' National Geographic Orion is equipped with tandem kayaks and snorkelling and scuba-diving equipment, and Windstar Cruises' Wind Spirit has a water-sports platform from which to launch stand-up paddling, kayaking, water skiing and wind surfing. Guests receive complimentary snorkelling equipment for use throughout cruises. Un-Cruise Adventures too has custom kayak-launching stations from which you might paddle forth to spot humpback whales off Costa Rica, or sea lions in Mexico.
Silversea released a series of themed diving voyages this year. Silver Discoverer will take guests to Micronesia, Melanesia, Asia and the Indian Ocean for scuba-diving on remote atolls; top diving locations including the Solomons, Palau archipelago and Marquesas Islands.
Not all the underwater play is in the tropics. In 2014, Aurora Expeditions became the first expedition company to offer polar snorkelling in Antarctica. After a training session, snorkellers in dry suits slip beneath the waters to watch penguins entering and exiting from the ice, and see sculpted icebergs from a below-water perspective. If that doesn't get the adrenaline flowing, nothing will.
Who: Carnival Australia
Where: Bora Bora, French Polynesia
What: A half-day one-tank scuba expedition off the Pacific's most beautiful island will bring you up close to lemon and black-tip sharks, napoleon wrasse, jack fish, moray eels and tuna. Turtles and marvellous shoals of yellow trumpet fish are a highlight. Divers must have a certification card.
More: carnival.com.au
Who: Ponant
Where: Campbell Island, New Zealand
What: The most southerly of New Zealand's subantarctic islands is known for engendered birds and wildflowers. A three-hour, six-kilometre hike for the fit and adventurous leads guests along Col Lyell Saddle Boardwalk; a steady incline and occasional steep sections get the heart pumping. See ponant.com
Who: Disney Cruise Line
Where: Juneau, Alaska
What: Ten zip lines 45 to 240 metres in length take guests across sky bridges and between 11 platforms in the trees above the old Treadwell gold mine area before a rappel back down to ground level. Guests, not surprisingly, are advised to "be in good health and have full use of limbs". See disneycruise.disney.go.com
Who: Silversea
Where: Tsavo East National Park, Kenya
What: This extended shore excursions takes guests over two days into the arid Kenyan bush, cut through by the Galana River. Those with the mettle explore the national park on foot in the chance of spotting elephants, cheetahs and lions – though, you might hope, not too closely. See silversea.com
Who: AdventureSmith Explorations
Where: Wiencke Island, Antarctica
What: Guests get beyond the shoreline to higher ground for sweeping Antarctic vantage points. The glacier walk in rope parties is lead by certified mountain guides. Mountaineering knowledge isn't required, but you might use ice axes and crampons, and physical fitness is essential. See adventuresmithexplorations.com
