Just plain fun in the sun is not every cruiser’s raison d’etre. Many passengers want not only to stop and smell the flowers but quite possibly to learn their Latin names.
These tourists look to learn about local culture, history, economics, geology and wildlife.
“We’re finding from our clients that they want more than just a sightseeing vacation,” says Carole Phillips of A-Plus Travel in Ft. Lauderdale. “They’re telling me they want a more comprehensive understanding of the place they’re visiting. They want a learning experience, not just a trip to `somewhere.”‘
Some cruise ships earn their reputations from education rather than from recreation. World Explorer’s SS Universe, for example, specializes in two-week Alaska trips that include more than 16 hours of lectures by four professors. Passengers attending the lectures are eligible for college credit.
The Smithsonian Institution sponsors 20 chartered cruises on U.S. waters, around Britain and Canada, on European rivers, the Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Red Sea. All 20 study cruises are accompanied by university scholars.
On the Smithsonian’s “Voyage of Antiquity” to the Aegean aboard the 59-passenger sailing ship, the Sea Cloud, participants learn about the Byzantine Empire. Call the Smithsonian at 202-357-4700.
Eighteen educational land-sea travel programs, including six with cruises, are the specialty of TraveLearn, a network of 240 universities and colleges in 42 states and four countries. The company promotes programs for adults, and each of its travel programs is accompanied by a faculty member from one of the affiliated institutions.
On TraveLearn’s 13-day “Egyptian Odyssey,” for instance, Zahi Hawass, director of antiquities at Giza and an Egyptologist, serves as guide. He lectures on life on the Nile and ancient Egyptian art.
This land-sea package includes a weeklong orientation in Egypt as well as lectures by Hawass and Nadia Farah of the American University of Cairo, and a five-day cruise up the Nile. The tour costs $3,425 per person, including round-trip air fare from New York. Cruises depart March 13 and Oct. 2.
On TraveLearn’s 15-day Patagonia/Chile Adventure, daily cruise excursions are led by a resident naturalist who lectures on the land and sea birds, fish and shellfish and mammals unique to the region. At Harberton Bay in Tierra del Fuego, author Rae Goodall discusses this region and leads a tour through her 19th Century estate, home to her family for six generations. Call TraveLearn at 800-235-9114.