Fancy a more extreme excursion……….

I thought I would look into some of the more extreme excursions that you could  do whilst on a cruise. Some extreme shore excursion offerings by a few cruise lines have raised the bar so high, others may not catch up for a good long while. Forget the stuffy tour bus and all the challenges of moving 50 or 60 people at a time around an iconic destination, that’s not what these are. Crystal Cruises have what they call “experimential cruising” that feature far-flung, destination-inspired adventures that are nothing like the normal shore excursion menu and include hiking, trekking, hot-air ballooning, dog sledding and mountain climbing.
One of the excursions they offer is G-Force 4 Combat Aerobatics invites guests to take adrenaline-filled flight in a fighter trainer jet to experience G-Force 4 thrills as an expert pilot teaches combat aerobatics, including a wing over, loop, barrel roll, stall turn and flyby over the ship. This really does sound like an amazing 5 hours and at approx $1900, it should be!

Azamara Club Cruises are another cruise company that offer anything from relaxing tours through vineyards to thrilling zip lining. Voyages on both Azamara Journey® and Azamara Quest® have no limit on places to explore. Their invigorating Land Discoveries are sure to excite! The Azamara private paradise of Labadee , Haiti can be relaxing, exciting, or a little of each. Labadee® lies on the north coast of Hispaniola, presided over by mountains green and lush with exotic vegetation, and surrounded by several sandy beaches. In the mood to explore? Survey the scenic coastline by kayak or on an exhilarating wave runner ride. Get a bird’s-eye view as you para sail 400 feet above the action, or fly through the air on a thrilling mega zip line.

Most Cruise lines allow you to pre-book excursions on their websites before the cruise.  It’s not a bad idea if you’re certain about what you want to book. If you wait until you’re on board, the excursion you want may be sold out, especially if they’re the adventurous tours with limited participation required. Hats off to the cruise lines for offering more intriguing stuff than ever, leaving the usual bus tour behind. Though typically pricier than the standard tour , the off-beat excursions are often worth it, as the group sizes are smaller and the focus is on actually doing something. Whenever possible while in port, I must admit I often leave the ship’s group tours and explore on my own, unless, that is, there’s a really good excursion offered by the cruise line that I just can’t resist.

If you’ve not yet booked your excursions yet have a look at www.cruisingexcursions.com and search for your cruise and you will be able to choose from a wide variety of options.  Once you’ve decided let us know and we can add on for you.

If you want to try an excursion that’s a bit more daring or have done and want to let me know about it – give me a call on 0800 408 6107 , or email me on [email protected]