Enrichment Cruising - education-oriented cruises and ocean travel services

Cruise Travel, Jan, 2001 by M.T. Schwartzman

Edifying Itineraries Feature Expert Speakers

Curiosity killed the cat, but it's never hurt a single cruise passenger. If you'd rather learn than lounge around, enrichment programs can turn your cruise vacation into a truly educational experience.

Vacationing with a purpose, as the cruise lines call it, is one of the industry's hottest trends. Like cruising itself, enrichment topics span the globe, exploring the worlds of art history and ancient civilizations--or more contemporary concerns like cooking and cash management. While the subject matter varies, the goal is always self-improvement.

Since its inception, Orient Lines has been a leader in enrichment cruising. The line sends a team of 12 experts on its cruises to Antarctica aboard the 848-passenger Marco Polo (capacity on these cruises is limited to about 500). On other cruises, the company presents a wide array of destination experts. For example, if the ship is calling in Indonesia, a former ambassador may come aboard to speak. Orient brings a cultural aspect to its cruises as well: Whenever possible, local performers are brought aboard to entertain.

Destination-specialist Royal Olympic Cruises recruits an eclectic range of speakers. Scheduled to sail with the line in 2001 are Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet leader, and master chef Andre Soltner, founder of New York City's acclaimed Lutece restaurant. On Amazon cruises, passengers are accompanied by Captain Loren McIntyre, who discovered the source of the Amazon River. Of special note for Royal Olympic is its annual Maya Equinox cruise, scheduled for March 13, which coincides with the return of the "Equinox Sun Serpent" every spring at Chichen Itza.

World Explorer Cruises has the most extensive enrichment program in Alaska. Four experts sail on every cruise, representing a diverse range of disciplines including biology, geology, history, and anthropology. The company's ship, the 739-passenger Universe Explorer, is well-suited to her role as a floating classroom. Instead of a casino and a disco, there's a herbarium filled with native Alaskan plants and a 16,000-volume library, reported to be the largest at sea. A new Enhanced Learning Program will debut this year on the line's Alaska and Central America itineraries. Designed for passengers who want a more intensive challenge, the program will immerse 40 people at a time in shipboard study groups and shoreside field trips. The price of the program will range from $180 to $240 per person, depending on the curriculum.

A little lighter on learning but more upscale is Crystal Cruises, which often presents celebrity speakers. Among the luminaries scheduled to appear in 2001 are Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett and well-known political reporter Irving R. Levine. Several of Crystal's 2001 itineraries focus on the arts, including two art-and-architecture cruises to the Mediterranean on May 22 and September 19. Many of Crystal's itineraries feature the Crystal Wine & Food Festival, which presents guest chefs and wine experts. The line's Computer University @ Sea is in session on most sailings, too.

The biggest name celebrity speakers are most commonly found on upscale lines. Silversea Cruises, for example, hosted "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel on the inaugural cruise of the Silver Shadow last year, and is working to provide "a steady stream" of heavy hitters for its 2001 cruise calendar, according to the line. Radisson Seven Seas Cruises has launched a new lecture series with best-selling author Adeline Yen Mah, who joined the Seven Seas Navigator on a cruise from Hong Kong to Bali. The line will also present Le Cordon Bleu cooking classes aboard five departures of the Seven Seas Mariner in 2001. Cunard Line's Great Authors Literary Festival presents' the likes of Frank McCourt and Mary Higgins Clark.

Sometimes, even the biggest ships can offer unusual enrichment. For example, Holland America Line features an artist-in-residence program and a naturalist on each of its six Alaska ships in 2001. The line's University At Sea offers continuing education courses during cruises to Europe, the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal. Although these are designed mostly for medical and legal professionals, there are several topics of interest to the average cruiser in 2001. These include instruction in the finer points of personal growth and financial planning.

Princess Cruises, meanwhile, will feature Iditarod champion Libby Riddles in 2001. Riddles was the first woman to win the Iditarod, a grueling 1,049-mile dog-sled race from Anchorage to Nome. She will join each ship during the port call in Juneau, and give passengers a behind-the-scenes look at dog mushing and what it's like to live in a native Inupiat village. Other guest speakers aboard Princess ships in Alaska include Michael Modzelewski, an adventure writer published in Outside and Sports Illustrated magazines, and Brent Nixon, an expert in marine environments and a skilled photographer.

The lore and legends of Hawaii are the centerpiece of American Hawaii Cruises' program of cultural immersion, which has won several Kahili ("Keep It Hawaii") Awards from the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau. The line's ship, the Independence, carries a Hawaiian Kumu (teacher) on every sailing, who relates ancient myths and teaches traditional crafts. Aloha Festivals, scheduled in 2001 for September 15, 22, and 29, feature special performances by entertainers like Don Ho. Pearl Harbor theme cruises are scheduled for May 26, June 30, November 10, and December 1. Whale-watching takes center stage aboard the Independence during humpback breeding season. The whales, which travel to Hawaii from their summertime feeding grounds in Alaska, are most commonly seen in January, February, and March. Expert naturalists accompany the ship to explain the whales' behavior and life cycle.