A six star cruise doesn’t just imply a luxury experience while you’re on-board, but also when you’re visiting ports. There are plenty of amazing excursions that can really enhance your holiday, some of which are truly special and the kind of experience that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. Whether you’re taking an ultra-luxury cruise package or sailing on more of a premium all-inclusive luxury line you can still enjoy a wealth of treasures on land, with activities and tours to suit all interests.
Here we cover some of the more memorable shore excursions, ranging from the beautiful to the adrenaline-filled, so that you can start to shape your ideal holiday centred on having the truly best cruise that you could possibly ever dream of.
The Aquascope in Sharm El Sheikh is a submarine that offers tours of coral reefs and schools of fish. Glass windows let you get some amazing photos and video without the need to get wet yourself, getting up close and personal with some truly stunning species of underwater wildlife.
On a similar note there’s the chance to see the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, with a luxury catamaran one of the best ways to explore. You can unwind in a haven of tranquillity whilst still seeing the most beautiful off-shore parts of the country, with an amazing lunch served straight to you as part of your excursion.
Staying Down Under, the Australia Zoo is one of the best in the world. Rather than just walking around, which is a great experience within itself, cruise lines can organise something much more involved for you, such as letting you feed the kangaroos or have your photo taken while holding a koala bear.
Alternatively head into Sydney, and get the blood pumping with a scenic climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You’ll be taken on a climb to the top of the bridge by safe professionals so that you get the chance to witness the harbour and city in all of its glory from one of the best viewing locations you’d find anywhere. They’re also used to helping people deal with a fear of heights, so if you weren’t sure about this excursion due to nerves you can still book knowing that you’ll be conquering that fear.
If you’re Caribbean-bound then then some of the more unusual excursions take place on the waters. If you’re travelling with family then a full pirate ship experience, with a sailing on a tall ship and copious amounts of grog and diving off planks, is a wonderful thing to try. For something more refined yet just as exciting try a yacht race, with the chance to get fully involved with the sailing of the ship if you want to, otherwise just sit back and let everyone else do the work.
However going back to wildlife, there’s the chance to go swimming with great white sharks out at sea or, if you want to keep yourself dry, you can go monkey watching with numerous native species for you to get close to.
There are also more exclusive things you can try if you’re looking for the ultimate activity. If you’re a car enthusiast then driving a Ferrari F430 through the streets of Livorno is one of the most thrilling and overall authentic experiences that you could ever hope to achieve.
Fly a Soviet MiG if you need more speed while, if you’re really going for it and want to be taken apart by G-Force, Crystal Cruises sometimes offer an astronaut-for-a-day excursion in Moscow with simulated take-off, landing and weightlessness training giving you the complete feel of a space mission.
Cruise lines are always pushing the boundaries when it comes to creating new excursions, trying to entice guests with something unique and memorable, so keep an eye out as the list here just scratches the surface when looking at what’s available.
By Ian Lewis
Google