It never ceases to amaze me the ability cruise lines have to test my geographical knowledge with the addition of new destinations.
I thought I was pretty well travelled having been in travel journalism for more years than I’d like to admit, but there are some places on forthcoming cruise schedules that get me reaching for the atlas to ensure they actually exist.
Just mention of the name Coconut Grove in the Caribbean idyll of Nevis just makes me want to climb on board the next ship calling there.
I’d heard of the lovely Balearic island of Formentera, for example, but wasn’t so sure about Motril in mainland Spain. Likewise, I was familiar with Rab in Croatia but had to check the whereabouts on Sardinia of Poltu Quatu, Porto Rotondo and Los Maddalena.
Yet these are all destinations which can be reached by cruise ship – albeit of the smaller variety – in 2010.
Even the major lines running big resort-style ships crammed with on board entertainment and activities manage to magic up new places to visit each year.
For example, Thomson Cruises is calling at Kotor in Montenegro and Ashdod in Israel in summer 2010 – who would have thought that the cruise arm of the UK’s biggest mass market tour operator would be quite so adventurous?
And the mainstream lines are continually uncovering otherwise obscure ports and putting them on the cruise calendar.
Nauplia in Greece, Dikili and Trabzon in Turkey and Bornholm in Denmark – all featured by P&O Cruises in 2010 – are amongst those I had to Google to find out exactly where they are located. And that’s before venturing into the company’s programme of world cruises.
Obviously, the smaller the ship, the more exotic the destination is likely to be as many of the off the beaten track ports are just not geared up to handle mass numbers of cruise travellers disembarking at one time and are physically too small to accommodate large, 3,000-plus passenger vessels.
But even the big ship companies such as Costa Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, NCL and MSC manage to sneak into corners of the globe you would never imagine seeing a giant cruise ship.
More often than not this will involve the ship dropping anchor in the bay to allow passengers to be transported by tender boat to the shore.
Bobbing around in a small tender en route to a beautiful beach or historic fishing village is one of the memorable experiences one can only get from taking a cruise.
While this may be just a tiny snapshot of true seafaring away from the glitz and glamour on board the mother ship, it gives a tingle of adventure that is so often missing from taking a land-based holiday.
As a bit of a fanatic about maps, I’ve always thought the itinerary planning departments of cruise companies must be amongst the most fascinating to be involved in.
Just imagine being dispatched to research various far flung ports of call? Reckon that’s my dream job.
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