Expedition CruisesThere is a small group of small ship cruiselines that advertise that they offer "expedition cruises". What do they mean by that? Lindblad Expeditions probably says it best with their tagline "turning vacationers into explorers". An expedition is something an explorer would undertake. It suggests learning and discovery. The destinations are generally more exotic than the rest of the small ship itineraries but not exclusively so. You can go on a pretty common itinerary and make it an expedition by deepening and enriching the experience. You will find these same cruiselines mentioned in many of the geographic destination listings - gathering them here is just done to make them easy to see. Cruiselines offer expedition cruises include:Lindblad Expeditions - is the grandfather of expedition cruiselines. They have partnered with National Geographic to create a series of cruises worthy of that institution. Their list of lecturers - historians, naturalists, and ecologists - reads like a scientific who's who.
Orion Expeditions - has a single ship that operates in the South Pacific. The thing that sets them apart is the level of luxury that they include in an exploration ship.
Elegant Cruises - has two ships one of which is an expedition ship (The Andrea) although not all of her voyages are expeditions.
|
