Whilst aboard a cruise ship, get your fitness in shape!

Taking the activity holiday in exotic places

Kite boarding is one of the new adventure sports which combine a mix of all sorts – windsurfing, snowboarding, surfing and para-gliding to mention just a few. The best way to find out about the sport and see if it’s one of those to add to your already extensive collection of adrenalin rush activities, then there are several kite boarding online sites to look at. The equipment will look familiar to anyone whose spent time careering down the side of a mountain on a plank of wood, or soaring above the beach tied to a boat. It’s that sort of thing, and it’s the sort which is great to practice out on the tropical beach whilst on holiday.

A new way of thinking

One of the ideas which are being slowly countered is that cruise ships are devoted to older people on retirement trip – not so. The modern cruise ships are packed to the rafters with sports opportunities which can be practiced on board before getting to that tropical beach. The actual kite boarding is not a sport which in truth can be practiced on a ship, but fitting the harness and the gear most certainly is. The sort of activity found on the decks of the Celebrity cruises is typical in that they will provide the activity guidance and the best in fitness facilities on board. The voyage to the sun may be relaxing for some, but for others it’s the ideal preparation for some serious action on arrival.

Taking a cruise can be used simply as a way of getting from one place to another, although the name implies that the passengers are to spend a fortnight sailing an ocean. As an example a traveller might choose to get from Europe to the home base of Princess cruises, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. What better place to go for a week of kite boarding than the home state of Horatio from Miami CSI? The ships from this American owned outfit are top quality, and have a real touch of class about them. They are one of the few shipping companies to put great emphasis on the grace and style of the ships and none less so than the Star Princess which has a Piazza and street performers.

This kind of innovative idea is geared to making the cruise ship a more than friendly place which in some ways defies the older traditional ideas about these beautiful craft. But there’s nothing traditional about the prices with 5 night cruises out of Miami costing as little as $349 per person in December. Bearing in mind that takes in Key West and Mexico, it's something of a bargain!

Down Under with P & O cruises

The P&O shipping line has been a round many years so whilst some of the American lines are coming up with bright ways to attract business, the ways and traditions of the well established companies remains much the same. That is based on quality and certain traditions which go back over one hundred years. The P&O company set sail in 1840 as a contracted company for the British government and delivered mail to the Iberian Peninsula. The idea to add passengers and adjust the business plan were made just two years later when the company changed its name to the Peninsula & Orient Navigation Company and offered a cruise to Egypt. That heralded the world of cruise holidays and they have never stopped since. The company has a distinctly British feel with the S.S Oriana having the Lords Tavern bar - she is also well endowed with teak clad walls and leather chairs. Australia is one their main destinations and regions for cruises so the kite boarding enthusiast may enjoy some traditional fare before hitting the surfing beaches of the Gold Coast.

Priority for the kids

At the other end of the cruise spectrum are the MSC cruises which are more family orientated. They have a good range of ships which have been especially kitted out to be entertaining for kids from three to seventeen. That’s something of a new approach and one which is surely going to reap dividends as the family holiday can be a mix of cruise and beach activity such as kite boarding. They have an on-board children’s entertainment group whose job it is to create games and provide as much fun as possible whilst at sea. One of the endearing features of this company is they have a program to help under privileged children from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and through the sale of UNICEF items on their vessels, attempt to bring some help with education for the kids.

We name this ship….

The type and style of cruise ships has grown more diverse over the past few years, and it may be a surprise to some that rather than the cruise business declining it is actually growing. The launch of two major ships last year which were both over the 100,000 gross tonnage mark is testament to the fact that the ships sailing the oceans are more popular now than ever. The biggest afloat has 19 decks and weighs in at 154,000 gross tons. That is some ship, and the features on this vessel are those of a highly engineered and technically advanced craft.

But these monster vessels are maybe not the ideal ones to sail down a Norwegian fjord, so that kind of voyage and those to the northern climes of Alaska is something of a specialty of Fred Olsen cruises. They too are a well established company based in the UK and have their office operations in Ipswich. But many shipping lines and cruise companies now have plenty of ways of booking their cruises and like the kite boarding online, the information, the prices and the itineraries can be viewed over the internet. Although they have their headquarters in the east of England, all of the their British departures are cruises from Southampton, which is one of the most efficient passenger ship ports in the world.

Xmas on Bondi beach

Going down under is always a bit of an odd experience for the British traveller who has always thought of summer in August and winter in December. So taking a Christmas cruise to Sydney will surely be a different experience as the opportunity to have a Christmas Day barbeque on Bondi beach looms. The idea is strange and gets some getting used to, but one thing is for sure, Bondi will be packed out with the bronzed Aussies who relish the chance to wind up the white skinned Brits. They will also be keen to show off their surfing and kite boarding skills in the roaring surf which makes up this wonderful coast close to Sydney harbour.

That is one of the great sights in the world of cruise liners as a vessel enters the harbour of a famous city. It can be in Sydney with the Opera House in the background or it can be in New York as she passes the Statue of Liberty. There is something special and romantic about a ship, which cannot be compared with any other form of transport, especially an aircraft. What is visually appealing about a Boeing 747 landing at Heathrow?

Another fine sight for ship lovers is that of a vessel moored off the coast when on one of the Royal Caribbean cruises. Some of the ships are too large to dock at island of the ports of call and so moor off shore. Passengers then have the thrill of taking the convoy of small launches to get to the paradise island, which in some cases is exclusive to the shipping line. For the activity enthusiast the ships from an expert and experienced company such as this can provide the best in active shore excursions. Activities like snorkeling and scuba diving can be laid on, but as a real bonus all the Royal Caribbean vessels have rock climbing walls. Now that’s something to consider!

Whilst the West Indies and places like St Kitts, Bermuda and St Lucia conjure up the dream of blue waters and clear seas, the Ionian islands are considered to be just as good. There is certainly some credence to the idea that Mediterranean cruises offer more than just a chance to enjoy the sun and dive off a tropical island. The itineraries for Europe include the Greek islands and cities such as Venice, Barcelona and Athens. A culture enthusiast who also enjoys a spot of sunshine may well prefer this mix. The land and shore trips to the Parthenon in Athens would certainly satisfy such a traveller, and there is still the chance to swim in the Aegean and that is equally appealing. The options are endless so whether it’s a voyage close to home or somewhere more tropical and exotic such as the itineraries of the Caribbean cruises the certainty is that there will be plenty of fun, sun, great food and maybe the chance to take up that new hobby with the kite board.