The Cruise for People Who Swear They’ll Never Take a Cruise

Expedition cruises swap buffets and crowds for wildlife, remote destinations, and unforgettable adventures in nature.

I want to confess something at the outset: I like cruises. Sometimes I like to lie back in the sun, eat to excess, enjoy the ocean breezes, and not have to think much about what I’m going to be doing for the next week. I unpack and wait to be taken to the next adventure. But that’s not the vacation experience that everyone prefers. I know plenty of people who wouldn’t be caught dead at a crowded pool or standing in line for a buffet or buying a margarita at the bar while waiting for the next show to start. And that’s OK. I’ve been on big and small ships, some cheap and some expensive, some with thousands of people and some with dozens. The good thing about cruising is that there’s an experience for everyone … even for those who wouldn’t be caught dead on a cruise ship.

Meet the Expedition Cruise

I had the absolute pleasure recently to visit Baja California Sur on board the National Geographic Venture on a Lindblad Expeditions cruise, and it was like nothing I’d ever done before. I’ve been on a couple of expedition cruises before (one on a very small ship and one on a larger, more luxurious ship), but neither of those was so focused on the wildlife and nature experiences, none had such a vast and varied staff of naturalists, and none had the photographic focus that National Geographic is able to offer onboard a Lindblad Expeditions cruise.

What is different about an expedition ship versus a regular cruise ship?  The most obvious difference is size. You won’t be cruising with 5,000 others, or even 1,500 others, but rather a few dozen to a few hundred. National Geographic Venture holds just 100 passengers and seemed mostly full for this cruise, with a varied mix of ages from tweens to grandparents (not what I expected), including several multigenerational families, but everyone was adventurous, ready to learn, and eager to experience the next adventure. It’s not the newest in the Lindblad fleet, nor is it the most advanced, but it’s a nimble ship with good facilities.

Unlike aboard some expedition cruise ships, there are few luxuries on board the Venture. Cabins are compact but not too small (mine had a small balcony that held two chairs), and there was just room for another separate chair in the cabin, but there was plenty of storage space for our things. The Venture also has no key cards (Lindblad gives you a nametag to wear rather than a keycard); in fact, we didn’t even lock our rooms during the day, though there was a lock for when we were asleep. There’s no pool (not even a hot tub), no spa or fitness center, and meals are good but not gourmet. There were plenty of local fish and produce on the menu—all welcome—and there was always a delicious dessert, but no caviar or foie gras. Alcoholic drinks (other than a few premium wines and liquors) are included. While we went ashore almost every day, there were also no actual port calls. In a week of cruising around Baja, the closest we got to a town was Cabo Pulmo harbor, though we didn’t actually go ashore there … we just boarded panga boats to go whale-watching. Most of our landings were on isolated beaches, and we didn’t even go on shore every day.

What Do You Do All Day?

With no ports, shows, or onboard activities other than a nightly debrief and after-dinner scientific lecture, you might wonder how you pass your time on these cruises and if you ever get bored. These are not cruises for night owls because things start (and typically end) early. Breakfast started at 7 and was done by 8 or 8:30. On most days, the first excursion was at 8:30 or 9. This might have been a hike or a snorkeling stop. But while stops were planned for wildlife viewing and natural interactions, the best things we experienced tended to be serendipitous. We saw a rare fin whale swimming next to our ship one day, we saw rare and interesting birds both on land and at sea almost every day, and on the last night, we sailed through a “super pod” of 800-some dolphins, including babies.

And because gray whale numbers were greatly depleted, we skipped one of our major stops (a daylong excursion to Boca de Soledad on Baja’s Pacific side), spending a full day in Cabo Pulmo National Park to see humpback whales and other marine life, both from small panga boats and on snorkeling trips using the same boats. Our planned excursion to swim with sea lions near Isla Espíritu Santo also didn’t happen exactly as planned. We had been scheduled to go to Los Islotes, which at the time was overrun with day-trippers from Los Cabos. Instead, we sailed to a more isolated island and swam with over a hundred juvenile California sea lions and much rarer Guadalupe fur seals, one of the most thrilling snorkeling trips I’ve ever done in my life. In all, we usually had two experiences per day, usually accessed by Zodiac in 10-person groups, but sometimes we were sailing to the next spot, so the captain would relocate the ship to make whale- or dolphin-spotting easier. I didn’t get bored, but I also usually found myself asleep by 10.

Who Is This Trip Suitable For?

Consider an expedition cruise if you’d rather be with a smaller group of travelers and visit more out-of-the-way places. You need to have a spirit of adventure and not be disappointed that there’s no nightly entertainment (unless your sense of enjoyment encompasses learning about different types of coral). You might get your feet muddy or wet, and you will need to become adept at donning a wetsuit. But it’s an unforgettable experience for the right sort of traveler, even for one who is more used to chocolate buffets and umbrella drinks.