If you’re like us when you hear the word ‘cruise’ you tend to think about fancy dinners, drinks by the pool, white sandy beaches upon porting, and excursions filled to the brim with history and culture. Sounds fun, right? What if we told you that you could experience many of those same things with the added fun of science? That’s right, aboard the cruise ships we’re talking about today passengers not only get to experience science being conducted on their journey, but they get to join in on the fun too. And don’t worry, if you consider yourself more of a stargazer or animal lover, there are cruises for you too. Let’s get started!
Outta This World
Okay, astronomers, we’re looking at your cruise lines first. Now, the idea of stargazing on deck has been a thing for years; sometimes for navigation, sometimes for fun, but always because things are just brighter and clearer at sea. Both Viking Ocean Cruises and Princess Cruises offer stargazing activities such as teaching passengers how to identify major constellations and tips and tricks for navigating using only the stars as your map. If you feel like you could go for some advanced education, Viking and Cunard Line cruise lines offer planetariums on select ships where passengers can see all the action through a high-tech dome. If the Northern Lights are more your thing, check out Viking and Hurtigruten’s winter cruises for unobstructed views of the lights themselves.
Animals > People
Some of us just prefer animals to people and there is nothing wrong with that. If your idea of the perfect cruise involves excursions to check out the local wildlife, then check out Un-Cruise Adventures and their weeklong Costa Rica and Panama sailing for bird watchers or Silversea Cruises Alaskan whale watching cruise. Holland America Line hosts a “Science at Sea” cruise with a team of naturalists where you’ll tour Alaska, and Ponant travels to Antarctica with a team of naturalists ready to teach passengers all about the wildlife and landscapes that can be found at the bottom of the Earth.
Lover of Lectures
If you just can’t find it in you to turn down a good lecture, there are cruise lines like Regent Seven Seas, Princess, Hurtigruten, and Lindblad Expeditions that bring experts onboard to present to cruisers. These professionals include big names in anthropology, meteorology, oceanography, biology, and more.
Have little geniuses to entertain? Royal Caribbean has your back offering a couple of different options where small, science-loving cruisers can enjoy science labs, digging for fossils, and creating their own space mud.