AS I stood on a Fijian beach on a warm autumn’s morning last month, I made an observation about how cruising has changed over the past few decades.
I was standing on this beach not because I was about to enter the water, or relax on the sand; I was there to join around 50 fellow cruisers to clear trash from the beach.
We had just debarked Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Spirit earlier in the day, which was on a repositioning journey to the northern hemisphere to mark the end of another successful Australian season.
For those who have been living under a proverbial plastic bottle in the sand the past 12 months, Spirit has served as the proving ground for what has been one of Norwegian’s most successful recent initiatives: its partnership with Take 3 for the Sea.
The collaboration, which even some Norwegian executives were unsure would catch on, they had told me, has proved to be an inspiring success for the Australian office; a gold star next to the local bureau in the cruise line’s annual report.
Cruising has transformed a great deal from what it was at the turn of the century, but nowhere is this more emblematic than in shore excursions – as Norwegian’s Take 3 partnership has proven.
Spirit’s Take 3 excursion, which has just wrapped up its second year, is a free trip for all passengers during the ship’s southern season.
Passengers are bussed to a local beach to clear it of trash, and the excursion has proven so successful Norwegian was forced to add extra buses on many of the Beach Clean Ups this year.
It was first trialled a Spirit call at Eden shortly following Norwegian’s pandemic restart and has since seen hundreds of cruisers clear thousands of kilograms of trash from some of the most popular destinations the ship calls.
I joined Spirit’s last Beach Clean Up for the season – the first time it had been run internationally – which saw the group collect more than 500 kilograms of trash from Wailoaloa Beach in around an hour.
The group was a diverse one: some young, some old, some fit, and some not so fit; even one cruiser, who required a walking stick for stability, joined in on the excursion.
The Beach Clean Up’s success reflects a clear change in societal attitudes about giving back – our group was even joined by beachgoers, who were not Spirit passengers, but were inspired to lend a hand.
However more acutely, it also signals a shift from cruisers, who are now seeking more from shore excursions, who want a greater variety of options on their voyage, whether it is giving back, cultural immersion, or exclusive experiences they can’t find elsewhere.
A few days prior, when Spirit was anchored of Vanuatu, I joined another shore excursion which seemed to defy a typical South Pacific cruise call.
After arriving on Mystery Island via tender, our group shunned the destination’s white sand beaches and bathtub-warm water to hop on a speedboat back to Aneityum, the adjacent island.
It is here we were whisked away into the forest to one of the local villages, where the residents showcased their basic lives to expectant cruisers – how they live, where they sleep, and their daily chores, as well as what they eat – which we were lucky enough to sample.
The tour guides, who were all locals, explained the positive effect cruise visitors have made on their community, including the potential for employment the sector provides those living on Aneityum.
This benefit would not have been apparent in years past, where few if any passengers would have made it beyond the beaches of Mystery Island, with the bulk of guest dollars tied up in snorkel hire or a cocktail or two.
However as itineraries and shore excursions become more nuanced, and passengers become more aware of the unique value of the destinations they visit, they have come to expect more from cruise lines.
Even where shore excursions are not directly giving back, they have changed; lines including Celebrity Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Viking, and Oceania Cruises all take their passengers to local markets, accompanied by one of the ship’s chefs, to shop for ingredients to be cooked with back on board the vessel.
Holland America Line, which prides itself on its Alaska cruises, is also diversifying from the typical whale-watching, bear-spotting activities when calling in the state.
HAL runs a shore excursion which takes passengers to Saxman Native Village during calls to Ketchikan, to learn about local traditions and customs.
Lines will continue to push the envelope further with their shore excursions in the coming years, as they attempt to lure non-cruisers onto their ships, and draw past passengers back on board.
Viking has struck up a partnership with the star of Downton Abbey, country house Highclere Castle, to offer its passengers privileged access to the site when it’s not open to the public, while Tauck offers a similar after-hours tour of The Louvre.
Cruise lines will be challenged further to develop their shore excursion programs in the future, as their passengers become more adventurous.
Following Spirit’s call in Noumea, I asked a group of passengers from Washington, who were on their first South Pacific cruise, whether they had enjoyed their day in port, and if they had joined a Norwegian-led shore excursion.
They said they hadn’t, and instead had wandered their way through New Caledonia’s capital and ended up finding an Easter Sunday service full of locals, which they decided to join in on.
It is this sort of adventurousness and desire for local culture cruise lines are battling to keep their passengers engaged.
Rethinking the concept of a shore excursion is proving to be a key calling from passengers to cruise lines, as cruisers demand more from their favourite vessel when she is in port.
