But among my fellow millennials, even the decision to board a plane often has to be defended. Despite the fact that adventure-packed “expedition cruises” are the industry's fastest-growing segment, the stubborn notion that ship viewing is for sedentary retirees persists . My experience suggests otherwise.
On various cruises, I've kayaked past melting icebergs deep in the fjords of eastern Greenland, paddleboarded alongside leopard seals in Antarctica, and traversed glaciers in the highlands of the Canadian Arctic. Ta. It all happened before my 40th birthday. And I wasn't the youngest guest on any of those go-rounds.
“Baby boomers and retirees still dominate the market, but the number of people between the ages of 30 and 50 who take luxury expedition cruises is increasing year on year,” says Vice President of Marketing at Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours. President Robert Castro said in an email. “The resurgence of travel is due to [pandemic] Wait a minute, we've seen a noticeable increase in this demographic. ”
On a two-week voyage south of the Antarctic Circle, guests aboard the elegantly appointed Scenic Eclipse can expect to come ashore almost every day. That is if you are not already on a paddling trip on a given morning.
But for me, the appeal goes beyond stretching your legs in an almost supernatural environment. I'm just as excited as unpacking my luggage. As a travel writer, I spend most of the year on the road, living out of a suitcase and struggling to put together articles in crowded airport terminals. Entering a private cabin for an extended sea expedition provides a degree of tranquility and normalcy that I lack.
I cherish the seemingly mundane moments of carefully folding clothes and arranging them on a shelf. My luggage has been left alone and unseen for an unreasonable amount of time. I have become accustomed to my surroundings, even if the view out the porthole is constantly changing.
A two-week cruise around Scoresby Bay in Greenland in 2023 marked the longest consecutive number of nights I spent in a single bed in a year. And even though we were sailing thousands of miles from the nearest civilization, we had uninterrupted WiFi the entire time. So it was also one of his most productive two weeks of the year for me.
In fact, more cruise ships are installing global satellite-based internet systems such as Starlink. So you don't have to actually leave the office. This is, for better or worse, a valuable selling point for my age demo.
I can understand why some of my colleagues are hesitant about cruising. I'll be the first to admit that I view giant cruise ships as a particularly vile form of floating shopping mall. But it's a completely different kind of beast.
But smaller cruises continue to help me cope with my childish obsession with what's going on there. When I was younger, I probably wouldn't have been so eager to uncover that answer on the rocking bow of an ocean liner. It's a pensioner's area. But things change. Or maybe I'm just getting older.
Brad Japhe is a travel writer based in London. You can follow him on Instagram. @journeys_with_japhe.
