Cruises

For scenery, variety and hassle-free travel, it’s hard to beat an ocean cruise. The current popularity of cruises can be traced to the inherent benefits they offer to a traveler: multiple destinations on one trip; beautiful and ever-changing scenery; and best of all, food, drink, lodging, activities and transportation are all provided for at once.

One of the first “long-distance” pleasure cruisers was Joshua Slocum—who single-handedly sailed around the world from 1895 to 1898. Not many people have three whole years to spend at sea, but the fact that ocean covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface mean that you could! It also means there is no shortage of destinations to explore on a cruise ship.

The Caribbean is one of the most popular cruise destinations, especially trips to the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and Barbados. Alaskan cruises offer breathtaking, rugged scenery, the Mediterranean’s French Riviera is popular with stops at Cannes and Monaco. Exotic cruises around New Zealand and Australia are quickly becoming traveler favorites as well.