Theme Cruises

An increasingly popular trend in cruising today is what is referred to as a “theme cruise.” Theme cruising is where an entire cruise holiday is built around a particular theme. The theme could be learning a skill, practicing a hobby, attending a convention, polishing one’s technical skills such as in the area of computer programming languages, and even just spending a week onboard with all of the stars of one of your favourite television shows.

Theme cruises tend to be among the most economically priced cruises around, simply because of the numbers of people that may be in attendance. For example, you could have 500 people onboard participating in a soap opera fans’ cruise, or the entire boat could be chartered by the “Friends” of a certain pastor or other religious leader who is hosting them for a week’s sailing in the Caribbean.

Theme cruises can be comprised of a group of people onboard a general sailing or the cruise can be so heavily booked that the sponsoring organisation simply turns the cruise into a full ship charter, and all other non-theme passengers scheduled for that sailing are moved elsewhere. The flavour of the cruise will differ greatly in each of these two cases.

If the sailing becomes a full ship charter, the entire sailing will be customised to the particular needs and wants of the group and its leaders. For example, all of the higher priced suites onboard may be allocated strictly to the principals hosting the cruise; i.e., the “celebrities” who are hosting the cruise such as the stars of a soap opera or a country music theme cruise. Additionally, any special needs of the cruise organisers will be met, such as all evenings being classified as resort casual nights, where the ship normally runs a few formal evenings as well. Special entertainment can be brought onboard by the cruise’s sponsors, such as country music stars to perform in all of the lounges and to give special performances in the theatre. The itinerary can be tweaked to accommodate any special requests of the chartering organisation, such as planning an overnight stay in one of the ports in order that participants can attend a special event on shore.

If the theme cruise is attended by only a segment of the total of passengers on a general cruise, the group will be somewhat limited in the special accommodation they can seek. For example, while they can have their own entertainers onboard, those entertainers will have to perform only in private venues for the group. They won’t be able to take over the general show lounge in the evenings since other passengers not affiliated with the group may not want to listen to country music all week long.

Theme cruises of either variety will differ from “run-of-the-mill” cruises in that they will have extensive special programming associated with them. There will be private cocktail parties, special lectures and talks, shore tours led by the theme’s principals, and even autographing sessions and book signings. In the case of fan conventions, there could be special screenings of movies and upcoming television specials, photograph sessions with the stars and a whole range of other special events.

Just about any cruise line will host theme cruises on many of their sailings. Most of these cruises are put together by independent travel agencies, such as a Christian travel organisation putting together a special cruise hosted by the leader of a popular national ministry. The participants in the theme cruise will be required to book through the sponsoring agency in order to enjoy the special events of that sailing. In recent years, however, more and more cruise lines themselves have sponsored their own theme cruises. These themes have ranged from big band cruises, food and wine appreciation sailings, digital photography and computer software learning voyages, poker cruises and just about everything else in between. The theme activities can either be free for all of the passengers on that sailing, or a special slate of activities surrounding the particular theme can be offered as a “package,” at an extra charge for those passengers wishing to participate.

Most theme cruises take place on sailings of seven days or shorter. In fact, just about every theme cruise that becomes a full ship charter does so on sailings of these shorter lengths since more people are apt to book a cruise of a shorter length due to holiday and other time constraints.

If you want to find theme cruises that you might be interested in, it is very easy to do so using the internet search engines. Just plug in the type of activity that interests you along with the word cruise or holiday. You can even use as a variable the name of your favourite cruise line or ship in order to narrow your search results.

Theme cruises are a great way to indulge a favourite passion or interest. They are also a great way to meet others who share that passion or interest. These meetings often result in lifelong relationships, even among people separated by great distances. They also serve as a great introduction to cruising for someone who has never before considered such a holiday option, and they are great for singles who may be hesitant to go on a cruise by themselves.

A friend’s first cruise was a theme cruise, and it turned out to be an experience that changed their life. It could do the same for you.