World Tourism Day 2023: Should you take a cruise holiday on your next Mediterranean trip?

A beach on the cruise ship. (Image: Courtesy Norwegian Cruise Line)

I’ve always thought of myself as a hyperactive traveller, constantly on the move when I’m at a new destination. Call it FOMO or just childlike curiosity but I rarely leave time in my travel schedules to lounge with a sundowner or hit the snooze button on my alarm. It’s why I never thought myself to be a candidate for a cruise holiday. I’ve always thought of cruise holidays as an option for slow, almost lazy travel. One cruise along Italy’s eastern and western coast changed all that. My home on the sea was the all-new Norwegian Viva, on her maiden voyage, a luxury cruise liner that might remind you of a massive Las Vegas-style hotel. Except, this ship had more activities and entertainment options than one of those mammoth hotels.

Are more Indians taking cruise holidays?

A floating Norwegian Vega cruise hotel. (Photo: Ashwin Rajagopalan)

My first cruise was along India’s south-east coast, a short two-night cruise on Cordelia’s cruise liner that took me around the Bay of Bengal before heading back to Chennai. I noticed that the large Indian ‘joint family’ made up a significant chunk of the travellers on that cruise. It’s the same thing I noticed on the Norwegian Viva where quite a few families from the US, who typically live apart, come together for a family cruise vacation. You’d think cruise vacations would be a ‘no-brainer’ for Indian families where some older travellers (typically grandparents) can opt to stay on the ship while younger family members opt for day excursions at different ports of call. And yet the numbers released by the Cruise Lines Association revealed that just 201,000 Indians took a cruise vacation in 2022. The numbers from the US — 11.9 million, reveal a stark contrast. But the India numbers are growing; they registered a 64 per cent YOY growth over 2021. Domestic operators like Cordelia are also fuelling this growth.

Cruise mode

Italy is one of my favourite destinations in the world. The last time I was here, I hopped from one train on to the other as I traversed the length and breadth of the country. It was fast and quite economical, too. And yet, I still recommend that you explore this country on a cruise liner. The Norwegian Viva set sail from the north-eastern port city of Trieste. It’s about two hours from Venice and not as touristy. It’s not far from the Slovenian border — the charming Slovenian capital Ljubljana is a 90-minute drive. Trieste was at the centre of Cold war power games before it became part of Italy in 1954. It’s also the perfect port to set you into cruise mode. I started with a walk to the Canal Grande that might remind you of Venice and then sipped a macchiato at a historic, 19th Century café at the city’s major square — Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia.

Trieste port, Italy. (Photo: Ashwin Rajagopalan)

Just after sunset in Trieste. (Photo: Ashwin Rajagopalan)

Canal Grande in Trieste. (Photo: Ashwin Rajagopalan)

Faster and cheaper?

Over the next few days, the Norwegian Viva made multiple stops along the Italian coastline that opened up the option to explore iconic destinations both along the coast and inland. One of my favourite moments of the cruise was passing through the Strait of Messina, the narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily and the western tip of Calabria on the southern part of the Italian mainland around sunset. I did all this without changing trains and more importantly without packing and unpacking my bags. I didn’t need to worry about hotel check-in times. I knew that I could go back to the comfort of my cabin after a day excursion. On most days, I had close to 12 hours to explore the port or surrounds. You can argue that all-inclusive cruises are not just more convenient but also faster without the hassles of waiting for connecting flights or trains.

All action on board

The Norwegian Viva typifies the large cruise ship, it’s almost 300 metre long, with room for 1,500 plus cabins and more than 3,000 guests. While I enjoyed the day excursions, I was dreading the whole day at sea given my itchy feet. This is where the cruise experience began to unravel. My first stop was the Go-karting track, one of its kind on any cruise ship. It was fun to zoom down the track with views of the Adriatic Sea; not the kind of high-adrenaline experience I expected on a cruise. The ship also has room for a mini golf-course, where I honed my putting skills.

A Go-karting track on a cruise. (Photo: Norwegian Cruise Line)

Cruise ships like the Viva offer an array of dining and entertainment options. This is where the all-inclusive pricing works really well, especially if you’re travelling as a family. I sampled authentic Japanese cuisine on one night and opted for an American-Italian experience on another night. The all-day restaurants offer a wide selection of Indian cuisine, and you’ll keep running into Indian staff (given the large number of Indian crew in cruise ships across the world that far outnumber Indian travellers on these ships). Entertainment options include casinos, live shows — I enjoyed a tribute to Fleetwood Mac that featured a fantastic rendition of popular tracks from their best-selling Rumours album.

Pro tip

Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast. (Photo: Ashwin Rajagopalan)

The narrow alleyways of Sorrento, on the Amlafi Coast, ideal for a day excursion off the cruise. (Photo: Ashwin Rajagopalan)

The key to picking your cruise holiday is pricing. There are multiple pricing options available, one reason it’s impossible to pin a price tag to a typical cruise experience. It’s worth wading through all the room / cabin types and pricing packages (that include meals and day excursions) before picking one that works for you. I opted for a day excursion to the Amalfi Coast that was part of the cruise package but chose to explore Rome and Florence on my own from the cruise ports of Civitavecchia and Livorno. It was this flexibility and a whole new experience of arriving at new ports of call each day (it’s a completely different experience to approach a city from the sea) that have made me a cruise ‘convert’.