What you can learn on a cruise

They say that travel is the greatest education of all. Tara Harrison picks some of the best lessons you can learn while cruising

FOR A GLOBAL EDUCATION:

In the space of five days, you will lose a day, gain a day and then lose that day once more. But those five days are a mere drop in the ocean when you are on a world sailing tour for 113 days. Silversea offers this once in a lifetime voyage, and it kicks off with an occasion to match: a gala bon voyage reception and dinner as well as a one-night stay in a luxury Beverley Hills hotel. This sets the tone for a cruise which incorporates many exclusive events.

On the 2014 sailing, there are three exclusive guest events. Travellers will be flown from Bangkok to watch the sun set over Angkor Wat in Cambodia, with a five-star overnight stay and dinner in Bayon Temple. There’s also supper in a Sultan’s palace in Istanbul and the rising dragon in Hong Kong. Day experiences in the remote Fanning Island in Kiribati and Alotao in Papua New Guinea add to the intrepid nature of this global trip. You may traverse the equator twice, but you will never have a better bearing on the world we live in with this cruise.

FOR A EUROPEAN EDUCATION:

Peeling paint, rising damp and tidemarks above doors make Venice feel as vulnerable as it is venerable. Venice must be seen by sailing on that which engulfs it. On a ship you can see close-up how the water that makes Venice remarkable will eventually be its downfall.

Uniworld’s eight-day Venice and the Po River is dedicated to the sinking city and has excursions aplenty. How many people can say they are a gondolier? With only 425 gondolier permits allowed at any one time, and with all those at the helm male, it makes for a very small pool of experience. That is, until the day excursion where you can learn to become one. Don a striped top, perhaps a straw hat and just try to stand in the boat without falling overboard. Once you’ve mastered balance, use the long oar to push through the canals of Venice. It is not as easy as it looks but a possible dunking is well worth the risk to join one of the most exclusive professions on earth.

FOR AN AMAZONIAN EDUCATION:

The world’s most renowned rainforest, the Amazon is a metaphor for all that is raw and rugged. A veritable test tube of nowhere-else-on-earth species, cacophonous jungle and whiplash-inducing trees, the only way to take it all in is via a cruise. And Avalon Waterways has an 11-day expedition called From the Inca Empire to the Peruvian Amazon that lets you do just that.

It includes three nights onboard a luxurious Aria small ship with your very own naturalist to spot the snakes and monkeys which are drawn to the riverside. The plants put on just as good a show as the animals, with the giant water lily producing flowers the size of a soccer ball and leaves that could hold the weight of a person – don’t try and test the science though as there are piranhas below. Prepare to see sloths as well as iguanas and pink dolphins. The latter come with a local legend, telling of their ability to morph into humans and kidnap attractive women and men. At the end of the journey you will pass a two million hectare flooded forest called the Pacaya Samiria reserve.

FOR AN EASTERN EDUCATION:

For full immersion in the eastern way of life, take tai chi on the open-air deck of your Deluxe Yangtze River cruise courtesy of China Bestours. Usually starting at 6am, the Chinese martial art looks like karate in slow motion and is acknowledged as key to the longevity of those who practice it. Training the mind to hone in on movements offers proponents relaxation and lucidity. “It enables clients to feel their inner self and teaches them everything from breathing to meditation as well as the experience of how locals live everyday as it is practiced by many of the older population every morning,” China Bestours’ Jimmy Liu said.

Liu adds that it allows guests to improve their flexibility and blood flow, which gives a good understanding of why the Chinese live long and healthy lives. The three or four-day cruise also incorporates teachings about Chinese calligraphy as well as tea demonstrations.

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