War-themed cruises selling quickly
The Love Boat it’s not.
For $5,600, passengers aboard the Clipper Odyssey cruise ship can spend two weeks this fall visiting such Vietnam War sites as the Vinh Moc tunnels, where Vietnamese villagers and soldiers hid from American troops.
Or for $7,750, they can retrace the steps of Allied Forces in the South Pacific during World War II, beginning in Sydney, Australia and continuing through Guadalcanal to Guam.
The war-themed cruises are the latest attempt by Clipper Cruise Line to appeal to people who want more from a vacation than tanning by the pool and taking in a show before bed.
They’re part of an overall resurgence in themed cruising, said Brian Major, spokesman for the Cruise Lines International Association, a New York trade group representing nearly 17,000 travel agencies.
Major said themed cruises have made a comeback after fading away during the 1990s, when cruise lines decided they’d become too expensive to organize.
Now, many themed cruises are organized by travel agencies and affinity groups, which are drawn to cruise ships for their ample onboard meeting space and ability to visit several locales.
“It’s customized, so it’s a great way for us to introduce people to our brand and to cruising in general,” said Stacy Shaw, national charter sales manager at Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. “It challenges the traditional perceptions of cruising.”
The war cruises may seem a bit heavy for an industry better known for sun and fun. But the advertising folks at Clipper say the war-themed cruises are popular with baby boomers who are eager to explore their family histories or reconnect with their own pasts.
The cruises – which include lectures by history professors and military generals – have been selling quickly since they were announced last month, said advertising manager Nathan Colson.
“You get a lot of history buffs and returning veterans who are curious how a place has changed over the past 40 or 60 years,” said Mike Driscoll, editor of online newsletter CruiseWeek.
Actually, war-themed cruises are hardly new. The Delta Queen has been known to take passengers to Civil War sites along the Mississippi River. Clipper and a few other lines offered World War II-themed cruises in 2004 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion.
Clipper decided to expand its war-themed cruising after testing the waters again last year with a voyage to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. It’s now offering four war-themed cruises between March and October.
The line says it will expand its war-themed cruises yet again next year with several more voyages, including one to North Africa titled “Chasing the Desert Fox.”