Ports of Recall

By Laura Koss-Feder

Charlene Chase-Brandmeier, 64, and her husband Fredrick Brandmeier, 57, are cruisegoers with a difference. They enjoy the high seas and the exotic locales. But they also like to feel that they are learning something new and growing as people--and they don't mean around their waistlines.

So when the Brandmeiers decided to visit Alaska last summer, they booked a 10-day cruise out of Vancouver, Canada, that was advertised as a fitness-oriented adventure featuring daily yoga classes, aerobics and motivational lectures on exercise, nutrition and maintaining good health. "We came away feeling as though we'd really gained something more than just a good time," says Charlene.

Theme cruises--which combine the usual oceangoing amenities with an opportunity to indulge in a hobby, listen to lectures, interact with experts, meet travelers with similar interests or just rub shoulders with celebrities or sports heroes--are one of the few growth markets in the hard-hit travel industry, expanding about 20% a year. "We're seeing an increased demand in specialty trips from baby boomers," says Andrew Poulton, director of strategic marketing for Radisson Seven Seas Cruises. "They want more out of a cruise than just eating a lot."

There are nearly as many cruise themes as there are interests, including jazz, film, cooking, antiquing, history and knitting. Two years ago, the Brandmeiers took a 2 1/2-week transatlantic cruise from London to Los Angeles during which they reveled in their love of swing music by dancing each night to the tunes of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman and attending lectures by day on the history and evolution of Big Band music.

The cruises tend to be upscale--the Big Band trip set the Brandmeiers back $8,000--but can sell out six months in advance of sailing. They seem to have found a ready market among mature travelers. "Our passengers in their 50s and 60s and beyond have raised their kids and are now looking to fill the next 25 to 30 years of their lives with interests that they had no time to pursue in the past," says Deborah Natansohn, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Cunard Line. The company's Queen Elizabeth 2 is offering cruises this year with such themes as British comedy, photography, filmmaking, classical music and science fiction.

Radisson Seven Seas, which runs theme cruises on two of its six ships, is adding a 12-day Antiques Boatshow excursion that will sail this June from Southampton, England, to Copenhagen and feature cast members from PBS's Antiques Roadshow program. They will give lectures and go shopping for trinkets with passengers in ports of call along the way. Cost: $7,000 a person, not including airfare.

One of the leaders in the theme-cruise market is Crystal Cruises, the line taken by the Brandmeiers on both their trips. Crystal has 33 such cruises planned for this year, nearly half of its itinerary. "We have found that baby boomers are looking to learn something new--while also having fun--at this point in their lives. We call this 'edutainment,'" says Bret Bullock, Crystal's vice president of entertainment.

Most theme trips are put together either by cruise lines, which tend to reserve an entire ship for the theme, or by travel agents, who book their own groups for a particular specialty. Each November, Provident Travel of Cincinnati, Ohio, organizes a one-week Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean International that features current and former Cincinnati Reds. About 160 to 200 die-hard fans, average age 60, put up $1,200 to $1,800 (this includes airfare) to hobnob with the pinstripers, says Jim Mogan, Provident's director of operations. Charles Hindersman, 77, a retired professor and university vice president who lives in Indianapolis, Ind., has participated in these baseball cruises for the past 11 Novembers with his wife Justyn, 75. "As a native of Cincinnati, I have been a lifelong fan," says Charles. "These trips have given me the chance to talk to legendary players past and present, get to know them a bit as human beings and realize that they are people just like the rest of us."

This June, TraveLeaders Group, a Coral Gables, Fla., travel-management company and travel agency, is planning a seven-day Big Fat Greek Cruise, which will sail from Venice to the Greek isles. Inspired by last year's runaway hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the theme trip, on First European Cruises, will feature conversations with some of the film's stars, Greek food, Greek culture and dancing, and "some plate smashing," says chairman Keith St. Clair. TraveLeaders expects 150 to 200 guests, and the average cost per person will be $1,000, not including airfare. The agency is promoting this trip through its website, and St. Clair anticipates that 90% of the takers will be 50 or older.

For those who don't want to venture as far as Greece to experience specialty cruising, there are companies that sail only in domestic waters. One of these is the Windjammer Association, based in Rockland, Maine, which sails 14 privately owned tall ships along the coast of Maine from Memorial Day through Columbus Day on themed journeys whose focuses range from knitting to whale watching.

Another U.S.-oriented cruise operator, the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., offers theme trips along the Mississippi River in paddle-wheel steamers. A Civil War cruise, complete with daily lectures, panel discussions by historians and visits to famous battle sites, attracted Rosalind and Ted Tedards of Greenville, S.C., in July 2000. Rosalind, 56, a homemaker, has been a Civil War buff for 30 years and owns hundreds of books on the subject. The eight-day cruise cost $5,500, and the Tedardses will never forget it. They still keep in touch with some of the guest historians they met on the trip.

"I'm fascinated by both the Civil War and steamboat travel, so it was a great combination," Rosalind says. "I'd love to go again."