If you think cruising is all about cocktails and cabaret, think again…

Cruising has to be one of the most luxurious holidays imaginable. The leisurely pace, the gourmet dining, Vegas style shows every evening and a cocktail or two. Where do I sign?

It’s the luxury that appeals to many people who book a cruise, but what if you could combine cruising with some real adventure? If you like the sound of that, then adventure and expedition cruising, could be for you. So where could you go and what could you experience?

 Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, the Amazon  Aqua Expeditions, 

The Amazon is the world’s largest river by volume and it’s also a major sea lane. Located deep within the Amazon rainforest and accessible only by water, the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, also known as the “Mirrored Forest”, offers one of Peru’s most fertile places for sighting Amazon mammals, birds and plants that thrive among its five million acres.

In winter, when the Amazon River is high, you can explore small inlets and winding river systems that make up Pacaya Samiria’s flooded jungle. In summer, the river recedes as sandy beaches form and it is possible to explore on shore. Throughout the year, Pacaya Samiria is full of neon-brilliant birds, acrobatic monkeys, hawks, herons and fluttering butterflies.

You may even get to glimpse the Amazon’s sleek black jaguar. After dark, naturalist guides still manage to spot caimans and capybara.

Only about 30,000 people live within Pacaya Samiria and Pacaya Samiria park rangers could introduce you to some of the innovative conservation and sustainability projects taking place within this vast Amazon rain forest reserve.

You can cruise the Ganges and Hugli separately or together from 4 to 15 nights. It’s an exotic trip that could really show you parts of the world and cultures you could never imagine. Ganges and Hugli cruises upstream from Kolkata are all about visits to villages, towns, temples and monuments in a little-known but fascinating and culturally rich part of India, you travel on foot, by cycle rickshaw or minibus. The Sonepur Cattle Fair, on the banks of the Ganges in rural Bihar, is one of India’s great undiscovered spectacles, and you will anchor offshore to visit. The Sonepur Cattle Fair occurs around the Full Moon in autumn. This one is for the traveller who really wants to get out in to the world rather than sit on the deck with a cold one.

Following Scott, Amundsen et al, Antarctica Heritage Expeditions, 

You’ll need to pack your long-johns for this one. This company brand themselves as ambassadors for conservation, pioneers of discovery, and leaders in expedition travel to the world’s best-kept secrets.

Spanning two hemisphere from Antarctica’s historic Ross Sea to Russia’s isolated Far East you’ll travel to UNESCO World Heritage sites, pristine nature reserves and far-flung indigenous communities, including  Macquarie Island of the Sub-Antarctic, Russia’s secluded Wrangel Island, and the South Pacific’s Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

The ships are comparatively small with just 50-passengers on the Spirit of Enderby. You’ll see penguins, sweeping tundra, colonies of Albatross, remote polar bear breeding grounds, ancient settlements, relics of bygone explorers, and Pacific islands.

Whether you’re a birder, photographer, wildlife enthusiast, conservationist, or simply an adventurous spirit, these expeditions offer an unparalleled travel experience.

You can follow in the wake of real explorers such as Scott, Amundsen and Mawson. Sail to the Ross Sea or Commonwealth Bay, where these blokes walked out into the snow, and you’ll find the huts they left behind, still crammed in some cases with frozen 100-year-old kit.

Landing at Mawsons Hut can be tricky, with massive icebergs the size of small planets, the famed katabatic winds that blow up to 320km/h.

Have you been on a cruise? Where did you go and would you go again? Would an adventure cruise appeal to you?