If you've not considered a cruise in North America, the sheer variety of scenery and on-water experiences may astound you. Photo / Getty Images For Travel - July 4
This epic continent is where cruising meets the great outdoors. Teresa Machan explains how to choose the perfect voyage.
If you’ve not considered a cruise in North America, the sheer variety of scenery and on-water experiences may astound you.
The continent is bound by the world’s two biggest oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, and offers cruising on the Great Lakes – shared by the US and Canada – and a handful of major rivers. This year one American coastal and river line will take its small ships to 35 states.
This is where cruising meets the great outdoors.
Whether meandering through glaciers in Alaska, crossing the Atlantic on a liner, island-hopping around Hawaii, exploring the Canadian High Arctic on an expedition ship or moseying along the Mississippi, America and Canada combined offer an inexhaustible supply of epic landscapes, picturesque coastlines, wildlife sightings and significant port cities.
If you’re already a fan of holidays in this part of the world look at some of the ways you can revisit.
The boreal forests that line the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, or an Alaska and Rocky Mountains cruise-and-rail combo?
Give ravishing Quebec City a whirl and sail into some of those other cities you’ve always wanted to visit, such as Boston or Vancouver. Did you know that small ships can take you wine tasting not only in California but along the Snake River in the Pacific Northwest, with drops from Washington State?
If you really can’t decide, book a berth on the longest-ever US cruise itinerary, a 60-day voyage visiting 20 states and spanning four time zones.
A much-loved and historic voyage, the first transatlantic crossing was made by the Cunard liner Britannia in 1840. Today, Queen Mary 2 makes the seven-day crossing all year, including at Christmas. Other ships make seasonal crossings as part of their “repositioning” voyages from Europe to the Caribbean, but only Cunard offers the Manhattan-at-dawn moment.
Prefer not to fly? This is your passage.
Carrying gold prospectors and sometimes livestock, the first “cruises” to Alaska began in 1881 when the Pacific Coast Steamship Company began offering monthly voyages to southeastern Alaska on its ships, the Ancon and Idaho.
Today, routes are concentrated on the Inside Passage, an 800km corridor of wildlife-filled fiords and spectacular tidewater glaciers from Vancouver to Skagway. Longer cruises sail from Glacier Bay National Park across the Gulf of Alaska to Hubbard Glacier, Prince William Sound and Whittier. Ships sail from Seattle (US) or Vancouver (Canada).
The well-travelled New York to Boston leg and onwards to Quebec City and Montreal (the entire journey takes around 11 days) via the St Lawrence Seaway scoops up a top line-up of sights, historical harbours and sea ports.
The seaside hubs of Halifax, Cape Cod, Rhode Island, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Newport are strung along the route.
The mansions at Newport and Maine’s Acadia National Park are excursion staples, as are the cities of Boston, Halifax and Quebec City. Fall cruises are very popular as excursions delve into prime leaf-peeping territory.
This is expedition-ship territory. The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is an extraordinary wilderness of fiords, pack ice and glaciers.
A handful of departure and arrival points include Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Boston. Longer itineraries also visit Greenland and Iceland.
Even though the 50th state is hard to reach on a cruise from mainland America, a cruise around its spectacular volcanic islands is worth the effort. Ships depart from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, with five days’ sailing across the Pacific on either side. Alternatively, fly direct and board a ship in Honolulu. Most itineraries visit Oahu (Honolulu) and Kona and Hilo on Big Island (Hawaii), with excursions to Volcanoes National Park.
This territory of relaxed cruising takes advantage of (further south) the almost year-round good weather, visits cities like San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Astoria and Vancouver, and can include wine-tasting in California and Washington State.
Cruising on a traditional chimney-topped paddlewheel boat on the river eulogised by Mark Twain offers a delicious slice of mid-19th-century Americana. Although the ships are no longer fired by steam, some are partly powered by rolling red paddlewheels at the rear and even carry a steam-powered calliope and riverlorians who will colour in the detail of the fabled river.
Contemporary alternatives include American Cruise Lines’ American Serenade, which begins sailing this year, and Viking will operate its first full Mississippi season in 2023.
Itineraries on the river are classified as “Upper” or “Lower” Mississippi cruises. The classic route is from New Orleans to Memphis via Natchez, Vicksburg and Baton Rouge.
More recently, boats have begun cruising north of Memphis to the river’s head in Minneapolis (Upper) and into its tributaries on the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.
The St Lawrence Seaway on North America’s east coast funnels into the five Great Lakes – Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior.
This 3700km “marine highway”, officially known as The Great Lakes-St Lawrence Seaway System, extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the head of Lake Superior.
A meandering passage through the Thousand Islands of the St Lawrence River, visits to Niagara Falls, several national parks and historic sites, plus navigation of impressive locks are all part of the Great Lakes experience.
The locks, dams, gorges and mountain ranges of this region make for some exceptional cruising and bring opportunities for canoeing, fishing, river rafting and hiking. On the Columbia River, boat and helicopter excursions take you to Hells Canyon, which is North America’s deepest gorge.
The Columbia bisects the Cascade Range. There’s also wine tasting in Washington, which is the second biggest wine-producing state in the US.
This is “pioneer country”, featuring historical routes forged by explorers Lewis and Clark, which lends these cruises an interesting historical dimension. The typical start and end points are Clarkston in Washington and Astoria in Oregon.
Search for polar bears, walrus and muskoxen and take “flightseeing” tours on Quark’s Northwest Passage to Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands voyage. The 12-day trip is on the new expedition vessel Ultramarine, which hosts Inuit guides and is equipped with two twin-engine helicopters and 20 Zodiacs.
UnCruise Adventures has launched a Winter Sports and Northern Lights Adventure in Alaska, pairing remote cruising in Glacier Bay National Park with downhill skiing, heli-skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, ice skating and apres-ski in Juneau. The first departure is in February 2024.
The little-known Floridian rivers provide a natural habitat for wildlife including alligators, manatees and majestic bald eagles. The 56-cabin American Eagle sails round-trip from Jacksonville and cruises on the St Johns River – a designated American Heritage River - and the Tolomato River and visits the Ocala National Forest.
The little-known San Juan Islands make for an unusual cruise. Lindblad Expeditions’ British Columbia and the San Juan Islands itinerary from Seattle to Vancouver dips into First Nations history, explores isolated coves and archipelagos by kayak and offers the chance to see sea lions, river otters, bald eagles, white-sided dolphins and whales.
Fancy taking the helm on Ontario’s historic Rideau Canal? Self-drive boating company Le Boat will be offering 32, five-person boats from its Dow’s Lake base in Ottawa.
When there's nothing as far as the eye can see, you may appreciate the company.