Our Top 7 Cruise Excursions & Bonus Videos
Have you booked your favorite cruise and looking for the top excursions to go on? Rick and I have been on more than 20 cruises in the last four years. And in doing so, we’ve been on a lot of cruise excursions. Indeed, some of them were very nice. And others were awesome. Naturally, there were some pretty bad ones as well. But today, I want to write about my favorite cruise excursions so far.
Let’s dig in.
Alaska
Top Cruise Excursion: Glacier Point, Alaska
The Glacier Point cruise excursion in Skagway Alaska is always a fan favorite in Alaska. We started right at the pier where we boarded a small boat that took us through the Skagway Inlet to the little harbor of Glacier Point. From there, we boarded a bus that took us to the base camp, where we got all suited up for our adventure.
From there, we reached the shore of a river where our canoes were waiting for us. We paddled for about half-hour in a beautiful wilderness with the view of the majestic Davidson Glacier, our final destination.
Finally, we began the last leg of our excursion. It was a half-hour walk on the glacier moraine to reach the glacier itself. At this point, I already took hundreds of photos, and I was about to make hundreds more. When we reached the glacier, it was even more amazing than I expected. We were able to touch it, explore it, and see this incredible wall of ice close. That was a fantastic experience that I will not forget. Did I mention, this cruise excursion is a great way to stay fit on a cruise?
After spending about a half-hour at the glacier, we started our journey back to the cruise ship. While I think the Glacier Point cruise excursion should be at the top of anyone’s bucket list because it’s simply incredible, it’s not for everyone. To be sure, it requires a lot of physical activity and a lot of walking on a very uneven surface.
Falkland Islands
Bluff Cove Penguin Rookery
The Penguin excursion was one of the top highlights of our South America and Antarctica cruise. We started in Port Stanley, right by the tender dock, where we got picked up by a comfortable 12 passengers miny bus. Then, we drove for about 15 minutes outside the town and arrived at the entrance of the Bluff Cove Farm. From there, we boarded a 4×4, and we drove for another 10 minutes in the rough terrain of the Falkland Islands.
After this short ride, we arrived at the Bluff Cove beach. Here, we found ourselves surrounded by thousands of Gentoo Penguins and King Penguins! To be sure, it was amazing. Indeed, we had about an hour to walk around and take as many photos as we could of these incredible animals.
At the colony, we saw an incredible amount of baby Gentoos, some of them feeding on their parent’s beak. I was mesmerized by that, and I could not stop taking thousands of photos.
Penguins have no fear of humans, and they didn’t mind walking among us and acting like we were not there. I did not expect that.
The hour went incredibly fast. After visiting the penguins, we got some hot tea and freshly baked scones, cookies, and cakes. Naturally, it was an unexpected treat from the owners. After that, we started our journey back to the ship.
This excursion is at the top of my list, and I’ll have thousands of photos to remind me about this incredible afternoon. Also, one of the most remarkable things about this excursion was the fact that there were not many other tourists around, and the staff timed the flow of people perfectly.
Mexico
Chichen Itza, Cozumel Mexico
Visiting Chichen Itza has been at the top of our bucket list for a long time, and I was excited to visit these ancient ruins from a cruise excursion when we arrived in Cozumel. To be sure, I booked it as soon as I could. Indeed, others warned it would be a long day, and it was. But it was 100% worth it. Indeed, I’m happy I went because it made my list of top cruise excursions.
After arriving in Cozumel, we first took a ferry boat to Playa del Carmen. Here, we boarded a very comfortable bus. The bus ride was very long, about 2.5 hours each way. And yes, and I have to admit the ride was rather dull as well. Unfortunately, there’s just the thick Yucatan jungle to be seen from the bus window.
Once we (finally) arrived at the site, I was speechless. Chichen Itza was even more fascinating than I expected. We walked around the Mayan buildings mesmerized from what we saw. The highlight of the site is, of course, the famous El Castillo Pyramid. Additionally, it was nice being able to walk around such an incredible site not packed with tourists.
Swimming with Sea Lions, La Paz Mexico
We took this excursion during a cruise in the Bay of Cortes, Mexico. We boarded a small zodiac that took is to a small island off the coast of La Paz, Mexico. There we saw a big colony of Sea Lions. Some were lying on the rocks; some were swimming.
We jumped in the water, and we snorkeled towards them. I have to admit, at first, it was a little scary to see these big wild animals so close. However, once I realized that they were rather docile, I start enjoying looking at them swimming around me and playing around. One of them came close and let me touch it. I was quite amazed by that.
We jumped in the water, and we snorkeled towards them. I have to admit, at first, it was a little scary to see these big wild animals so close. However, once I realized that they were rather docile, I start enjoying looking at them swimming around me and playing around. One of them came close and let me touch it. I was quite amazed by that.
Asia
Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
When we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, on our South East Asia cruise, I didn’t know what to expect. Kuala Lumpur was an incredibly beautiful city. For example, the people are friendly, polite, and respectful.
Here, we bought an excursion from our cruise ship to the famous Batu Caves, and it turned out being one of the top excursions of the trip. The ride from the cruise port to Kuala Lumpur took about an hour. Also, the Batu caves are about 20 minutes by taxi from the Petronas Towers.
When we arrived at the site, we were immediately mesmerized by the giant golden statue of the Indu God Murugan. For example, the people climbing the stairs next to the gigantic statue looked like tiny dots. At least, when compared to the statue.
Look at those stairs!
The site is also home to many monkeys that walk among the people. Also, they often try to steal food from unsuspecting people. To be sure, the monkeys at the top of the caves are always a favorite on land or cruise excursions.
To reach the entrance of the cave, we climbed the 272 steps. At the time, they were doing some restorations to the temples inside the caves. Furthermore, they were asking everyone to bring up a bucket of sand or brick to help. Rick jumped in and decided to help. He carried up a big bucket of sand up the stairs while I happily took the photographs.
Inside, you will find the caves are massive and lined with many Indu temples. Indeed, I was thrilled to take a lot of photos on this fantastic site. Then, when we got to the top, it was easy to see why the Batu Caves are a favorite thing to see when picking land or cruise excursions.
So, if you’re visiting Kuala Lumpur, I think you should check the Batu Caves out.
Our Top Cruise Excursion in Halong Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay, Vietnam, is an iconic place that everyone has seen in millions of photos. But, in real life, it’s an even more breathtaking sight.
We arrived on board the Sapphire Princess on our 19 days South East Asia cruise. Indeed, the excursion was effortless. For example, we boarded the junk boat right off our ship, and we sailed towards the bay. Then, our guide took us to our first stop to visit the Dong Thieng Chung caves. These caves are beautiful and famously lit with different colored lights.
After visiting the caves, we sailed in the bay among the many limestone mountains that peak out the ocean. Plus, we passed by many traditional Vietnamese sailing boats and junk boats.
Mediterranean
Santorini Volcano Hike, Santorini Greece
We took this excursion during our 21 day Mediterranean Cruise on board of the Emerald Princess. Furthermore, in case you missed it, Princess was voted Travel Addicts’ favorite Cruise Line of 2019. To be sure, Santorini was one of our favorite cruise excursions in Greece – no question.
We arrived in Santorini after a short tender ride. Once there, we didn’t immediately visit Santorini. Instead, we booked an excursion to the Volcano. Then, our boat waited for us to take us to Nea Kameni Island, the active Volcano in the Santorini Caldera.
We docked in a small port. Then, from there, we started our hike, on a short gravel path, to the top of the volcano. From every corner, the views were breathtaking. Indeed, old lava from ancient eruptions, the Mediterranean, and the beautiful towns of Fira and Oia lined the path.
Once we reached the crater, we were able to see some steam venting at the summit. Our guide, a volcanologist from Athens University, was excellent. For example, he was able to give us plenty of information about the geology and the history of this volcano that last erupted in 1950.
Our hike to the summit was only about an hour long. Fortunately, we were able to get there very early in the morning when the paths were clear and had no other tourists.
These are my top land and cruise excursions so far. Did I miss any? Feel free to let us know what your favorite land or cruise excursions are!
-Andrea
Andrea was born and raised in Northern Italy. At the age of 30, he moved to Vancouver Canada. Over the years he traveled extensively in North America, Europe, Central America, and Asia. He is passionate about traveling, cruising, and travel photography. He likes to write about his traveling and shows his travel photos.
Hi, Andrea, such a lovely article with amazing pictures and videos. There were times I kept checking out the Pictures more than reading. Emerald princess is in my bucket list, Santorini is my dream travel destination too.
Thank you Roslin.
Thank you Andrea – amazing photos. This brought back memories of an extraordinary visit to Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpar. Yes, those stairs took some getting up! There was a huge thunderstorm when we visited and seeing the lightening through the hole at the top was wonderous. Recommend anyone going to within a two hour drive of KL to take the time out to go to the caves.
thank you Andrea and Ricky for the love of travel you have, the pictures are wonderful and amazing
Thank you, Princess Doreen ?
Cool pictures and videos guys! Would love to swim with sea lions, we were supposed to do that in Puerto Madryn in Argentina this year in January but decided to take another route (this one was too long) on our way down to Ushuaia to board a cruise to Antarctica, like you guys. The penguin colonies in South Georgia we saw were spectacular
Thank you Jerome ?
I’ve seen your video of Antarctica, as well as your great pictures of Bluff Cove, which I also visited! By chance, were you on the Coral Princess that left out of San Antonio in early January 2020? If so, I was on that cruise! It was awesome, even with all the schedule changes!
Hello Nancy, Thank you for your comment. Yes we were on the Coral that left San Antonio on January 6th (originally we were supposed to leave on the 5th. but there was a storm and a problem with the fuel). That is so nice to know someone that was on the exact same cruise! Have a wonderful weekend