The Winnipeg Blue Bombers implore you to join them on a special cruise. Radio station personalities use significant airtime to motivate you to book onto theirs. Mike McIntyre, Winnipeg Free Press crime reporter, invites you to take his Crime and Punishment cruise. And even old time Blue Bombers suggest their retired players’ ship tour makes an ideal choice.

Over the past decade these hosted, or affinity cruises as they are sometimes described, have remained popular. What makes this cruise option a continued success often goes deeper than the personality of invitees alone. While the advertising may extol the potential opportunity of meeting and mingling with the host, it is the chance to meet fellow travelers quickly and in a positive atmosphere that is also inviting. Of equal importance is the itinerary, the brand of the cruise company, and decidedly the price, since group pricing tends to be lower than single cabin rates. Additionally, the extras offered on a hosted cruise most often make it a real bargain compared to other options. While each hosted cruise differs, most will include a get acquainted gathering of some kind in advance, and almost always a hosted cocktail party on the second or third day on board as well. The free excursion is frequently what creates the real value added proposition and convinces many to finalize their booking.

A tourist at a beachside shop in Tortola.

Rock Formation near secluded beach on Barbados excursion stop.

On a recent Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the MS Maasdam, one of Holland America’s smaller ships, we had the responsibility and pleasure of hosting a group of sixty-five, which included a number of Manitobans plus others from various provinces and regions of the United States. While many of the new cruise ships being launched will carry in excess of 5000 passengers, at just over 1200, the Maasdam left frequent opportunity for the group to meet and react with each other. For the Manitoba group, we chose to meet the Saturday before departure over a light lunch at a local Greek restaurant to build the flavour of the upcoming travel experience. Mike McIntyre, for his cruise, brought everyone together for a wine and cheese style evening where he and his wife Chassity got to know those who would be spending the next week with them. Because each cabin was booked separately, with different air departure and return dates requested, the group would not meet again until the on board cocktail party, but having already met once, they would greet each other often on deck or during mealtimes.

The cocktail party itself gave ample opportunity for guests to intermingle with each other even more. Strangers meeting for only a few minutes for the first time may not become instant friends, but the gathering does provide, to some degree, a personal reference point as they greet each other during the remainder of the cruise. The included excursion a day or two later builds upon that interaction, with the host especially, getting to know in a closer way the people he or she is traveling with, while the rest of the group begins to form the beginnings of a tighter family of fellow travelers. Group members would sit often sit with on another for lunch, or join those on the sun deck who themselves had met for the first time during one of the hosted events. Combining resources, we often negotiated for shore excursions and other off board tour options at many of the ports of call. And together we would reminisce about the sights we had seen together.

The Maasdam itinerary was especially interesting on this particular cruise because, without exception, every single port was one that as Manitobans we cannot vacation in without going through Toronto or some other gateway city. History has shown that Manitobans prefer destinations that require only boarding an aircraft in Winnipeg, and flying without stops or connections until landing at the airport in the city where they will spend the following one to two weeks. From French speaking Martinique, to seldom visited Tortola; through St. Maarten with its decidedly Dutch influence, or tourist savvy Barbados where Tiger Woods wed his now pregnant bride; or St Lucia with its British road rules, each stop built upon the other to create a myriad of memories and photo opportunities to last a lifetime. It is, after all, the itinerary that makes the vacation a learning experience to later share with family and friends back home. The included shore excursion in Barbados proved to be a perfect choice. Winding through the hillsides outside its capital Bridgetown, the vistas from on high were spectacular, and stops at secluded beaches dotted with huge centuries old rock formations were awe inspiring, and brought praise from all who participated.

The Maasdam ship passing by famous Twin Pitons of St. Lucia

View of quiet harbour from St Lucia Hillside.

Barbados is an established holiday destination, with vacation properties ranging from moderate to high end hideaways for the world’s richest people. It is said that movie stars can often be spotted on the streets. At the opposite end of the tourist spectrum is tiny Tortola. With only 12,000 residents occupying this three by twelve mile island, it is often the overlooked stop in the British Virgin Islands. While its tourist infrastructure may not be as developed as others, it is an island that offers impressive beauty at almost every turn. Its size almost guarantees a panoramic view from anyplace atop its hills and mountainsides. And its beaches compare with the best anywhere in the world, featuring the finest sand that folds between your toes as you enter the shoreline waters whose descent allows you to puddle a long way out before you reach a depth that is over your head.

Freshly made croissants in Martinique top off a day of shopping for many of those who stayed in Fort O France, instead of taking any of the multitude of island tours that were offered on and off the Maasdam. Martinique really is a French speaking island, where even rudimentary high school French was helpful as the friendly merchants and food servers struggled equally hard to understand our questions or requests. As the end of the cruise approached we found ourselves wanting to spend more and more time with the people in our group. We would get together again in a few weeks for a picture sharing evening, but we knew we would miss the daily encounters and exchanges. We would remember our new friends in pictures, and in future reflections of the trip. And we would hope that one day we might again travel together, feeling we gained an unspoken kinship from having shared our ten day ocean journey with each other.

Where to stay...

• Both the Westin Ft. Lauderdale and the Renaissance Plantation are excellent properties. There are many others more reasonably priced and offer similar ship and airport shuttles.

Where to go...