A few months ago, I did a series targeted to the budget birder on birding from a cruise ship and how to put together your own birding cruise. Although this way does save you money and you can choose any ship you prefer, there is also an option for those who prefer an organized group birding cruise. Carefree Birding offers a variety of itineraries mostly around the Caribbean. You basically book the cruise component through their travel agency and then book a birding package for those who wish to go on the birding shore excursions (non-birding family members don’t have to book the excursions). This offers a nice option if you are short of time to do your own legwork in booking private birding shore excursions such as I did. Since you have to use their travel agency you do lose out on airline miles for booking through a frequent flyer mile portal such as United Cruises or bargaining for the cruise fare on Cruise Compete, but for many people time = money so they prefer to have everything organized for them.
James Currie of Birding Adventures did a cruise on the Celebrity Equinox (ship details here) and you can see what a typical birding cruise is like on his videos.
Costa Rica, Belize & Cozumel – it was nice to see their visit to Crooked Tree in Belize. I did this as a land trip and had a different experience because I was targeting parrots and didn’t do the water excursion.
Panama, Grand Cayman & Cartegena, Colombia – I wish I had known about the botanical gardens in Grand Cayman as we went to a different place back in 2008. I like their option better!
