Back in 2011, before I started this blog, we did a fantastic trans-Panama Canal cruise on Princess and were able to find some good birding at most of the ports.  I’ll be posting about that trip in detail, but first lets look at why you would want to use a cruise ship for birding…………….and a few reasons why not.

CRUISE SHIP BIRDING PROS

• Economical transport, food and convenience of not having to pack & unpack
• Variety of locations
• Please a non-birding spouse/friend/family – they have other things to do while you are birding

CRUISE SHIP BIRDING CONS

• Birding is best in the morning and the ship may not dock in time
• Having to rush back in the afternoon before the ship leaves
• Ships tend to dock in cities and birding location may be too far for a shore excursion
• Ports can be cancelled at short notice for weather, strikes or other complications

HOW TO CHOOSE A CRUISE FOR BIRDING

Just like choosing a land based trip, you need to know what kind of birds you are most interested in and what part of the world they are best found in.  You also have to look for national parks or wildlife reserves near to a cruise port.  People who are more interested in sea birds and shore birds will have more to choose from than those who are interest in parrots and songbirds.  Hummingbirds are active throughout the day so any cruise which calls at a port in Central or South America has the potential to see them.  Here are a few typical itineraries from Princess Cruises (you can use this idea on any cruise line) that have at least one port with a good place for birding nearby.  It is very unlikely the cruise line will have a specific birding shore excursion so be prepared to find and organize your own guide using sources like eBird, Fatbirder, Trip Advisor and even Google!

PORTS TO CONSIDER

• Australia ports for small forest reserves located near ports (most major Australian cities have them)
• Belize City for Crooked Tree Sanctuary
• Dominica for Northern Forest Reserve
• Galapagos – anywhere
• Guayaquil for Cerro Blanco
• Huatulco for local parks
• Ocho Rios for local birding
• Panama City for Soberania National Park
• Puerto Rico for El Yunque
• Puntarenas for Carara National Park
• St Lucia for Quilesse Reserve
• St Vincent for Vermont Nature Trail

GENERAL MILES AND POINTS TIPS FOR CRUISERS

• Book your flights well in advance as you won’t be the only one wanting award flights that day!
• Fly in the day before to avoid last minute delays/cancellations causing you to miss the cruise.  On long trans-Oceanic flights (for example Australia to/from Caribbean), I’d allow at least 2 days.  For example in 2011, our cruise departed Acapulco.  We flew into Mexico City on a very convoluted routing BNE-BKK-ICN-LAX-PHX-MEX in J with USDM miles 3 days beforehand and did local sightseeing those 3 days.  We would have had a buffer if anything had gone wrong with the flights.
• Use hotel points if you have them for your pre-cruise and post-cruise stay.
• Book your cruise through your airline’s portal to get a few thousand miles.
• Use a credit card that has a travel category bonus to pay for it such as Chase Sapphire Preferred or Citi Premier Thank You card.
• Consider dedicated cruises for birders such as the World Parrot Trust’s annual Parrot Lovers Cruise.  You must book through the official travel agency but they put on special tours and activities for the group, you also support the World Parrot Trust with conservation projects!