Travel Topics

Cruise

 
Any Port on a Douro River Cruise

Any Port on a Douro River Cruise

On a Douro river cruise in Portugal, Mike Pickup explores the region’s rich history as well as consuming an adequate amount of its major export – port wine. I always think…

Burgundy Wine Cruise

Burgundy Wine Cruise

David Powell spent a week on the luxury hotel barge L’Impressionniste on a Burgundy wine cruise. The Burgundy canal is one of the most attractive canals in France, winding its…

Interested in Cruise?

Now we come to a topic which causes a bit of a moral dilemma for Travel Begins at 40. From the outset we have said we support responsible tourism, and stand against over-tourism. So what is our stance on the cruise?

The Impact of Cruises on Over-tourism

In 2018 we have seen an increase of protests against perceived over-tourism and part of the campaign revolves around the effects of cruise liners, as hordes descend upon defenceless cities transforming the nature of the local environment. Similarly, the owners of the liners have come in for criticism for their environmental impact and contribution to climate change and water pollution.

Ethical Cruise Holidays

Our policy is to promote companies that take environmentally-driven decisions, as well as smaller and niche companies offering wine cruises in Burgundy etc., rather than adopting a strict no cruise policy. We believe that such a pragmatic policy shows a way forwards for the industry as a whole.

Cruise Deals

At the same time we acknowledge that cruises are extremely popular, especially with the over 50s, which is why we have included some deals in our offers section, so that you need not be out of pocket while taking your ethically-considered choice. We realise that such an approach could be open to criticism, but in the immortal words of Joe E Brown at the end of Some Like it Hot en route to his luxury yacht – “Nobody’s Perfect.”