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All you Need to Know

by Travel Journalist Tony Peisley

Cruising into Savannah, I tuned into a local radio DJ just as he was reminding everyone they could "shag the night away at the local Hilton".

Before realising that the shag was a dance in those parts, I thought I might have stumbled on the key reason why there are more cruise ships heading for the US Deep South these days.

In fact, the real reasons are less risque but equally compelling. For, when you visit cities like Savannah or Charleston, memories of the Civil War are never far away (it actually started at Fort Sumner in Charleston’s harbour) - and the contrast with skyscraper-ed Northern US cities could not be clearer.

Savannah is full of London?like squares and leafy spaces while Charleston has a beautifully?preserved historic district full of elegant, stucco-ed buildings with ironwork balconies and hidden gardens.

And in both - unlike New York or Los Angeles - nobody looks sideways at you because you choose two feet instead of four wheels to get around.

A typical Colonial America cruise along the USA's Eastern Seaboard will usually start in New York or Boston and call first at Rhode Island, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Yorktown or Norfolk in Virginia before heading further south to Charleston and Savannah en route to Florida and sometimes the Bahamas, too.

It is an absorbing journey for anyone with even a passing interest in American history, particularly during British colonial times.

It is also the main US oceangoing cruise itinerary after Alaska, Hawaii and New England/Canada (click here for details of those). But there are other intriguing options inland with smaller oceangoing and coastal ships able to cruise around the Great Lakes (Superior, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Ontario).

These were originally created by melting glaciers and they still have that icy wilderness feel even in the cruise season which starts in late spring and ends with the spectacular colours of the Fall foliage.

The USA also has a long tradition of river-boat cruises, especially paddle-wheelers in Mark Twain territory on the Mississippi but also further north into the Midwest where the boats go when Deep South summers become too hot and humid.

Cruising then along the Ohio and Cumberland rivers, you visit parts of Smalltown USA rarely visited by American tourists let alone anyone from overseas. It is a fascinating, eye-openng experience.

DOS and DON'TS of USA Cruising

DO read up on the places you're visiting - even if you're not a history buff, you will find you get a lot more out of the ports of call if you do. Even if you don't have time before you go, most ships have good libraries with books on your destinations.

DON'T always take the easy option of the organised excursions. Sometimes these will be best but a lot of the fun of cruising around the USA is in making your own way round in port. Also, on the Colonial America itineraries, most of the places you visit are best seen by walking rather than being driven round them.

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