Voyages: Ports of Recall

Charlene Chase-Brandmeier, 64, and her husband Fredrick Brandmeier, 57, are cruisegoers with a difference. They enjoy the high seas and the exotic locales. But they also like to feel that they are learning something new and growing as people--and they don't mean around their waistlines.

So when the Brandmeiers decided to visit Alaska last summer, they booked a 10-day cruise out of Vancouver, Canada, that was advertised as a fitness-oriented adventure featuring daily yoga classes, aerobics and motivational lectures on exercise, nutrition and maintaining good health. "We came away feeling as though we'd really gained something more than just a good time," says Charlene.

Theme cruises--which combine the usual oceangoing amenities with an opportunity to indulge in a hobby, listen to lectures, interact with experts, meet travelers with similar interests or just rub shoulders with celebrities or sports heroes--are one of the few growth markets in the hard-hit travel industry, expanding about 20% a year. "We're seeing an increased demand in specialty trips from baby boomers," says Andrew Poulton, director of strategic marketing for Radisson Seven Seas Cruises. "They want more out of a cruise than just eating a lot."

There are nearly as many cruise themes as there are interests, including jazz, film, cooking, antiquing, history and knitting. Two years ago, the Brandmeiers took a 2 1/2-week transatlantic cruise from London to Los Angeles during which they reveled in their love of swing music by dancing each night to the tunes of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman and attending lectures by day on the history and evolution of Big Band music.

The cruises tend to be upscale--the Big Band trip set the Brandmeiers back $8,000--but can sell out six months in advance of sailing. They seem to have found a ready market among mature travelers. "Our passengers in their 50s and 60s and beyond have raised their kids and are now looking to fill the next 25 to 30 years of their lives with interests that they had no time to pursue in the past," says Deborah Natansohn, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Cunard Line. The company's Queen Elizabeth 2 is offering cruises this year with such themes as British comedy, photography, filmmaking, classical music and science fiction.

Radisson Seven Seas, which runs theme cruises on two of its six ships, is adding a 12-day Antiques Boatshow excursion that will sail this June from Southampton, England, to Copenhagen and feature cast members from PBS's Antiques Roadshow program. They will give lectures and go shopping for trinkets with passengers in ports of call along the way. Cost: $7,000 a person, not including airfare.

One of the leaders in the theme-cruise market is Crystal Cruises, the line taken by the Brandmeiers on both their trips. Crystal has 33 such cruises planned for this year, nearly half of its itinerary. "We have found that baby boomers are looking to learn something new--while also having fun--at this point in their lives. We call this 'edutainment,'" says Bret Bullock, Crystal's vice president of entertainment.