Jaunted

First of all, starting your sales pitch with "though we're nowhere near as good as your alternative...," even when it's true, is hardly a recipe for advertisement success. And the phrase "set rail" set our teeth on edge. And "land cruise" is a phrase pioneered by "luxury" bus companies that take retirees from Florida to Atlantic City (or Niagra, Canada!) And they're missing the essential thing that differentiates a sea cruise from a train ride, which is the ability to play outside on the deck of a gigantic ship. All of which is a shame because, actually, this is kind of intriguing.

The packages offer private and semi-private sleeping areas, showers, and semi-decadent bedding. Multi-course meals are provided throughout the trip. And there's something undeniably romantic about whizzing past rustic wilderness, most of which will be big enough and far away enough for passengers to ogle.

We should also add—and this isn't in the press release nor is it something that tourism boards would want emphasized—that cruise lines are almost the precise opposite of ecotourism. After burning a plane ride just to get to the place where your vacation will start, you get on a gigantic hunk of metal that vibrates and churns its way across the ocean sucking in sea animals and dumping waste that gets all the way to the sea floor. We're not 100% against cruises—liners are slowly getting less disruptive and cruises can be a great vacation bargain, it's just that taking a train across a continent minimizes your environmental impact and could be a great alternative to a sea cruise. Things to think about.

[Photo: Zeitlupe / Wiki Commons]

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