For those new to cruise, the exciting and extreme experiences found on a cruise holiday are likely to come as a surprise.  No matter what age, there's an amazing choice of activities both onboard and ashore so holidaymakers can fuel their sense of adventure and experience the unexpected.

To celebrate Cruise Week (27 Sept – 5 Oct, 2014), CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) has compiled a list of extreme adventures that you can find on a cruise.  Activities ashore include glacier hiking in Norway, camping out in the Arctic, river tubing, getting up close and person with alligators, swimming with stingrays and Ben Fogle's series of exclusive 'Great Adventures'. While onboard, experiences include surfing, 'funnel' climbing, rope courses, ice skating, circus-training and bungee trampolining.

A selection of extreme cruise experiences can be seen below:

Ben Fogle's Great Adventures

Explorer, writer and broadcaster Ben Fogle has developed a series of exclusive shore excursion programmes for Celebrity Cruises, continuing his role as the brand's own 'Destination Expert'. Experience Croatia on land and sea with a triathlon-themed tour that includes biking, boat rides, swimming and sea kayaking. Or experience a fantastic nature-themed excursion including tours of the Stockholm archipelago by kayak and RIB boat.

Camping in the Arctic

Grab a taste of real Arctic exploration and join members of the Hurtigruten expedition team for a night camping ashore in Spitsbergen. This cruise excursion offers passengers the chance to be part of a Polar Bear watch, help set up camp and listen to tales of daring experiences by the expedition team members. Participants will be assigned a one hour Polar Bear watch during the night.

Deluxe Stingray Tour

Enjoy the opportunity to visit Stingray City, a world-class snorkeling site with superb visibility, numerous friendly stingrays and tropical fish. This excursion is available upon the Cayman Explorer from Carnival Cruises.

Alligators by night

Holland America Cruises offers thrill seekers the opportunity to cross the Rio Negro by riverboat into Lake January and canoe through the dark and exciting jungle at night. Watch the shadows and listen to the mysterious sounds, as the guide will bravely tackle an alligator for an opportunity for passengers to get up close and personal with the reptiles. This trip is available on the Amazon Explorer cruise.

SkyCourse

The sky's the limit when it comes to activities with Carnival Cruise's innovative outdoor recreation area, SkyCourse, available on Carnival Breeze, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sunshine. Composed of eight sections which hang above the deck, each segment is divided into two 'bridges' of varying degrees of difficulty, and each about 15 feet off the ground. This experience is a lot more challenging than it looks, and all while travelling at 24 knots.

Surf machine

One of the most unique onboard activities is surfing at the FlowRider surf park, which is featured on several of Royal Caribbean's ships. This surf simulator is perfect for surfing first-timers and professionals and will provide hours of entertainment for all ages. With 60,000 gallons of water rushing by every minute, the FlowRider is a spectacular feat of engineering to keep cruisers active and entertained on holiday. Just to add to the pressure, surfers are broadcasted on the flat-screen TVs around the deck, for all to watch.

Climbing Wall

While it's not exactly scaling a cliff in the Grand Canyon, rock-climbing walls are featured on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Not only does this activity offer passengers the thrill of scaling 200ft above sea level, made even more extreme by a rocking ship, but also the exhilarating views out at sea. The Norwegian Epic has the biggest rock wall of any Norwegian ship and also features a 24-foot-tall enclosed climbing cage called the Spider Web.

Bungee trampolining

Onboard P&O Cruises' Ventura, passengers of all ages have the opportunity to join the circus with the Cirque Ventura circus-training school. Passengers can bounce around on trampolines on the ship's top deck and take classes in tight-rope walking, clowning, break-dancing, juggling, stilt-walking and the flying trapeze.

River Tubing and Waterfalls

As part of a Princess Cruises' trip to Dominica, experience river tubing, starting from Hibiscus Eco Village. The 90-minute river adventure is an exhilarating, yet stunning voyage in the heart of unspoiled nature. Passengers will see the lush flora and fauna of Concord Valley as they thrill through a mix of fast mini-rapids and lazy slow-flowing pools.

Ice Skating

Royal Caribbean debuted the first permanent ice rink at sea and passengers can now practice triple-axels on several of the cruise line's ships. The rinks are typically open to passengers during the day and are used to host ice shows featuring experienced skaters at night.

Glacier hike

For those with an explorer spirit, experience an intense hike with Hurtigruten. Take a PolarCirkel boat and venture onto the glacier as part of a rope team, using crampons and a lot of team work for 1-2 hours. Participants will also be lectured on Glaciology in order to better understand the surrounding nature.

New experiences with Quantum of the Seas

And finally, the launch of Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas in November this year will see the introduction of numerous innovative and extreme experiences onboard. The ship debuts with a bumper car ride of 30 cars, the first sky-diving simulator at sea, and North Star which is a jewel-shaped capsule that will be hoisted 300 feet into the air for a 15-minute panorama.

Visit www.cruiseexperts.org for further information and to find your local accredited CLIA travel agent.

ENDS

About CLIA

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the world's largest cruise industry trade association with representation in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. CLIA represents the interests of cruise lines, travel agents, port authorities and destinations, and various industry business partners before regulatory and legislative policy makers.

For more information on CLIA, the cruise industry, and CLIA-member cruise lines and travel agencies, visit www.cruiseexperts.org. CLIA can also be followed on the Cruise Lines International Association's Facebook and Twitter fan pages.

For further information:

Charlie Hampton, Claire Lowe, Rupa Tailor and Sophie Adamson

Bell Pottinger on behalf of CLIA

Tel: +44 (0)20 3772 2519 / 2524 / 2542 / 2546

E-mail: clia@bell-pottinger.co.uk