For longer cruises, RiverBarge Excursion Lines offers 4- to 10-day trips on the River Explorer, consisting of two connected barges.
Along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, Riverbarge Excursion Lines of New Orleans, which began cruises on the Mississippi River in 1998, is adding service as far as Matamoros, Mexico.
There is a seasonal ferry to Provincetown and several other excursion lines that offer cruises of Plymouth Bay and Cape Cod Bay.
What had been originally presented as an excursion line, which carried lower insurance premiums, was ultimately deemed by federal rail regulators to be comparable to commuter service, thus requiring higher coverage, Mr. Magliari said.
The Escape, Explorer, Expedition and Excursion SUV lines sold 771,814 units in 2002, while the F-series sold 813,701.
The great granite slabs of Wall Street, the Woolworth Building chief among them, rise behind a Staten Island ferry leaving its slip, and excursion boats line the sea wall by Castle Clinton.
But the excursions from major lines have tended to fall into five areas.
Adventure excursions, like zip-line tours on the Mombacho volcano or volcano boarding at Cerro Negro, can be arranged by the staff.
Comparable rapid straight line excursions have also been described for other species.
Adding more excursions also helps cruise lines fight the "been there, done that" reaction and also helps surmount one of the biggest challenges: getting them back on the same cruise.
