Jamaica: Jane hits the jungle

I’m strapped into a harness, hooked onto a pulley, and flying through the jungle 250 feet above the floor at 30-plus miles per hour. I’m on a cruise ship excursion.

Just a few years ago, cruise ship shore excursions came in one flavor: Vanilla. But in the past two years, Royal Caribbean has made a concerted effort to see that it’s active excursions are really, well, active, says Craig Milan, president of Royal Caribbean Tours. He’s one of the execs on board this inaugural trip.

I’m a believer. While a fellow cruiser reported she’d been trapped on a bland bus tour (yes, they still exist), I was playing Jane of the Jungle on a canopy tour.

I’ve done four canopy tours now – two in Costa Rica, one in Ecuador, and this one in Jamaica. The idea: You get up high (there’s usually climbing and hiking involved), then “fly’’ from one platform to another along cables. This tour included six traverses, some as brief at 30 feet, the longest more than 1000 feet long.

This wasn’t the longest or most rigorous canopy trip I’ve done, but it was the most enjoyable, thanks to the humor of our two canopy guides, Kim and Fitz. They weren’t just safe, they were fun.

The rating from the 12 fellow canopy fliers in my group: “Awesome’’ – even from the woman who was so scared that she had to be carried across an early traverse by the guide.