Centuries ago Mackinac Island was recognized by the natives as a holy place, a place to meet and bury their most important and honored chiefs. The first Europeans visited the island in the 1600s. These were explorers, missionaries and fur traders, the famed “Voyageurs” of that era.

Today, Great Lakes cruise ships regularly stop and let passengers visit and tour the island fort along with the host of local shops and businesses that line the main street. There is also ferry service available from the mainland for those who want to visit but have no interest in cruising the Great Lakes. There are several ferry services available and both luxury cruise ships and local ferries regularly stop here.

Mackinac Island is non-motorized, meaning that motorized vehicles are restricted to emergency uses only. So Great Lakes cruisers should plan to walk or rent bicycles, horses, or catch a buggy ride, all of which are readily available on the island.

Great Lakes cruise passengers will find that besides touring the fort or shopping, there is always a trip to sample the world famous Mackinac Island Fudge which is made fresh daily in an island shop. The historic areas of town also host regular demonstrations of early American crafts, and Great Lakes cruisers might find the tour of the island’s reputedly haunted locations interesting.

If passengers haven’t had enough of cruising the Great Lakes, there are higher observation points where one can look down on the harbor area and watch the flow of Great Lakes cruise ships and local ferries as they bring passengers on and off the island.

Then there is the butterfly house. Many people don’t know that the 3rd oldest live butterfly exhibit in the country is located on Mackinac Island. This is an 1800 square foot tropical garden filled with hundreds of different butterflies. A butterfly house is odd thing to find in a Northern climate, and Mackinaw Island is perhaps an even odder location to find it, but this is an exhibit that is well worth the visit. It’s this type of unique flavor that makes Great Lakes Cruises different from any others.

Great Lakes cruisers will find there are four very small malls on the island and a number of other shops. None of these are large stores, and most of them are only open seasonally. The thing to remember about this place is that it closes for the winter and the only way to reach the mainland after the lakes freeze over is by snowmobile.  As with all other ports on the Great Lakes, Summer belongs to cruising the Great Lakes and winter belongs to the more exotic luxury cruises.

The golf cruise begins with 18 holes at Niagara falls at the Grand Niagra Resort. From there the Great Lakes cruise liner moves on to make stops for courses at Windsor, Port Elgin, Little Current and Houghton.

The outing lasts for eight days and covers courses from one end of the Great Lakes to the other. These are some of the most scenic and spectacular courses the region has to offer. All of these golf courses offer challenges to the advanced golfer and yet are easy enough for the novice.

They also offer spectacular views and marvelous scenery, as does this Great Lakes cruise in general which follows along some of the most beautiful coastline in the U.S. and Canada.

A problem that many golfers have is a spouse who doesn’t golf. A Great Lakes golf cruise might be just right for such couples. At each stop of this Great Lakes cruise, the golfers are shuttled off for the courses while the non golfing passengers are offered tours of the scenic and historic sites the areas have to offer. These tours run from a powwow on Little Manitoulin Island, to museums, arts and crafts shops, and scenic tours. There is enough variety available in this Great Lakes cruise package for it to qualify as both a golf cruise and a luxury cruise.

This Great Lakes cruise also includes a stop at historic Mackinac Island, where guests will have time to tour the island. Sorry, no motorcars allowed on this island that still maintains many of its Victorian roots, so tours here will be by bicycle, foot, horseback or horse drawn carriage.

The Great Lakes cruise ship will pass by the Mackinac Bridge, which is one of the longest bridges in the world and the longest two-tower suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere, and from there will move on to the Soo locks, the busiest locks in the world.

The liner that makes this Great Lakes cruise is the Celia II and she is being newly launched in 2009 after extensive renovation. The staterooms are spacious, and on a small boat like this, that means a limited number of staterooms. In fact, there are only 50 and the ship can only handle 100 passengers. So, make reservations early for this Great Lakes cruise.