Before cruises, outspoken sailor lets himself down (7)
I believe the answer is:
abseils
'before cruises outspoken' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.
'sailor lets himself down' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'sailor' could be 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman) and 'ab' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'seils' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abseils that I've seen before include "Climbs down attached to a rope" , "goes down steeply" , "Descends by rope" .)