River Versus Ocean Cruising
River cruising is vastly different than ocean cruising based on the hip capacit. Mega ocean liners can hold up to almost 6,000 people whereas river cruising can hold up to 180. This is noticeable from the moment you step on the ship, check-in, get your room key and are escorted to your stateroom. There are no lines, queues or waits.
If you’ve ocean cruised before you know that the port can be quite far from the city itself. For example, the port of Rome (ivitavecchia) is about 45 minutes from the actual city and you’ll hop on a coach or transfer to get there. When on the rivers this is not the case - ou’re in the heart of the cities you visi. When I river cruised last year we had an overnight in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which was incredible. We were free to disembark and embark as we pleased and were able to explore the city as it came alive at night.
A river cruise is ore inclusiv than an ocean cruise! A huge part of river cruising is the value - with shore excursions, meals, and alcohol included (levels of inclusion can differ between river cruise lines). When I ocean cruise I dread the last day when that folio appears on the door...what exactly did I purchase that was extra? Drinks, excursions, specialty dinners? You won’t feel so nickel and dimed on the rivers.
As you can imagine, it takes a small army to man a huge ocean liner. You might see a familiar face or two over the course of the week and you’ll for sure see the cruise director, who’s in charge of all the entertainment. On a river cruise you will ecome very familiar with your entire staf including the hotel director, chef and cruise director. Every night in Asia, the chef would greet passengers as they entered the dining room. Our cruise director, who was more of a cultural ambassador, was there 24/7 from day one….we even shared a meal after the cruise had officially ended. He always called our group (staff and guests) “family” and it was true.
When I took my first ocean cruise (a long time ago) I was struck by the dreaded otion sicknes. So much so that I vowed to never cruise again. Well, that didn’t last long! Of course there are bunches of tips to avoid motion sickness and the ship’s are equipped with stabilizers - maybe the tech now is better than 17 years ago?! On a river you won’t have to worry about this at all! Yippee - no Dramamine, Bonine, ginger, bracelets or patches!! You’ll glide along the river and there’s land visible all around, so it’s quite easy to get your bearings as compared to being on the open ocean.