Cruise Guides
Thirty four cruise lines, one honest page each. Ocean, river, and the small ships that go where the big ones cannot.
Thirty four cruise lines, three kinds of cruising, one page to start from
The ship matters more than the itinerary. Get that part right and the rest sorts itself out.
Why people cruise
Why a cruise, and why it works with children
You unpack once. That is the whole argument in four words, and it is the reason sixteen of the countries I have been to, I reached by ship. The room follows you. Breakfast is in the same place every morning, which sounds dull until you have tried to find breakfast for three tired kids in a city none of you know.
The other half of it is knowing the number before you go. The fare covers the cabin, the food, most of the entertainment and the transport between countries. You still pay for drinks, tours and the extras you pick, but you can put a real figure on a family holiday in advance, and that is much harder to do on land.
And nobody has to agree on everything. On the right ship a thirteen year old can disappear all day, a nine year old can be in the pool, and two adults can sit somewhere quiet. Everyone meets at dinner. Try engineering that from a rental car.
Before the destination
Start with who is coming
People come to me with a destination. Alaska, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean at Christmas. Fair enough. But the thing that decides if a cruise works is not where the ship goes, it is which ship you are on and who else is on it with you.
A nine year old who wants a waterslide and a teenager who wants to be left alone need different boats. So does a couple who want a quiet balcony and dinner at eight.
The shapes it comes in
The three kinds of cruising
They are not tiers, and the expensive one is not the best one. A river ship is not a small ocean ship. An expedition ship is not a cheap yacht. These are three different holidays that happen to float.
Ocean cruisingBig ships, deep water, a new country most mornings. The widest choice of price, the most for children to do, and the easiest first cruise to get right.
River cruisingSmall ships that tie up in the middle of town. No sea days, no tenders, and you walk off into the square instead of onto a dock.
Yacht and expeditionUnder three hundred guests, places with no pier, and a naturalist at breakfast. This is where you go once the big ships have stopped surprising you.
Matching the boat to the family
Who each one suits
Ocean. A first cruise, a family with a spread of ages, and anyone who wants the ship itself to be part of the holiday. It is the only one of the three where you can put a nine year old and a fifteen year old on the same boat and have both of them happy.
River. Adults, grandparents, and children old enough to enjoy a town rather than a waterslide. Ama runs real family departures in summer and Tauck builds multigenerational weeks, but a river ship is a quiet ship most of the year.
Yacht and expedition. People who want the place, not the ship. Polar, Galapagos, the Kimberley, the Norwegian coast in winter. Expect zodiacs, expect weather, and expect the itinerary to change because the ice moved.
If children are coming
Cruising with kids, by type
Not every line takes them, and the ones that do are not interchangeable. Start here if the trip includes kids.
Traveling with childrenThe general playbook. Jet lag, passports, what to actually pack, and the layover math nobody tells you about.
Ocean cruising with childrenWhich of the big lines actually deliver for kids, and which ones just say they do.
River cruising with childrenNot every river line takes kids. Here is which ones do, and what it actually looks like on board.
Sixteen countries I got to by ship
When the kids were small, the thought of packing all five of us up every second night made me want to lie down. A cruise was the thing that made travel possible again. You put the clothes in a drawer on the first night and they stay there, the room follows you, and somebody else is making breakfast.
Sixteen of the countries I have been to, I reached by ship. That is not an accident. It is the cheapest way I know to see a lot of one region without changing hotels, and it is the only holiday I have found where a nine year old and a fifteen year old can both get what they want on the same day.
This July I did the Seine with Gavin on the AmaLyra, just the two of us, seven nights out of Paris. Completely different boat, completely different trip, same idea underneath it.
That is why there are thirty four pages behind this one instead of a list of deals. The right ship is a personal thing, and I would rather ask you six questions than hand you a brochure.
Nine regions carry almost all of it
Where cruises actually go
The season matters as much as the map. This is what sails where, and when.
Alaska
Seattle and Vancouver, May to September. Glaciers from your own balcony, whales without chartering a boat, and towns with no road in. The one place where the sea days are the point rather than the filler. The Alaska guide
The Caribbean
Florida and Texas, all year, busiest December to April. Short weeks, warm water, three hour flights and the biggest fleet on earth. If you have never cruised and you have children, start here.
The Mediterranean
April to October out of Barcelona, Rome and Venice. A different country most mornings. Rome, Santorini, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Palma. The ports are the holiday and the ship is a hotel that moves overnight.
Northern Europe and the fjords
Summer sailings from Copenhagen, Southampton and Amsterdam. Norwegian fjords, the Baltic capitals, and light in June that never quite goes away. Pack layers even in July.
The Panama Canal
Ocean to ocean in about two weeks, through locks that opened in 1914. An older crowd, a longer holiday, and one day on deck that people describe to me years later.
Asia
Japan for cherry blossom and autumn color, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand in winter. Ports sit a long way apart out there, so you get proper sea days, and the ships are far quieter than the Caribbean fleet.
Transatlantic
The crossing itself on Cunard, and the repositioning sailings every spring and autumn when ships move between Europe and the Caribbean. Six or seven days at sea for less per night than almost anything else on the water.
The rivers of Europe
Rhine, Danube, Douro, Seine, Rhone, Elbe. Tie up in the middle of town, walk off, walk back for dinner. No tenders, no crossing, and nobody gets sea sick on the Danube.
Antarctica
November to March, from Ushuaia across the Drake or by flight over it. Expedition ships only, and the small ones land you. This is the trip people plan for two years. The Antarctica guide
The part people get wrong
What is in the fare and what is not
In the fare
- The cabin
- The main dining room and the buffet
- Kids clubs
- Most of the entertainment
- The transport between every country on the itinerary
- Some river and luxury lines also include drinks, tours, tips and sometimes the airport transfer. It depends on the ship, so confirm before you book
Not in the fare
- Drinks packages
- The specialty restaurants
- Shore excursions
- Wifi
- Gratuities
- Flights, and the hotel the night before
That last one is not optional in my book. Never fly in on sailing day.
Which is why the cheapest fare is rarely the cheapest holiday. Add the extras for your actual family before you compare two ships, because a river fare that looks like double an ocean fare is often close to level once everything is in.
Read this before you book
A note on prices and ships
Cruise lines change things constantly. Ships get refurbished, routes get pulled, a perk that was standard last year becomes an upsell this year. Everything on these pages is subject to change, and we run a fact check across the lot every month. Before you book on anything you read here, ask me and I will confirm what is true this week.
Not sure which of these is your family. Tell me the ages, the dates and roughly what you want to spend, and I will narrow thirty four down to two.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is a cruise a good first big trip with children?
It is the one I recommend most often. You unpack once, the food is handled, there is somewhere for every age to be, and you can put a number on the whole week before you leave. The hard part is picking the right ship, not the right country.
What is the difference between ocean and river cruising?
An ocean ship is a resort that crosses water and carries two to six thousand people. A river ship carries about a hundred and fifty and ties up in the centre of town. Ocean gives you sea days and space. River gives you a new town every morning and a five minute walk into it.
What is not included in a cruise fare?
On a mainstream ocean line: drinks, the specialty restaurants, shore excursions, wifi, gratuities, flights and the hotel the night before. On river and luxury lines most of that is already inside the fare, which is why the two prices look so far apart until you add everything up.
When should I book a cruise?
Nine to eighteen months out for Alaska, Antarctica, Japan in cherry blossom season and anything over a school holiday. Connecting cabins and the family sized rooms go first, long before the good fares do.
Do I pay more by booking a cruise through you?
No. The fare is the fare. What you get is somebody who has sailed, who knows which of the thirty four lines fits your family, and who picks up the phone when something goes wrong at a port.
A printable built just for your Disney cruise
I built this for families who want something better than a screen on sea days. Twenty five squares of things your kids will actually do on a Disney cruise. Trade a pin, find a hidden duck, spot a towel animal, wear pirate gear, watch fireworks from the deck. Print one per kid and play the whole sailing.
Family Cruise Adventure Bingo
All ages. One card, seven print sizes. $1.99.
Written and kept current by Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel. If something here is out of date, tell me and I will fix it.
Every cruise line we write about
Thirty four lines, one page each
Who they suit, what the fare really covers, what nobody tells you, and where each one sails. Kept current and fact checked every month.
Click any card to open that line
Ocean cruising
Sixteen lines, from the biggest ships afloat down to four hundred guests.
Royal CaribbeanThe biggest ships in the world and the most for children to do on them.
Celebrity CruisesGrown up feeling ships that still work well with older kids.
Disney Cruise LineThe childcare is the reason people rebook, not the shows.
Norwegian Cruise LineNo fixed dinner time and no assigned table. The loosest of the big lines.
Virgin VoyagesAdults only. This is the parents without children week.
Oceania CruisesMid sized ships built around the food.
MSC CruisesEuropean feeling ships at the lowest fares of the big lines.
Princess CruisesSteady mid sized ships with strong Alaska and Japan seasons.
Holland AmericaQuieter, older crowd, longer itineraries.
CunardFormal nights and the only real transatlantic crossing.
SilverseaAll inclusive luxury, small ships, far flung ports.
Regent Seven SeasThe most included of anyone. Flights and tours sit inside the fare.
AzamaraSmall ships that stay late in port and sail after dinner.
SeabournLuxury at yacht scale, around four to six hundred guests.
Explora JourneysA new line, all suites, longer days in port.
Viking OceanAdults only, no casino, one tour included in every port.River cruising
Ten lines on the Rhine, Danube, Douro, Seine, Rhone and Elbe.
AmaWaterwaysThe river line that actually programs for families in summer.
Viking River CruisesThe most ships on the most rivers. The safe first river week.
Riverside Luxury CruisesSmall refitted ships at the top of the market.
Avalon WaterwaysThe beds face the window. That sounds small and it is not.
VIVA CruisesDutch owned, all inclusive, strong value on the Rhine and Danube.
UniworldHeavily decorated ships, all inclusive, family departures in summer.
ScenicAll inclusive with e-bikes and a butler on every deck.
TauckLand and river combined. The best of the multigenerational departures.
Emerald CruisesNewer ships with an indoor pool, priced in the middle.
A-RosaGerman market, casual, easy on the budget for a first river trip.Yacht and expedition
Eight lines for the places the big ships cannot reach.
Ritz-Carlton Yacht CollectionYachts, not ships, with a swim platform off the back.
Lindblad ExpeditionsNaturalists on board and the National Geographic partnership.
PonantFrench, small, and running both poles and the tropics.
Scenic EclipseA discovery yacht carrying a submarine and helicopters.
Emerald YachtsThe yacht half of Emerald, mostly Mediterranean and Adriatic.
Atlas Ocean VoyagesSmall expedition ships with shorter polar seasons.
Aurora ExpeditionsAustralian, expedition first, and activity heavy.
HX Hurtigruten ExpeditionsThe Norwegian coast in every season plus polar sailings.The seventh continent
Antarctica sits on its own because the ship choice is the trip.
AntarcticaQuestions I get asked before every cruise
Is a cruise a good first big trip with children?
It is the one I recommend most often. You unpack once, the food is handled, there is somewhere for every age to be, and you can put a number on the whole week before you leave. The hard part is picking the right ship, not the right country.
What is the difference between ocean and river cruising?
An ocean ship is a resort that crosses water and carries two to six thousand people. A river ship carries about a hundred and fifty and ties up in the centre of town. Ocean gives you sea days and space. River gives you a new town every morning and a five minute walk into it.
What is not included in a cruise fare?
On a mainstream ocean line: drinks, the specialty restaurants, shore excursions, wifi, gratuities, flights and the hotel the night before. On river and luxury lines most of that is already inside the fare, which is why the two prices look so far apart until you add everything up.
When should I book a cruise?
Nine to eighteen months out for Alaska, Antarctica, Japan in cherry blossom season and anything over a school holiday. Connecting cabins and the family sized rooms go first, long before the good fares do.
Do I pay more by booking a cruise through you?
No. The fare is the fare. What you get is somebody who has sailed, who knows which of the thirty four lines fits your family, and who picks up the phone when something goes wrong at a port.
Tell me who is coming and how long you have.
That is usually enough to know if this is a ship, a train, or a car with the windows down.
