About Sea Cruises
Sea Cruises are the most known type of cruises with ships operated by companies like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Disney. These ships offer all facilities and entertainment, including several restaurants, bars, pools, slides, golf, shopping, a theatre, a cinema and sometimes even a casino. All very family and fun-oriented. A wide range of cabin types is available, varying from cheaper inside cabins without a window, to outside cabins with private deck and large suites with tub.
These ships vary in size, but can be gigantic. Royal Caribbean’s “Icon of the Seas” has 20 decks and can carry 7500 passengers, plus crew: indeed a small city. Of course there are also smaller ships targeting adults only or with a lot more luxury. Regent Seven Seas, Ponant and Seabourne Cruises are targeting just that audience. Ships carry 250 to 700 passengers.
This kind of Cruise Ships are a destination by itself. You will never be bored. During the COVID-19 pandemic “Cruises-to-Nowhere” were conducted from Singapore with the sole purpose to get away from the city and finally get some fresh air, without actually visiting another country or port.
Large Sea Cruises as mentioned here are no longer welcome everywhere. They are just too big, pollute too much and have too many passengers. They really hurt the climate and do almost nothing for the local economies, because everybody eats and sleeps on-board. An example is the beautiful Geiranger Fjord in Norway. Sometimes there were 4 cruise ships in the Fjord whereas the village with the same name has fewer than 2000 inhabitants. Only clean ships can enter now. Other examples are Amsterdam and Venice, where these ships can no longer dock.
(eg. Royal Caribbean, Icon of the Sea)
ToursOnTheWeb does not have any large Sea Cruises in its cruise catalogue.
About Expedition Cruises
Certain destinations just aren’t suitable with a large cruise ship, for example The Artic and Antarctica. You will join this kind of cruise if you actually want to see and do something. The ship may be great, but the outdoors are greater.
The ship itself may be made suitable for the destination, for example with a specially designed bow for rough weather or a hardened hull for icy situations. Basic ships may feature cabins with potholes and bunkbeds. More luxury ships can compete with any of the Sea Cruise Ships as mentioned above including sauna and pool. Hybrid, environmentally friendly engines are also used.
(eg. Quark Expeditions)
Expedition Ships are smaller, with 100-200 passengers being common. This makes a lot of sense, because the destinations cannot deal with thousands of passengers at the same time. It is even forbidden for more than 100 passengers of the same ship to set foot on South Georgia, near Antarctica. There are even a few (Russian) ice breakers that can take you on a guided sea cruise to the North Pole.
ToursOnTheWeb features several cruise companies with expedition ships, for example
- Oceanwide Expeditions
- Quark Expeditions
- Poseidon Expeditions
More partners will join.
About River Cruises
River Cruises are a lot smaller than sea cruises. Rivers are shallower than seas, river ports are smaller and therefore the ships are different. Most river cruises have space for 100-200 passengers.
Itineraries for river cruises are limited to certain rivers unlike sea cruises. The cities along or close to the river are the destinations. Tour guides, excursion vehicles and bicycles are usually provided.
(eg. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises)
Common destinations are:
- Rhine
- Danube (Donau)
- Douro
- Rhone
- Amazon
- Nile
- Ganges
- Mekong
- Mississippi
ToursOnTheWeb features several river cruise companies, for example
- Avalon Waterways
- CroisiEurope
- Uniworld
More cruise operators will join.