Cruising - An Introduction

When many people think of cruising, they think of the glamorous images of 1920’s-1950’s ocean liner travel between North America and Europe.  With one notable exception, this is far from the case with cruising today.  Today's cruise ships are floating resorts that travel from port to port.

Although the first passenger cruises were offered as early as 1844, the origins of modern cruising started during the age of Prohibition, where many "well heeled" (but not rich) people took "Booze Cruises" into international waters, where they could tipple without worry. 

In the era between Prohibition and World War 2, more ships began to be used as floating resorts.  Today, many might find it hard to believe that Germany operated the largest cruise operation to advertise its care for the working class.  But this ended with World War 2, where almost all ocean liners and cruise ships were converted to military use.

After the war, ships like the original Queen Mary were converted back to civilian use and made their transatlantic crossings until the Jet Age made these ships obsolete. Ships like the SS France were adapted for cruising (this ship was renamed the SS Norway), and started sailing in warmer climes. 

In cruising, it is not how quickly one gets from port to port.  Instead, it is how pleasantly one travels between ports and what one can do while in port and while at sea.  The only thing common between an ocean liner and a cruise ship is that both aim to make one’s at-sea experience as pleasurable as possible.  In short, Ocean Liners and Ocean-Going Cruise Ships now are resorts that travel from port to port.

Only one purpose-built ocean liner regularly scheduled crossings between the “old world” and the “new world,” the Queen Mary 2.  Its’ design is optimized to sail as smoothly as possible through the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  All other vessels are cruise ships, and they usually make ocean crossings when being repositioned to serve their next seasonal cruising areas.  For example, a ship that sails in Alaska in the summer may make a Panama Canal cruise, so that it can be in position to sail the Caribbean in the winter.  

Today’s ocean liners and cruise ships have many of the features of land-based resorts. One will find amenities such as: swimming pools, fancy dining rooms, lounges, spas, gyms, theaters, and other ways to occupy time while onboard.  Lately, the major cruise lines have been adding more things to their ships to make their floating resorts even less of a way to travel between destinations, and become more like destinations themselves.

Although it can be classed as a different type of vessel, it's easier to classify Expedition ships as a subcategory of cruise ships.  These ships often have specialized itineraries, such as visits to Antarctica, allowing the cruisers to spend time on land viewing the Antarctic wildlife.  Unlike mainstream cruise ships, these ships are often specially built for their destinations. They are not resort ships, unlike their larger, mainstream cousins.  Instead, they have minimal amenities and are geared to deliver their passengers to remote destinations and experiences that mainstream cruise ships are unable to reach and provide.

The same cannot be said of River Cruise Ships.  These are purpose-built vessels, built low and long, so that they can make it under bridges found on the rivers they travel. Unlike ocean-going cruise ships, they have a minimum of amenities, but can also provide luxurious travel between ports.  In many ways, they are the opposite of ocean-going cruise ships, as the ports along the river are the destinations, and not the vessel itself.