Cruise ships

Cruise ships are passenger ships for holiday travel. That is almost all the cruise ships plying the seas and rivers have in common. Broadly speaking, a distinction is naturally made between cruise ships for ocean cruises and passenger vessels for river cruises.

Cruise ship vs. liner

The first cruise ships were passenger vessels used on scheduled routes, which were put to work on pleasure cruises for well-to-do passengers during the winter “off-season.” With the advent of passenger aircraft, scheduled ocean services lost importance. Shipowners sought new uses for their often luxurious ships and found them in operating cruises. Today, passenger ships are purpose-designed and built for use as cruise ships.

No stars for cruise ships

There is no standardized quality rating for cruise ships. The star ratings displayed on many ships are awarded by the shipowners themselves. Many shipowners base their ratings on reviews in Douglas Ward’s Berlitz Cruise Guide (Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships). Douglas Ward and his team publish an annual guide to cruise ships that provides at least some qualified points of reference for making a personal assessment. However, not all ships are tested, and the criteria are also set by Douglas Ward himself. Nevertheless, the book, published annually in English, is considered something of a bible for cruise enthusiasts. Ship ratings can also be found in holidaymakers’ reviews of cruise ships—although these also reveal the subjective nature of such ratings.

Every cruise ship is different

Among the more than 300 cruise ships sailing the world’s oceans, there are almost no identical vessels, and even those that are similar differ in their service facilities and onboard entertainment. Hundreds of river cruise ships also travel the waterways, with equally significant differences in size, service and amenities. Then there are the different routes taken by cruise ships: not every port is accessible to every vessel. For anyone considering a cruise, information about the ships and their descriptions are important guides when choosing a cruise.

Differences between cruise ships

The choice of cruise ship has a major impact on the cruise itself. Modern megaships with thousands of berths offer an enormous range of onboard activities. Small ships are more likely to reach exotic ports and destinations. An expedition to the eternal ice requires a ship with the necessary ice-class rating. And ships not built exclusively for cruises still offer wonderful journeys—for example, the Hurtigruten coastal express ships, whose voyage is hailed as “the most beautiful sea voyage in the world,” or the freighter Aranuii in the South Seas, where passengers can join supply runs to remote islands.

kreuzfahrten-netz.de aims to introduce the various cruise ships. No claim is made that the listings are exhaustive. The descriptions are based on information from shipowners and tour operators, as well as our own assessments and information from travelers on cruise ships.

Photo: Markus Lenk