Choosing for Cruising: How to Select and Equip the Perfect Cruising Yacht

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You can cruise on a big, boisterous ship that carries 6,000 people or a tiny, yacht-like vessel that carries 60 people, and everything in between. This type of cruising is so different from what the big mass-market lines offer that it might as well be considered an entirely different form of travel.

Historically, expedition ships have carried under 200 passengers — a manageable number for an exploration-focused vessel operating in a remote location such as Antarctica. But a growing number of expedition ships carry more. Viking designed its new expedition ships to carry 378 passengers. Some new Hurtigruten expedition vessels are designed for around 500 people. There is a growing trend of traditional cruise lines getting into the expedition cruise space. Two of the brands mentioned above — Seabourn and Viking — only added their first expedition ships in 2022.Note that quantifying which lines are "luxury" and which are "upscale but not quite luxury" is a tough business. Fast-growing Viking, notably, is careful to not call itself a luxury line. However, it offers an experience on its ocean ships that some would call luxury, with spectacular onboard service, high-end eateries and many inclusions in its base fares, such as a shore excursion in every port. To me, it straddles the line between the two categories. Small Ships: These are more in the 5,000-50,000-ton range, with fewer facilities, but a higher degree of service, more luxurious accommodations and the finest food. They include Hebridean Island Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Orion Expedition Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn Cruises, SeaDream Yacht Club, Azamara Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Windstar Cruises, and Princess Cruises. Viking also boasts an ocean ship fleet that is all new. Every one of its ocean ships was built in the last seven years. That's relatively unusual among this group of lines.

Compared with mass-market cruise ships, luxury cruise ships typically offer bigger cabins (often every cabin is a suite), more elegant dining and high levels of service. It's not uncommon for luxury ships to have nearly as many crew members as passengers. Big Ships: These are all vessels of 70,000-plus tons, and feature the widest range of onboard facilities and amenities, with a more resort-style atmosphere. They include Carnival Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line), P&O Cruises, MSC Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and selected Holland America Line vessels. Luxury ships such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises' Seven Seas Splendor offer spacious, elegant suites that rival anything found at a luxury hotel on land. REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES There's also Italy-based Costa Cruises, which draws about 80% of its customers from Europe but does market to Americans, and United Kingdom-based P&O Cruises. The latter draws about 98% of its customers from the U.K.If you hear somebody say they'd never take a cruise because the ships are "too big" or "too crowded," you've met someone who has no idea what's out there. You'll also find that the size of the ships within the fleets of each of these brands can vary significantly. For instance, Royal Caribbean's biggest ships are three times the size of its smallest ships.

Read more: Ultimate guide to Norwegian Cruise Line | Ultimate guide to Carnival Cruise Line | Ultimate guide to MSC CruisesWhile the outsides of river ships often look similar, their interiors can vary greatly, with some being more luxurious and pampering than others. Several additional cruise lines offer an upscale, elegant experience that isn't quite as white-glove as what you'll find on the luxury lines above but is still wonderful. These include: You'll also find expedition cruise vessels operating in remote parts of South America, Asia and the South Pacific but also in some more mainstream destinations such as Alaska. One of the fastest-growing segments of cruising in recent years has been "expedition cruising," a type of cruising that involves traveling to remote, hard-to-reach places such as Antarctica on small, hardy vessels that carry their own landing craft to get you ashore.