I took two cruises in July, and they couldn’t have been more different. After spending 10 days on Seabourn Pursuit, the cruise line’s 264-guest expedition vessel, I returned home for a few days before boarding Royal Caribbean International’s , which can accommodate over 20 times that. Cruise ships range in size from yacht-like vessels to mega-ships that are more like floating resorts.
And as much as cruises may be about the ports they visit, the ship you pick can shape the destination you can access and ultimately, the kind of trip you have. Here’s how they differ and how to know which is right for you. If mega-ships can feel like cities at sea, small ships are perhaps more like quaint towns.
It’s easier to find your way around, faces become familiar quickly and the server at the nearby eatery knows how you like your eggs. “The service is just 100% going to be much more intense than any other type of sailing,” said Joanna Kuther, a New York City-based travel agent and owner of Port Side Travel Consultants. The majority of cruise lines sailing ships with capacities in the 200 to 700 range are luxury brands that already put a premium on service – though that can vary by operator – but there are practical reasons too.
Many of those ships have higher crew-to-guest ratios, making it easier to give customers a personalized experience. “We want people to feel that it’s (a) yacht-like atmosphere,” Natalya Leahy, president of Seabourn, told USA TODAY on board. .