River or ocean Cruise - which one is right for you?

If you’re trying to freshen up your holiday options, one of the best things you can consider is going on a cruise.

But one of the big questions when it comes to cruising is between two different types - a river cruise or an ocean cruise? There are quite a lot of differences between the two, some less obvious than others, and they’ll significantly impact your experience.

That being said, there’s no simple answer to the question of which one is better. Ocean cruises will lure you with the host of things you can do onboard, while river cruises will give you more opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture.

In both cases, private cruises on small and eco-friendly boats are the best choice, offering an intimate experience on the water like no other. So, let’s take a look at the differences, and decipher whether an ocean cruise or river cruise better option for you.

Your fellow cruisers

Passengers on a cruise ship wave goodbye to the port.

When it comes to the sheer number of people onboard, an ocean cruise is the obvious winner when it comes to capacity. The boats are a lot bigger, and there is a lot more room for people. On a river cruise, on the other hand, you’ll seldom find more than 150 people at a time, and that’s including staff.

However, having more people on board isn’t necessarily a benefit. You get little, if any, privacy when roaming the decks, and onboard events often force you to interact with everyone so  depending on your social preferences - this could be good or bad.

On a river cruise, however, you’ll notice that people are a lot more relaxed, and many of them are there to enjoy the ship and cruise itself, as opposed to the destination. Whether you’re travelling solo, or with someone, you can choose when, how, and with whom to interact.

The staff

This is an area where river cruises have one over on ocean cruises. You’ll find that an ocean boat, due to the fact that it’s a lot bigger, has a lot more staff, but each crew members has to deal with more passengers than their counterparts on the river.

On a river cruise, however, staff have to interact with fewer people, meaning they can allocate more attention to you, as the staff-to-cruiser ratio is a lot more favourable. You’ll get a more personalized experience because you aren’t “just another passenger,” and they’ll be able to add the personal touches that you’re less likely to find on an ocean liner.

This is something that makes the entire experience a lot better, some may feel, because on a river cruise you feel like every need is attended to.

Versatility

A river cruise boat sails down the Danube and past Bratislava castle in the Slovak capital.

Another massive difference is in the versatility of both cruise types. With an ocean cruise, you usually have a predefined schedule for everything, with set times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and activities, with everything running on a pretty tight schedule. This is a rather hands-off approach, because you don’t have to worry about anything - it’s all planned out for you, and all you have to do is show up.

But on a river cruise, it’s a little different. Yes, there are set times for onboard meals and activities. But whether or not you show up is usually up to you. There’s usually more than one shore excursion available for you to choose from, which means you can do the things at a more leisurely pace, not just what everyone else is doing. 

Accessibility

This might sound weird, but you can get to a lot more places on a river boat than an ocean liner. The fact that they’re smaller does make them somewhat slower, but they can sail to places where an ocean cruiser can’t. On the other hand, if you aren’t about off-the-beaten-path destinations, and you want to visit destinations over a greater area, an ocean boat will do the job.

Which one is right for you?

At the end of the day, it’s all about what you want and prefer. If you’d rather enjoy a more relaxing environment with a more personalized experience, a river cruise is probably the better pick. But if you want all decisions to be taken out your hands, with more to do onboard, an ocean cruise ticks the boxes.