Tours And Excursions On A River Cruise Compared To Ocean Cruises
One of the nicest things about river cruises is that they generally includeexcursions. Mostly, those excursions are tours on land. There are optional upgrades, like a more premium experience at a port city, if offered. But overall, most river cruises include pretty great tours in the towns you’ll visit. It’s an all-inclusive mentality.
We’ve sailed with Emerald Waterways and Viking and both included excursions, daily, and tours throughout our trips. In the case of Emerald, for instance, there were additional experiences we were able to add on if desired in two cities. They call that program: DiscoverMORE. One such experience was in Delft, in The Netherlands, where we toured the Royal Delft factory where they still hand make and hand paint pottery. Then we toured the town of Delft before boarding buses back to the ship.
Otherwise, without the upgrade, guests were given a tour of Rotterdam, where our ship was docked . But the DiscoverMORE option was an excursion we fully enjoyed it was unique and well worth the 55 or so, per person, to add on.
Ocean cruises are completely different. While river cruises take care of you like family, ocean cruises are totally a go it alone kind of situation. You add on each excursion at the ports whether a tour of the aquariums at Atlantis in the Bahamas, a fishing excursion in the Florida Keys, a helicopter tour in Alaska, etc.
Are There Casinos On Viking Cruise Ships
Best answer
No Casinos – Save your money and instead, spend it ashore. No Crowds – On a Viking Ocean Ship, there’s no casino, kids activity centers, sports courts, waterslides, rock climbing walls, cartoon characters or thousands of people on board. So, there is much more room for the 930 passengers.
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The Benefits Of Gambling On A Cruise Ship
First off, the breathtaking sights. When aboard a ship, at all times, visitors are only a few steps away from peering out into the ocean, taking in natures beauty. Some vast vessels even feature outdoor, pool-side tables. Thus, anyone can play some blackjack after a quick dip in the pool.
Since there are a limited number of passengers on a cruise ship, there isnt much chance of encountering crowds on a floating gaming floor. The atmosphere in these spaces is much more relaxed, and as a result, the game pace is swifter. They are also less smoke-filled and more family-friendly areas. The food and entertainment options on a liner should be cheaper as well. Therefore, ship casinos should not put a dramatic strain on anyones budget. If they want to keep themselves in check, not go overboard with their gaming activities, their players can utilize loyalty cards to set deposit/loss limits.
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Viking Makes It Official: Kids No Longer Welcome On Cruises
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Luxury line Viking Cruises has updated its age policy and limited river and ocean sailings to passengers who are 18 or older. Its a departure for the company that once allowed younger children onboard river cruises.
Now passengers must be at least 18 years old to sail on cruises booked after Aug. 1, the companys website says.
Vikings ocean cruises have been adult-only since the line launched in 2015. It previously accepted kids 12 and older on river cruises, media reports say.
A Viking statement sent by email said the age limit reflects what passengers wanted.
Viking has always offered experiences that are designed for travelers who are 50 and older, with interests in history, art, culture and exploration. Its what were known for. Previously, we had allowed a degree of flexibility in the minimum age for travel, but increasingly our guests have told us how much they appreciate an environment where they can travel without children.
The statement said its policy clarification began last January as part of a marketing campaign called What Viking Is Not.
No casinos, no children under 18, no photographers, no umbrella drinks … and so on, the web page says. Its a way of differentiating the luxury line from those that market family-friendly features on mega-ships.
Other river cruise lines set their own age limits for passengers that can be found in their Terms and Conditions.
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Virgin Voyages have got rid of the traditional cruise cards and have instead replaced them by wearable tech. This wearable tech will be worn as a bracelet and is called the band. It will be used when embarking/disembarking the ship, for onboard expenses, opening your cabin tour and also to play slot machines in the casino.
Your casino play is tracked through your wearable, even at the tables! So if your bet increases, it is tracked! No more fumbling for your room card when you sit down at a table!
The wearable tech is made with recycled plastic and will be delivered to guests pre cruise.
Main Embarkation And Debarkation With A River Vs Ocean Cruise
There’s more pomp and circumstance when it comes to boarding an ocean cruise ship. From leaving your luggage with appropriate cabin number tags on them, curbside, before you even get to the terminal. To scanning documents within the terminal. To waiting until your boarding group number is calledthere are a lot of procedures and paperwork to get through to get onboard the ship. They are moving thousands of guests, after all .
A river cruise ship seems like a piece of cake when it comes to boarding! We literally just walk onto the ship and check-in at the front desk. Of course, we have already sent paperwork in at this point with information like our passport numbers and have to give that information to the staff once we board the ship.
But it’s a lot less cumbersome than on an ocean cruise. And boarding the ship is much more immediate with only about 200 or so guests who have to check-in.
Here are two photos of what we saw when we walked onto a cruise ship versus a river cruise, aboard the Emerald Cruises ship, Emerald Sky. A vast difference!
When you have to leave your river cruise, as you can expect, it’s a piece of cake on a river cruise. You simply let them know you’re leaving and you walk off with your luggage.
An ocean cruise is much more involved, of course.
here was no Global Entry back into the country at the terminal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like airports or we would have potentially breezed through much quicker.
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River Cruise Vs Ocean Cruise: Port And Ship Size
The most staunch difference is easy to identify as you approach the port or dock at your point of embarkation. River cruise ships are large perhaps between 300 to 400 feet in length on average yet theyre small enough to fit on a river, as their name indicates.
A river cruise ship is smaller and only needs a small area to dock and post up. A place like the Amsterdam River in The Netherlands, or the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, or Mekong River in Hanoi, Vietnam are the kinds of ports you can expect to board from or where you’ll end your river cruise.
If it’s your first time on a river cruise, you’ll delight in these small port destinations.
Ocean cruises are much, much larger. They seem completely massive as you approach large cruise terminals. A cruise ship that sails on the ocean is likely to be over 1,000 feet. That’s a difference of about 600 to 700 feet from river cruise ships. Or, over three times as large not just in length but in height too. While river cruise ships or usually only about 4 decks tall, it’s common for ocean cruise ships to tower beyond 10 to 12 decks.
Due to the ship size, ocean cruise ships need large ports of call to accommodate them. Some of the most popular terminals in the United States are in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa or Port Canaveral in Florida on the east coast.
Charleston, South Carolina, and even New York City have terminals as well. On the west coast, popular US ports include Seattle, Washington or San Diego, California.
Cabins And Staterooms On River Vs Ocean Cruises
Stateroom designs vary so much from ship to ship no matter if it’s a river or ocean cruise. So we’ll simply say that it’s very common to have more space on a stateroom on an ocean cruise ship.
Additionally, you can pay for an upgrade on an ocean cruise to have a balcony or save money by having an interior stateroom without a window. Yet on river cruises, all rooms face outward and commonly have a balcony. Because the ship is small and narrow there are no interior staterooms or cabins on river cruise ships.
The top two photos above are aboard the Disney Dream, with Disney Cruise Line. The bottom two are from river cruise ships, the Emerald Sky with Emerald Cruises and Viking Alta, with Viking, respectively.
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Cocktails And Premium Alcohol
If you would like to enjoy alcoholic beverages beyond the included beer and wine at lunch and dinner, Viking Ocean Cruises offers a drink package for an additional cost. The Silver Spirits Beverage Package allows you to enjoy unlimited beverages in all dining venues and bars throughout the ship for the duration of your cruise for any drink up to $15. Both guests in a stateroom must purchase the package for the full length of the cruise. A 15% service charge per person is included with the price.
Is A Cruise Right For You
Alright, lets talk about FAQ. The question that I was asked most often during this trip was simply whether or not we would recommend cruising in general especially in Europe, especially with Viking, and especially as a 30-something. ) To be sure, everyone has different traveling styles and budgets to work with. But in general, I would say that a Viking cruise is right for you if:
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The Cruise Ships Which Will Be Visiting Cornwall In 2022
The biggest luxury liners will carry between 1,000 and 2,500 passengers
Every year dozens of huge and luxurious cruise ships visit Cornwall.
Not only do they give a boost to the local economy, they’re also quite the spectacle for residents as they arrive in Falmouth or Fowey harbour.
The biggest luxury liners will carry between 1,000 and 2,500 passengers.
Read more: Beach in Cornwall still closed two years on after huge landslides
Due to the Covid pandemic, no cruise ships brought passengers to Cornwall between March 15, 2020, and May 26, 2021, when brand new Viking Venus was the first one to do so in around 15 months. You can read about this here.
Here is everything you need to know about the cruise ships that you will be able to spot in Falmouth and Fowey this year.
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Ages Of Cruise Guests On An Ocean Cruise Vs River Cruise
We’ve often been asked if we are the youngest people on river cruises we sailed on. And we’ve been asked if we were the only people without children on the Disney Cruise Line sailing we were on too.
The answer is noand no. We weren’t the youngest people on our river cruise and we weren’t the only people without kids on DCL.
While we don’t think anyone should make vast generalizations about this sort of thing, we understand why they’re asking.
Essentially the underlying questions are perhaps more like, Is a river cruise accommodating to an under 60 audience? And, Does Disney Cruise Line have any adult-exclusive activities?
River cruises may tend to skew a bit older though it’s changing a bit, little by little, as word gets out about how great they are. And ocean cruises are really across the board inclusive of all ages.
We’ve found any customer service-based industry wants to please their customers, overall. So we like to think there is something for everyone no matter the ship.
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The Outdoor Seating And Dining
All cruise ships have outdoor seating and dining. However, the Viking Sea seems to have more. This spacious, 930-guest ship never feels like it is crowded, and there always seems to be space outdoors to sit. Those who have searched for a quiet lounge chair or a table to eat lunch outdoors will definitely appreciate the Viking Sea.
Spa And Wellness Center
We were super impressed with all of the wellness options available on board. Some of our faves included the:
- LivNordic Spa: Impressively, spa access is completely included for all guests on board! You do have to pay extra for salon or spa treatments . But the gorgeous thermal suite is available to all guests on board all day long. The suite is inspired by Nordic bathing traditions, and features an enormous thermal hot tub , an additional hot tub, cold water pool, cold ice water splash bucket, sauna, heated stone chairs, and get this a snow grotto. Yes, a room in the suite where it literally snows all day long. Crazy. We spent at least an hour hanging out and warming up in the thermal suite each day and absolutely loved it.
- Fitness Center: We were also daily visitors of the gym on board, which featured a great selection of workout machines and a spacious room where we could do yoga. It was also sparklingly clean, with fresh towels and water bottles available everywhere.
- Main pool: We also spent some time at the main pool and adjacent hot tub, which have a retractable roof above them for temperature control.
- Sports Deck: We didnt spend much time up on this deck, but putting greens, gym equipment, and shuffleboard courts are available.
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Things Viking Ocean Does Differently
Viking Sky
There was a healthy amount of skepticism from all corners of the industryWhen Viking, the longtime driving force in creating worldwide interest in river cruising, announced it was venturing into ocean cruising, . Viking Cruises and its founder Torstein Hagen, who has been running cruise lines for more than four decades, felt confident the company had landed on a way to be successful right away in ocean cruising, by doing things a little differently. Viking Ocean Cruises’ vessels are as unique for what they offer cruisers as they are for what they decided to do without. The spaces onboard are elegant and pleasant in their simplicity, with a large space-to-passenger ratio and a modern Scandinavian design that is clean, light colored and simple.
With the debut of Viking Orion in June 2018, the line now boasts an impressive five ocean ships in its first three years with plans for at least 11 more ocean ships in the near future. Here are six things Viking Ocean Cruises is doing differently with their rapidly growing fleet:
Holland America Line Makes Masks Mandatory
Nearly all major cruise lines have now made masks mandatory onboard their ships the next in line to do so is Seattle-based Holland America Line.
In a notice on the cruise lines website, the company now states that guests are required to wear a mask at all times when inside the vessel. The statement reads as follows:
All guests regardless of age will be required to wear face masks at all times in elevators and in all indoor areas of the ship, except when eating or drinking or in their staterooms. Thisincludes wearing face masks before being seated in all dining venues and Lido Market, while dancing in public lounges and outdoors if in large gatherings and physical distancing cannot be maintained. Guests are recommended to use higher-grade masks indoors that have two or more layers, completely cover the nose and mouth, fit snugly against the sides of the face and have a nose wire.
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The mask mandate is not the only health protocol guests will need to comply with should they wish to sail aboard a Holland America ship.
All guests were already required to be fully vaccinated and provide a negative viral COVID-19 test taken two days before sailing. On top of that, the cruise line also advises guests to obtain a COVID-19 booster vaccination, when eligible, at least seven days before the start of the cruise.
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Instant Play Games At Casino Cruise
Casino Cruise operates on an instant play platform that is compatible with all operating systems. You can play most games for free, but in order to play with real money you will have to sign up and make a deposit.
Apart from the games category and software provider filters, there are other conveniences offered on the Casino Cruise instant play platform.
- A search engine has been provided. Enter a few letters and all matching games will be displayed.
- New Games are listed separately so that players can try them out as soon as they are released.
- Popular games are also listed separately to inform players of the games that are trending at the online casino.
- After you sign up you can save your favourite games in a separate section.