One of the many differences between river and ocean cruising is the size of the ships and the range cruise features found on-board. Due to their larger size and longer voyages, ocean cruise vessels will always have a wider range of facilities. This blog will take a look at some of the fabulous cruise features of ocean-bound ships that we would like to see on a river vessel.

Waterslides

Waterslides and water parks are a fantastic feature of ocean cruise vessels, offering people of all ages a fun-filled way to spend their day. The logistical problem of fitting a fully-functioning water park, complete with waterslides and lazy river, onto a river cruise vessel is certainly a major concern – but where there’s a will there a way! Ok, maybe there isn’t really a way, but I bet that some river cruise lines might have room on their vessels for the slide in the picture to the right!

Casinos

Casinos have long been an important part of ocean cruise ships, offering adults the opportunity to experience the thrill of striking it lucky at sea. River cruises ships however tend not to have the large-scale casino rooms found on their ocean-bound cousins. The majority of river cruise ships will have a card room on-board, in which passengers can play a friendly game of cards or up the stakes by putting money on the table, but in terms of roulette and other table games there is nothing to be found. However, casinos were once an important part of river cruising. Find out more about the history of gambling on river cruises in this blog from last year.

Gardens and Lawns

Those of you who have heard about Celebrity Cruises’ latest ships, which include the Celebrity Equinox, will be aware that one of their newest and most novel cruise features is a real grass lawn. I think this is a fabulous innovation and would love to see something like this aboard a river cruise vessel. Although there may not be enough space on-board for an expansive garden, at least it would be easier to water the plants with the fresh water found in the world’s rivers, rather than the salt water found in the oceans. A pleasant garden would make the perfect place to relax with fellow, like-minded travellers and watch the world go by from the waterways of Europe and Asia.

Planetariums

One of my favourite ocean cruise ships, the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2, boasts a spectacular planetarium on-board – the world’s first at sea. Equipped with Sky-Skan Inc.’s Skyvision video and DigitalSky Planetarium system, this exciting feature is a unique advance in cruise entertainment, offering three sky shows per day in a 150-seat theatre.

As much as we would love to see something like this aboard a river cruise vessel, it seems unlikely – mostly because of a lack of space. If you hadn’t already guessed, planetariums take up a lot of room, especially 150-seat theatre-style ones, but perhaps river cruise lines could install smaller capacity versions on their vessels. We think that a planetarium would be a fantastic addition to a river cruise vessel – but we aren’t getting our hopes up!

Kid’s Clubs

Many of the major ocean cruise lines, such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean, provide family-friendly cruises and a host of features of and facilities aimed at children. The kid’s clubs available on a selection of ships are a great way to give parents a break from their kids and vice versa. So, why have river cruise lines not established kid’s clubs aboard their vessels? Well, mainly because river cruises tend to be aimed at the adult demographic, focusing on areas of historic and cultural interest. Children might not enjoy tours of ancient castles and tranquil botanical gardens quite as much as their parents. Even so, kid’s clubs could be the perfect way for river cruise lines to move into the family-cruising market and attract more parent-child bookings.

If you are looking to embark on a wonderful river voyage and enjoy all of the cruise features that are on-board river cruise vessels, call our Cruise Concierge on the number at the top of this page or click here for our latest deals.

Image Credits: Nels Olsen – flickr.com