What Makes a River Cruise Different From an Ocean Cruise

People ask me this weekly, so let's settle it. Two words explain almost everything: intimacy and geography.

Intimacy: a river ship carries around 150 guests, not 5,000. You'll know your fellow travelers by name by day three, the crew learns your coffee order by day two, and there are no lines — not for dinner, not for excursions, not ever.

Geography: a river ship docks in the center of town. You don't tender in from an anchorage or bus in from an industrial port. You walk off the gangway and you're standing in a medieval square. And because the banks are never more than a few hundred feet away, the scenery is constant — castles, vineyards, villages — instead of open ocean.

The honest trade-offs: fewer dining venues, no casino, quieter evenings, and cabins that are comfortable rather than palatial. If you want Broadway shows and a surf simulator, sail ocean. If you want to wake up in a new storybook town every morning with a glass of local wine at dinner, sail river. Guess which one won me over.