All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
1. You can get VIP treatment—even on a massive boat
“Ship within a ship” programs offer the perks of a smaller line (from private butlers and first dibs on spa appointments to access to exclusive shore excursions) aboard huge vessels like the Norwegian Breakaway, the Celebrity Reflection, or the MSC Divina.
2. Rivers are the new oceans
Drifting past castles on the Rhine (or vineyards on the Rhône) is lovely. But now that river cruising—which once automatically meant visiting Europe—has gone global, itineraries have gotten much more interesting. As of this year, you can hop a small ship to sail the Amazon or the Mekong (with Aqua Expeditions), the Irrawaddy (on the Belmond Orcaella), the Ganges (on Uniworld’s Ganges Voyager II), or Africa’s Chobe River (spot elephants from the deck of AmaWaterways’ 14-suite Zambezi Queen).
3. The best way to get to Cuba is still by ship
Even the most organized trips to the island are plagued by logistical issues like limited hotel options and balky, expensive Wi-Fi. To avoid these, I booked one of several new cruises to Cuba, sailing on Fathom’s Adonia. I’d been dreaming of Havana, but because traveling by ship is faster, letting visitors bypass poor roads, I made it to three of Cuba’s biggest cities, and saw cathedrals in Havana, the crafts market in Santiago de Cuba, and the Moorish Palacio de Valle in Cienfuegos. My single favorite memory wasn’t in the capital, it was climbing to the roof of the Hotel Casa Granda in Santiago de Cuba. There, for a few dollars, I sat with a Cristal beer, took panoramic photos of the city, and sunbathed alongside locals. It was an unexpected afternoon that felt like a real discovery. Almost as good: Fathom handled my visa and much of my paperwork—the hassles that were keeping me from visiting on my own in the first place. -Lilit Marcus
4. You’ll fall asleep in the same bed at night—but wake up in a different city each morning
5. It’s easy to ditch everyone else at port
If the image of crowds being herded into onshore excursion buses has kept you from getting on the water, splurge on one of Royal Caribbean’s customizable day-trips. Called Royal Private Journeys, they run the gamut from private sailboat charters off Dubrovnik to floatplane aerial tours of Ketchikan, Alaska. Its sister line, Azamara Club Cruises, has a similar service that can get you private museum tours in Bangkok or desert excursions outside Muscat, Oman. And from virtually any ship, you can follow the lead of veteran cruisers who blow off the offered activities and tap a destination expert to craft their own indie tour that skirts port-city masses. Travel specialists like Karen Fedorko Sefer (in Turkey), Ronnie Liadis (in Greece), and Andrea Grisdale (in Italy) can coordinate private drivers and line-skipping access at museums and historic sites so you’ll be back in plenty of time for your departure.
6. You won’t need an iPad to entertain the kids
In Europe, Disney teamed up with AmaWaterways to put its spin on river cruises with fairy-tale readings in real-life castles, Sound of Music tours through Salzburg, and guides who can look after the kids as you duck out for wine-tastings. And on Uniworld’s “Family Adventures,” scheduled for school break periods, many excursions are geared toward teens and tweens—there’s gladiator school in Rome and gondola rowing in Venice. Meanwhile, in Antarctica, children as young as seven are welcome on Hurtigruten’s “Young Explorers” trips, with educational workshops and tours specifically for little ones.
7. Use this advice from frequent cruisers
“Pay extra to get a stateroom with a balcony—you’ll feel like you’re on a private ship.”
“Find excursions that include special access. On our Azamara Club Cruises sailing, we had a magical night at Ephesus, in Turkey, after the site closed to the public, walking amid the ruins and sitting in the amphitheater for a fantastic chamber music concert.”
"Bring a waterproof aXtion Go or LifeProof case for your phone, since you’ll be snapping photos poolside."
8. Some trips just give you chills
As a small boy, I was taken to the Hudson River docks where the great ocean liners were moored. I remember looking up at the dark, smooth hulls and the smokestacks towering above me.
Decades later, my wife and I boarded the Queen Mary 2 for the crossing from Southampton to New York. The ship is a magnificent feat of engineering, longer than the Eiffel Tower is high, soaring 23 stories above the waterline, with a planetarium, a 1,105-seat theater, and an Art Deco dining room that serves 1,300.
This was a crossing, not a cruise. There was nowhere else to go, no tour buses awaiting eager sightseers, just all of us on the sea, minuscule even on our great ship. Standing alone at the bow with 3,000 miles of ocean ahead, we imagined those who sailed before us—emigrants, refugees, and soldiers, peering ahead in hope or despair.
The last morning, we awoke at 4 a.m. to watch as the enormous liner cleared the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge by just 13 feet and sailed into New York Harbor. We eased past the Statue of Liberty glowing green in the dawn, and heard the unmistakable pop of a champagne cork as a young French couple toasted their arrival in America. -Jon Maksik
9. Good design at sea is no longer an oxymoron
Viking Ocean Cruises’ new ships—the Viking Star, which debuted in 2015, and this year’s Viking Sea—bring contemporary design to an industry long dominated by mirrored dining rooms and riotously patterned carpets. Think glass-backed infinity pools, Nordic-style spas, Frank Gehry’s Cross Check chairs, and cabins with private verandas, heated floors, and reading lights in the headboards. And Regent’s new Seven Seas Explorer looks more like a luxury resort than a cruise ship—maybe because the opulent interiors are by the design pros behind hotels such as the Sir Adam in Amsterdam, Miami’s Mandarin Oriental, and Seattle’s W Hotel.
10. How else will you get to tiny, gorgeous remote islands?
The Hundred Islands
This could-be Cast Away archipelago in the Philippines, north of Manila, is full of spectacular reefs and secluded coves that the Seabourn Sojourn will navigate on trips out of Singapore this winter.
The Ryukyu Islands
Next summer, Ponant’s L’Austral is partnering with Abercrombie & Kent, bringing naturalists to these volcanic isles and coral reefs south of Japan’s main islands to guide passengers through mangrove forests and limestone caves.
The Andaman Islands
Aside from larger South Andaman, many of these Indian isles, a mecca for divers, were mainly accessible to visitors by charter catamaran. Now, Silversea’s Silver Discoverer is arriving in November.
11. You won’t be off the radar (unless you want to be)—high-speed Internet access is becoming the norm on boats
12. You might even lose weight
MSC Cruises is redefining ship shape with a new food-and-fitness regimen that pairs you with a trainer even before you board. Communicating through a special app, you set exercise goals, then once aboard, you work with your trainer on a dining plan that sends you home in better shape than you left. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is offering Olympic-caliber workouts led by gold-medal skier Maria Höfl-Riesch on its Europa 2 in the South Pacific this winter. And if you’d rather vibe out than work out, consider the Canyon Ranch spa on Oceania’s brand-new Sirena.
13. You can act out someone else’s life (while making the most of yours)
Vacay like Jay Z and Queen Bey.
Book a megayacht for a week—it’s the most over-the-top of the small-ship options. On the Crystal Esprit, a 62-passenger craft that circles the Seychelles (January–March) and the Mediterranean (the rest of the year), you’ll sip Billecart-Salmon champagne between Zodiac trips to deserted beaches. Coming soon: four still-unnamed small ships from Ponant that will offer the service of a major line with the pluses you’d enjoy if you took your own boat—like no crowds, a range of ports, and flexible itineraries.
Swim in Jacques Cousteau’s wake.
Abercrombie & Kent and Silversea both launched new scuba-focused itineraries this year. A&K is heading to Palau to re-create Cousteau’s famous South Pacific journey, while Silversea is adding dive-centric trips in Asia, Australia, and the Indian Ocean.
Plant your flag like an explorer.
Silversea has an Antarctic sailing that retraces parts of Shackleton’s famous journey—only with a happier ending. To join the expedition, you’ll have to book for winter 2017, since this December’s trip is already sold out.
We curated the soundtrack for your next cruise, whether you spend it sunbathing in the Caribbean or exploring Norway's fjords: