a rebel with a cause

This is a segment of an article I wrote for danube-river.com. In fact, if you visit the website you will see that I’m a partner on the project, as I’m writing most of the content. It’s a site devoted to cruises on the great Danube river.

Quick: do you know the differences between ocean and river cruising?

The main difference is that ocean cruises employ much larger ships than river cruises. The capacity of some ocean cruises is staggering – generally a few thousand people. River cruises are more intimate.

As rivers are narrow stretches of water, they tend to traverse more interesting and varied landscapes, keeping it more engaging for the travellers.

And river cruises tend to sail along the shores, close to the banks, so they can offer a great scenery, which is the primary reason for travellers to choose this type of a trip.

Ocean cruises last longer, even though they sail faster. Ocean cruising requires crossing large expanses of water, sometime enduring continuous, long, uninterrupted horizons and the swaying of repetitious waves, with nothing to break up the monotonous rhythm. Although looking at an unbroken horizon and the expanse may be very soothing for the mind and give one a sense of freedom, it is likely to become slightly dull after a couple of days.

The liners have a tendency to offer extravagance of the same standards as hotels. For this reason, instead of the view, they invest more into elaborately appointed interiors, such as swimming pools, sun decks, dining halls, and more spacious cabins. They tend to rely on these facilities to keep a traveller’s interest, as the surroundings often provide none. These can include music clubs, casinos, gymnasiums, spas, and even movie theatres.

So, the question really comes down to: do you want to have an adventure and explore? or do you want it to feel like you never left terra firma and all its sinful indulgences?

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