Cruises are no longer the preserve of the “newly-wed and nearly dead” and are being embraced by a younger generation.
TikTok, Instagram and travel influencers are reshaping the image of cruising – sharing videos of experiences, swapping shuffleboard cliches for videos of slick ships, buzzy entertainment and good food. The result? The global cruise industry is expected to reach record or near-record passenger volumes this year.
Today’s cruising landscape is vast. There are ocean cruises, river cruises, expedition cruises and theme cruises , ranging from a few days to multi-year voyages. Smaller adventure-led journeys – to the Arctic, Antarctica, remote islands and culturally rich regions – are booming. Multi-generational cruises, where grandparents, parents and children together , are increasingly common. And more travellers are going solo.
Cruising isn’t for everyone. Some balk at crowds, fixed schedules or the “floating resort” feel. But for millions of travellers, the appeal is undeniable.
My first taste of life at sea was aboard Norwegian Viva, which sailed on a short Caribbean itinerary. There’s a sense of suspended reality on a cruise ship: the logistics of travel dissolve, replaced by a menu of choices – activity or idleness, indulgence or exploration, stimulation or switch-off.
At times it feels like camp for grown-ups – albeit a very polished one. And, as with hotels, not all cruise ships are created equal.
Norwegian Viva spans 20 decks and sits at the upper end of the contemporary mainstream market. It is modern, immaculate and cost $1-billion to build. There’s no pressure to dress up for formal dinners, and no obviously party-from-dawn-till-dusk-energy – at least not that I encountered.
The outdoor spaces are particularly impressive: plump tan loungers shaded by canopies, pools and bars with sea views, and a wraparound promenade deck. There’s also a three-level Viva Speedway racetrack (420 metres long), a free-fall dry slide called The Drop, waterslides, water features, ice-cream stations and a vast games and simulator area where you can try golf, football and more.
Design-wise, the ship is bright, airy and fresh. Different zones have distinct colour identities – turquoise with flashes of orange and purple, yellow and rattan hubs, bold green leaf motifs – creating visual variety as you move through the ship.
It’s worth wandering with intention, because there are delightful design details tucked throughout. A periodic table installation nods to science; a 16-metre-long interactive, digital artwork by Dominic Harris lines the exterior of the Metropolitan Bar. Titled Every Wing Has a Silver Lining, it features silver butterflies that flutter and scatter when touched as passengers walk past.
Entertainment is a big attraction. The main theatre transforms from a traditional auditorium into a nightclub with a dance floor. One night it hosts a game show, the next a 1990s disco, followed by
Beetlejuice The Musical, the Tony award-nominated Broadway production – a strange spectacle about death, ghosts and exorcism. Karaoke proved the most joyful: some participants even arrive armed with carefully curated playlists and an unapologetic desire to let loose.
Dining is central to the experience. Most venues are included, though some are premium are require payment. The two main dining rooms – the Commodore Room and Hudson’s – share the same rotating daily menu, with Hudson’s offering panoramic, floor-to ceiling ocean views. The Indulge Food Hall is styled like a food market, with 11 food-truck-style eateries. Orders are placed via tablet – quick and intuitive – with options ranging from barbecue to Asian noodles (excellent) and Indian dishes. Surfside, more canteen-like, was consistently the busiest. Even the onboard Starbucks, a paid extra, was packed from morning till night.
A standout meal was at Hasuki, a teppanyaki-style restaurant. Cheese for some, perhaps, but our table was utterly charmed. The chef sang playful renditions of If You’re Happy and You Know It and My Eggs on the Grill go Round and Round, all the while flipping knives and preparing steak, chicken and fried rice on a gleaming steel grill.
Then there’s the spa – and what a spa it is. It is enormous. Imagine sitting in a thermal pool, hot or cold, inside a double-volume space deep in the belly of the ship, surrounded by the ocean as you sail. There are multiple saunas – Finnish, charcoal (detoxifying properties), infrared, a salt room and even an ice room. House slip by easily, moving between pools, saunas and heated loungers. Treatment rooms offer further indulgence should you want it.
At sea, decision-making narrows pleasingly: infinity pool or hot tub? Line dancing or diamond art? A round of mini-golf, or simply another coffee with a view?
Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island in the Bahamas. The water is impossibly blue as advertised. After disembarking past inevitable corporate branding, the island opens into lounge-filled beaches, sheltered coves for swimming and snorkelling, and food and bar options. Active pursuits include zip-lining and parasailing. The truly adventurous can take a short ride to swim with pigs on nearby Treasure Island, a 10 minute-board ride from Great Stirrup Cay.
There are tiers onboard. Norwegian Viva’s Haven is a luxury “ship-within-a-ship”, offering larger cabins, high-end finishes, a private restaurant and bar, an expansive sun deck and exclusive lounge. Guests even have their own elevators – a subtle but telling marker of cruising’s stratification.
There are tiers on the ship. On Norwegian Viva, The Haven is the luxury “ship-within-a-ship” concept and a quite tour showed the top-end finishes, the extra space of the cabins and the access to an exclusive lounge, a huge sun deck and a private restaurant and bar. Guests at The Haven have their own private elevators.
Modern cruise ships are floating resorts now, complete with high-speed Wi-Fi and enough nooks and crannies to curate highly personal experiences.
As we prepared to disembark on the final morning, a man in his mid-to-late thirties stepped into the lift, grinning. We asked if he’d cruised before. “Oh, about 500 times,” he replied. What’s the appeal? “Everyone is happy.” It’s hard to argue with that.