Taking European Cruise is one if not the best experience you’ll have in your life. The line’s newest addition, the 184-passenger Le Lapérouse , is the first of at least six Explorer-class ships designed for a combination of luxury expedition-style cruising, each featuring an infinity pool, an underwater viewing lounge, and itineraries that include destinations as far-flung as Papua New Guinea and West Africa’s Bissagos Islands.
The crowd aboard these vessels, which primarily sail in North America, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean, often consists of families who take advantage of amenities like waterparks, virtual-reality gaming, and go-kart racing, though the cruise line’s newest ship, Norwegian Bliss , has a decidedly more mature atmosphere.
In addition to being able to predict prices, Cruisewatch also features a tool to match every traveler with a sailing based on their specific preferences—you heart” or X” images and sentences that match or don’t match your perfect vacation image (a bit like Tinder for cruises,” the site points out), and then Cruisewatch fires up its algorithm to automatically translate your responses into concrete search criteria, resulting in suggestions for cruise itineraries that are highly specific to you.
Though there’s no single point of contact if you need to call and discuss your cruise booking, you won’t have a single point of failure either,” as Lagerquist puts it. Costco Travel’s call center is staffed with helpful agents from early morning until evening, seven days a week, and passengers can rest assured that Costco won’t go out of business before they set sail.
The fleet currently has five ships, the largest of which carry 600 passengers—their small size allows the vessels to dock in small ports all around the world (in Indonesia, for instance, they’re partnered with the local tourism boards in developing ports like Celukan Bawang and Probolinggo).