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Ship comparison

Joy vs Ocean Explorer

Tauck River Cruises

Joy

Cruises
17
From
—

The verdict

Which should you choose?

Joy is an intimate Tauck River Cruises ship carrying 130 passengers, in service since 2016. Ocean Explorer is an intimate Quark Expeditions ship carrying 138 passengers. Ocean Explorer has no Bliss scores yet, so the verdict rests on the figures we do hold.

Choose Joy if you want more cruises to choose from: it has 17 cruises on sale (vs none).

Choose Ocean Explorer if you want more space per passenger or more crew per passenger: it has 59.6 gross tons per passenger (vs 7.7) and it has a crew member for every 1.3 passengers (vs 3.8).

Side by side

Specifications

marks the better figure where more, or less, is plainly better.

JoyOcean Explorer
Cruise line Tauck River Cruises Quark Expeditions
Ship size Intimate Intimate
Maiden voyagenewer highlighted 2016 —
Gross tonnage 1,000 8,228
Passengers 130 138
Crew 34 105
Passengers per crew memberfewer is better 3.8 1.3 (better)
Space per passengergross tons per passenger; more is roomier 7.7 59.6 (better)
Decks 4 —
Length 443 ft 343 ft
Beam 39 ft 60 ft
Cruiseable ratingout of 10 10 / 10 —
Cruises on sale 17 —
Upcoming sailings 67 —
Cruise lengths 5 to 14 nights —

Bliss scores

How they rate, out of 10

Cruiseable rates ships out of 10 on ten parts of a cruise holiday.

Ocean Explorer has no Bliss scores yet.

  • Active Joy: 7.0
  • Adventure & nature Joy: 5.0
  • Cultural Joy: 9.0
  • Dining Joy: 8.0
  • Entertainment Joy: 5.0
  • Family friendly Joy: 6.0
  • Party Joy: 3.0
  • Romantic Joy: 8.5
  • Spa & fitness Joy: 4.0
  • Staterooms Joy: 8.5

Tauck River Cruises

Joy

Cruising exclusively along the riverscapes of the Danube, ms Joy is part of the Inspiration class of riverboats from Tauck River Cruises.

Highlights

  • Twenty two 300-sq. ft. suites and 8 loft cabins with an additional view
  • Complimentary Internet

Sailing now

17 cruises on sale.

Questions

Joy or Ocean Explorer?

Which is bigger, Joy or Ocean Explorer?

Ocean Explorer is bigger at 8,228 gross tons, against 1,000 gross tons for Joy. Joy carries 130 passengers and Ocean Explorer carries 138.

Which has more space per passenger?

Ocean Explorer, with 59.6 gross tons per passenger against 7.7 on Joy. The higher the figure, the more ship there is for each guest.

Which has more crew per passenger?

Ocean Explorer, with one crew member for every 1.3 passengers against one for every 3.8 on Joy.

Still deciding?

Tell us what matters and we will match the sailing

Send your dates, budget and who is travelling, and our partner travel agency will come back to you about Joy, Ocean Explorer or a ship that suits you better.

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