5 Cruise Lines with Stunning Onboard Libraries
Above: The stunning library on Oceania Nautica (Image credit: Oceania Cruises)
While many of the world’s most recent and largest cruise ships have foregone libraries in favour of revenue generating spaces, there are a number of lines which continue to champion the written word.
Here I will introduce you to five of the world’s most literature friendly cruise lines, all with stunning libraries onboard their ships.
Cunard
Known to be a quintessentially British cruise line, Cunard has a 180 year long history and a fleet of four ships - each named after a British queen. Their newest ship, the Queen Anne, has the smallest of the fleet’s libraries, with more than 2,700 books available for guests to peruse. In contrast, the Queen Mary 2 is their oldest ship and had the largest library at sea when it was built. It houses more than 8,000 individual books and has stunning views right over the bow of the ship.
The final two ships, Queen Victoria and Elizabeth, have stunning libraries that sprawl across two floors, furnished with dark wood furniture and completed with a spiral staircase. All voyages with 4 or more sea days will enjoy a book club led by the ship’s librarian, and the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria even have a bookshop!
Above: Queen Anne’s modern and relaxing library
Holland America
While Holland America had started to remove their cruise ship libraries prior to 2020, they later began reinstating them due to feedback given by their loyalty programme members during the pandemic. All of Holland America’s ships now have an onboard library, and they recently partnered with Audible to launch an onboard book club.
Their newest ship, Rotterdam, was built with a stunning library and each of their 10 previous ships have had their libraries reinstated.
Viking Cruises
A cruise line with culture firmly embedded within its voyages, Viking ships have gorgeous curated libraries onboard. They work with Heywood Hill, an independent London based bookseller, to stock their libraries with a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles.
Each of their voyages is also accompanied by recommended reading lists chosen to inform and inspire your exploration.
Above: A Lovely library space on Viking Star (Image credit: Viking Cruises)
Oceania Cruises
This luxury cruise line has seven small ships with voyages that explore all 7 of the world’s continents. Each of their vessels houses a gorgeous onboard library, many with stunning dark wood interiors and comfy seating to curl up in.
The Oceana Marina has a stunning library on deck 10, with warm dark wood interiors and over 2,000 books.
Above: The beautiful library onboard the Oceania Regatta (Image credit: Oceania Cruises)
Ambassador
A relatively new cruise line, Ambassador was established in 2021 and currently has two ships in its fleet. Named Ambition and Ambience, both ships host book clubs on journeys of six nights or more in their very own Brontë's Library.
Above: The gorgeous library onboard Ambassador’s Ambition (Image credit: Ambassador Cruises)
Have you visited a library at sea? Leave a comment and let me know what it was like!