What to Know About Great Lakes Cruises

From Lake Michigan to Lake Superior, prepare for the cruise of a lifetime

A cruise along the Great Lakes is a chance for American travelers to explore closer to home and to learn about the history of industrial cities in the U.S. and Canada.

courtesy Pearl Seas Cruises

Greg Tasker,

AARP

Published May 05, 2025

After countless river cruises in the United States and trips abroad, Troy and DeAnn Underwood, 89 and 86, respectively, opted to join a Great Lakes cruise this spring.

The Palo Alto, California, couple embarked on the maiden voyage of the Victory 1, a 190-passenger ship sailing from Portland, Maine, to Toronto. Their 11-night cruise included stops in Montreal and Quebec City before reaching the Great Lakes.

“This is our first time in this part of the world. I’m really looking forward to all of it,” says Troy Underwood, a retired electrical engineer who, on day two, was already contemplating a return trip to cruise deeper into the Great Lakes. “I’d really like to see Chicago and sail up Lake Michigan to Mackinac Island.”

Interest in cruising the Great Lakes – Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior – is growing, mainly attracting Americans and some Europeans who have already sailed the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and other seas. According to John Schmidt, program manager for Cruise the Great Lakes, a regional cruise marketing program representing both the Canadian and American sides of the lakes, 22,500 passengers are expected to cruise the Great Lakes in 2025, up from 4,500 in 2008.

Cruise line representatives say the cruises appeal mostly to older travelers in their 50s and above who are often retired, educated, and well-traveled. Generally, these travelers are seeking laid-back, enrichment vacations.

Victory Cruise Lines’ sailings feature historians and naturalists, some from the Great Lakes Maritime Museum.

Courtesy Victory Cruise Lines

“These cruises don’t really attract the cocktail umbrella crowd. These are not people who want to party and do a big booze up,” says Schmidt.

According to AARP’s 2025 Travel Trends report, 7 percent of travelers 50-plus anticipate taking a cruise this year. Among them, they’ve taken an average of 12 cruises. Avid cruisers, these vacationers see many benefits in traveling by ship, the survey found. Of note, they like being able to visit multiple destinations and find cruising the best way to relax.

“Many of them are people like myself,” says John Waggoner, 69, CEO of Victory Cruise Lines. “We’ve cruised all over the world but have not explored all the places in the U.S. It’s about continuing education and learning about the Great Lakes.”

The appeal? For many Americans, the Great Lakes, the world’s largest group of freshwater lakes, are as iconic as the Rocky Mountains but far less visited and known. Cruise goers are interested in the history of big industrial cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee and lesser-known communities on both sides of the border. Mackinac Island, Michigan’s car-less island known for its fudge, horse-drawn carriages and the Grand Hotel, is a popular stop for many.

“A lot of our guests are going because they haven’t been to the Great Lakes,” says Michael Consoli, a cruise planner and the owner of Michael Consoli & Associates. “They’re interested in places like Mackinac Island, Niagara Falls and Toronto. I think proximity is also a big draw – people don’t have to travel far.”

a cruise ship on the lake with a light house

Pearl Seas Cruises travels along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

courtesy Pearl Seas Cruises

What to know about pricing, ship size

Eight cruise ships are plying the Great Lakes this season, which generally runs from April through October. They are from Victory Cruise Lines, Pearl Seas Cruises, Viking, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, Ponant and Hapag-Lloyd. Cruises generally run one to two weeks, sometimes longer, and range in price from about $6,000 for seven days to about $14,000 for longer excursions.

The passenger ships sailing the Great Lakes are smaller – generally 250 to 300 passengers – than their ocean-faring counterparts, Schmidt says. Generally, these excursions, in terms of the sizes of the ships, are comparable in cost to ocean cruises, Schmidt says. Many of them are all-inclusive. Some ships do have pools. On-board activities typically include music, lectures, and cocktail hours. The focus is more about personal enrichment.

Viking’s ships on the Great Lakes hold 378 guests and carry kayaks and Zodiacs for excursions.

Viking Great Lakes

Excursions and activities

“While on board, we have local historians, entertainers, and a dedicated crew catering to every need and wish of the guests,” says Alexa Paolella, public relations manager for American Cruise Lines and its affiliated brand Pearl Seas Cruises. “We host activities to prepare guests for the next port, get to know the fellow guests and to have fun and relax.”

Itineraries vary among cruise lines, with ports of call on all five Great Lakes on the American and Canadian sides. In all, there are 30 ports, Schmidt says. They range from big cities like Cleveland and Detroit to more outdoorsy locales like Marquette in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Georgian Bay, Ontario, where passengers can kayak sheltered inlets and spot local wildlife.

“Many travelers are taken by the pristine and varied landscapes of the Great Lakes region,” says Richard Marnell, executive vice president of marketing at Viking. “They are also impressed by the rich culture and history of various ports, including Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Toronto and Milwaukee.”

Sailing the Great Lakes are Viking’s identical sister ships, Octantis and Viking Polaris, built specifically for expeditions. These ships host 378 guests and carry kayaks and Zodiacs, enabling greater exploration of shoreline destinations. Marnell notes Viking’s science programming allows passengers to work alongside scientists on tasks such as collecting lake-surface microplastics for sorting and analysis in an onboard lab. The ships also feature The Aula, a panoramic auditorium for lectures and daily briefings.

Similarly, Victory Cruise Lines offers passengers “Meet the Lakelorian,” a lecture program that features destination-oriented historians and naturalists who share their knowledge of each port’s history, ecology, and culture.

“Our guests want continuous learning,” Victory’s Waggoner says. “What better way to learn about the Great Lakes than while sailing on them and having an expert on board from the Great Lakes Maritime Museum?”

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Greg Tasker is a freelance writer who lives near Lake Michigan in Traverse City, Michigan. His work has appeared in Parade, AAA Explorer, Budget Travel, Fodor’s, the Los Angeles Times and other publications.

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What to Know About Great Lakes Cruises

From Lake Michigan to Lake Superior, prepare for the cruise of a lifetime

What to know about pricing, ship size

Excursions and activities

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