UK departure ports

Cruises from Greenwich

The closest a large ocean ship gets to central London, and in practice Viking's home port. Almost everything else here is small, expensive and occasional.

Who sailing from Greenwich suits

Anyone wanting Viking from London without a flight or a trip to Southampton. Viking accounts for about seventy of Greenwich's departures, far more than every other ocean line here combined: a consistent Iberia, France and England product of eleven to fourteen nights.
Anyone wanting genuine ultra-luxury from central London. Seabourn's Wild British Isles voyages run from a fortnight to a full 40 nights reaching Greenland, and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection's Evrima runs short luxury hops to Bordeaux, Copenhagen and Barcelona.
Anyone drawn to boutique expedition-style sailing without the polar commitment. Ponant and Scenic Eclipse both call here, running the Hebrides and Irish Sea, and the Norwegian fjords.

When you'd be better off elsewhere

Anyone set on Tauck or Emerald Cruises. Both appear in Greenwich listings, but neither is a line we search, so we cannot match you to them. See below for what those listings actually are.
Families with children. Every line we can actually search for here, Viking, Seabourn, Ritz-Carlton, Ponant and Scenic Eclipse, skews adult, by rule or by atmosphere.
Anyone wanting a short taster sailing or mainstream pricing. Nothing here runs under a week, and nothing here is mainstream. Tilbury or Southampton is where that lives.
Anyone for whom a boat transfer is difficult. Ships moor mid-river at Greenwich and you board by boat. Viking, the main line here, also sails from Tilbury, where you walk on from dry land.

Greenwich is Viking's port, and the rest is small ships

Listings will tell you well over a hundred departures leave Greenwich, and that number flatters it. Look at what those departures are and the port turns out to be two things.

The first is Viking, which accounts for the large majority of genuine ocean sailings from here: near-identical ships of around 930 guests, a little more on the newest, adults-only, running Iberia, France and the English coast on a steady rhythm. If Viking suits you, Greenwich is about as convenient a start as London offers.

The second is a handful of small, expensive ships calling a few times a season: Seabourn's expedition ship, the Ritz-Carlton yacht Evrima, Ponant and Scenic Eclipse. Each is a real option, but none is a programme you can plan a date around. If one of them sails when you can travel, it is a remarkable way to leave London. If not, you are waiting for next season.

A good part of the rest of what is listed under Greenwich is not ocean cruising at all. Emerald's Greenwich listings are river cruise packages sold to British guests, with London as the starting point for the flight or a pre-cruise hotel stay: the ship itself is on the Rhine or the Danube, not at this pier. Tauck is a fully guided travel company rather than a cruise line: it charters small ships from partners such as Ponant, Windstar and Silversea, then runs its own all-inclusive programme on board with its own tour directors. Neither is a line we search. So judge Greenwich on Viking plus the few small ships, not on the headline count.

Which lines board at Greenwich

Not from here, despite what you might expect: P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruises.

What actually sails from Greenwich

Viking: Iberia, France & England Explorer, a consistent 11 to 14 nights
Seabourn: Wild British Isles, extending to the North Atlantic and Greenland on the longer sailings, 12 to 40 nights
Ritz-Carlton: short luxury hops to Bordeaux, Copenhagen and Barcelona, 7 to 11 nights
Ponant: the Hebrides and the Irish Sea, and London to Lisbon along Europe's western shores, 8 to 9 nights
Scenic Eclipse: the Norwegian fjords, 9 to 18 nights

Departures from Greenwich at a glance

117 sailings leave Greenwich across the current programme, typically from 8 to 28 nights, starting around £4,995 per person. The season we can see runs April to October.

70 sailingsViking Ocean Cruises: Viking Astrea, Viking Jupiter, Viking Leda, Viking Libra, Viking Mira, Viking Saturn, Viking Sky, Viking Vela, Viking Vesta
13 sailingsEmerald Cruises: Emerald Destiny, Emerald Lumi, Emerald Luna, Emerald Sky, Emerald Sun
3 sailingsSeabourn: Seabourn Venture
3 sailingsThe Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection: Evrima
3 sailingsPonant: Le Bellot, Le Champlain
2 sailingsScenic Eclipse: Scenic Eclipse II
1 sailingHeritage Expeditions: Heritage Discoverer

Checked 2026-08-23 against live cruise-line inventory. Departure totals are exact. Ships, trip lengths and the season are what we saw in a sample of the programme, so a line may run others. Prices are the lowest we could see and move daily.

Getting there

Boarding, and getting to the pier

Ships do not come alongside at Greenwich. They moor in the middle of the Thames, and you are taken out to the ship, and back at the end, by Thames Clipper boat from the pier beside the Cutty Sark. Tell a taxi "the Cutty Sark" and you will be dropped in the right place. By rail, the DLR to Cutty Sark station or a short walk from Greenwich mainline station both bring you within a few minutes of the pier. If stepping between boats would be hard for anyone in your party, ask the line how it handles it before you book. Viking also sails from Tilbury, where you walk straight on from a land-based terminal.

By road

The A2 and the Blackwall Tunnel or Dartford Crossing bring most traffic in from the south and east; central London and the M25 both connect within half an hour or so in normal traffic.

By air

London City Airport is the closest, a short journey away, with Heathrow and Gatwick both workable via a longer transfer across the city.

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