Issues involved with traveling on Shabbat

1) Riding the boat
This is discussed in the Mishneh Brura, perek 248. You can ride
on a boat on Shabbat if the bottom of the boat is more than 10 tfachim about one meter) above the bottom of the water, because then you would not be considered to be going outside the tachum. If you get on the boat before shabbat, and establish the boat as your shvita (the place you are staying for Shabbat), then there is no problem with the boat leaving port on Shabbat. Some authorities even allow getting on the boat Friday afternoon, staying there until nightfall and making kiddush there, then returning home to sleep and boarding the boat Shabbat morning before it
leaves.

2) Boarding 3 days before shabbat, issue of Ong Shabbat
There is a problem with boarding a boat within three days before Shabbat on an ocean voyage, since you would then likely be seasick and this would ruin your oneg Shabbat. But for a dvar mitzvah, this is allowed.

3) Carrying on Shabbat on the ship
Carrying on a ship on Shabbat is not a problem if everyone eats their meals in a common dining area, which is usually the case on cruise ships. Even if that weren't the case, I suppose you could make an eruv, as you could do in a hotel.

4) Getting off ship on Shabbat
I know that in practice, people don't get off boats on Shabbat, if the boat did not arrive in port before Shabbat. And I know that people who are forced to get off irplanes on Shabbat (which would present the same halachic issue, since airplanes are more than 10 tfachim above the ground) stay confined to the terminal they are in until after Shabbat. I assume the reason is that at the beginning of Shabbat, when the tachum of each person is established, the boat or airplane did not have a tachum, since it was more than 10 tfachim above the ground (or bottom of the water). Someone in the city where the boat docks, on the other hand, is allowed (for a dvar mitzvah, if I am remembering this correctly) to go on board the boat on Shabbat
while it is in port, but not to leave on the boat on Shabbat, since the ship is within the tachum of the city, even though the city is not within the (non-existent) tachum of the boat.

These are just some of the halachic issues that one should be aware of before boarding a cruise. Be sure that the agency you are traveling with is aware and dealing with these and other issues.

Reproduced with permission from the STAR-K. Thank you to Rabbi Zvi Goldberg, Star-K Kashrus Administrator for his article "Don't Miss the Boat:Halachic Guidelines of Kosher Cruises"

What are options if one wants to eat kosher on a cruise?

There are different ways for one to cruise kosher.
1) All-Kosher boats - there is one company that has an all-kosher boat.
Chosen Voyage has been running all-kosher cruises since 2004. While kosher usually refers to dietary laws set out in the Torah, on Chosen Voyage's cruises it is also applied to daily living as practiced by orthodox Jews who are observant of laws pertaining to modesty, prayers and the Sabbath. When the Chosen Voyage is sailing, the ship's business center is converted into a Judaica library and the wine list is replaced with kosher wines. Daily minyans take place in the conference room, and on the Sabbath the lounge is transformed into a synagogue.
Pros: Can vacation in deluxe style while completely observing halacha.
Cons: Have to travel with all Jews
Available by: Chosen Voyage which sails on various small and medium sized cruise vessels.
2)Pre-packaged Kosher Meals - kosher meals are pre-packaged off the ship in a kosher kitchen, frozen and brought to the table sealed in their original containers; kitchens on board are not kosher.
Pros: If fancy food is not important to you,then this is a way you can travel like without the jewish "chevra".
Cons: If your idea of a deluxe vacation includes gourmet food, this is not the path to take.
Available on: Most major "Mega" cruise ships ex. Celebrity Cruises, Holland America, Royal Caribbean
3)Kosher Kitchen on ship - there are various agencies that take over and kasher a kitchen on the ship, they bring in specially selected chefs and mashgiachim and with all that they are able to prepare food that have the standard of a 5-star hotel.
Pro: You can travel with a Jewish chevra as well with a few hundred "other" people and still eat gourmet, lavish, food 3 meals a day.
Con: The halahic issues of kashrut are very complicated on a huge ship that run both kosher and non kosher kitchens silmutaneously. As written by Rabbi Zvi Goldberg, Star-K Kashrus Administrator in his article "Don't Miss the Boat:Halachic Guidelines of Kosher Cruises"

Providing kosher supervision on a cruise ship is not an easy task. "Mega-ships" carrying over 4,000 guests serve more than 12,000 meals per day! Food preparation occurs around-the-clock in multiple locations. Often a 'kosher cruise' means that an entrepreneur has booked a number of cabins aboard a large ship. In such an arrangement, kosher and non-kosher food will be prepared and served simultaneously.

The traveler must have confidence in the kashrus agency. In order to instill confidence, a reliable kashrus organization must address many issues.

Available by: Eddie's Travel (www.koshertravelers.com), Kosherica, SuiteLife - all of whom travel on various large luxury ships such as Costa, MSC, Celebrity.

So which ever way you choose, in the 22nd century jews can travel the world in style and well fed!