If you think you hate cruises, you're probably just picking one on the wrong body of water

• I don't really enjoy ocean cruises but I fell in love with river cruises on my first sailing.
• On a river cruise, I find I'm more able to actually immerse myself in the places we're visiting.

When I enthusiastically booked a cabin for an ocean cruise over a decade ago, I wanted to fall in love with cruising. It felt like something all the cool kids were doing.

But I had so many issues sailing on a massive ship, from the long lines to embark to the short stops and sea days that made it nearly impossible to immerse myself in the local culture. It felt like more of an excuse to party on a ship rather than experience a different country.

But I wasn't ready to give up on cruises just yet and I recently tried my first river cruise with Viking. After just one, I'm smitten.

My river cruise was everything an ocean cruise wasn't in the best possible way.

River cruises are a fraction of the size of ocean ships, which comes with perks

River cruise ships tend to be just three decks and hold 100 to 250 guests, sometimes even fewer. Ocean cruises are usually behemoth vessels with at least a dozen decks that accommodate thousands.

I loved being on such a small ship during my river cruise because I could quickly go from my room to the top deck or a restaurant or even the shore. This is especially convenient when you forget your phone in your room and want to just pop back in to get it.

On a bigger ocean cruise, heading back to your room and having to walk across massive decks can be a bit of a time sink.

I've also found that with a smaller ship comes shorter wait times for boarding and disembarking. It also means fewer crowds overall, which I appreciate as someone on the introverted side of the socialization scale.

The river cruise was a great fit for me because I got a lot of energy from the quieter space — more than I got in the loud party scene found on many ocean cruises. With thousands of people on a big ocean cruise and days at sea when there's nothing to do but hang on on the ship, it's rare to find many places for solitude.

With river cruises, you can also say goodbye to seasickness and inside staterooms

Concerns about getting seasick deter some from going on cruises, but you don't need to worry about that on a river cruise. The chances of experiencing motion sickness are slim to none when you're cruising on a river because there aren't waves.

The water is calm, not choppy like the ocean. The only reason I knew the ship was moving was when I saw vineyards and stately homes gliding by from our balcony.

Speaking of balconies, there are no inside cabins on river cruises. Although not every room has a balcony, all of them at least have a window. This is definitely not the case on massive ocean ships.

Best of all, I feel like river cruises gave me the opportunity to be a traveler, not just a tourist

Some use cruises as an opportunity to check travel destinations off their list, but I prefer exploring a place rather than just setting foot on one spot for a few hours and buying souvenirs.

One of my biggest issues with ocean cruises is that in trying to cover many places across the seas you end up spending days just on the water and not much time at a port.

Fortunately, river cruises are port-intensive (often stopping at fairly walkable city centers) and typically cut out full days of traveling on water. On a river cruise, passengers likely aren't spending a ton of time on board drinking and partying — they're too busy on excursions off of the ship, from wine tastings to history tours.

For example, our Rhone River cruise to the south of France came with tours led by well-educated guides that gave us a deep dive into each city's history and culture.

We could also explore on our own, as many port cities on river cruises are walkable with plenty of local shops and cafes. I loved getting to wander around and explore when we stopped.

Sure, ocean cruises tend to have more onboard games, activities, and live shows, but my goal when traveling is to explore. On a river cruise, I felt like I was truly able to delve into a new country while still being able to return to a "floating hotel" at the end of the night.