Ocean cruise ships can offer what are almost certainly some of the most accessible and inclusive environments for passengers with physical, sensory and neurodivergent exceptionalities that travel has to offer.

Yet it’s always been a mystery to me how – to the best of our knowledge here at Inclu – not one of the nearly 200 vessels operated by the top eight major river cruise operators offer such a barrier-free, non-discriminatory experience.

The measure of suitability is usually as crude as a guest’s capacity to make it up a steep, narrow set of steps to the sun deck. If they can’t, they don’t appear to be welcome onboard. It sends out a clear message to one in six of the world’s population – whether you have a physical or non-physical, visible or hidden disability, there’s nothing for you here. Sail on.

Of course, guests could forego the unique pleasure of whiling away blissful hours "up-top" as life on the river banks passes serenely by, and instead remained confined to the lower decks for the entirety of their cruise. But who would? That is the stark choice for a demographic for whom river cruising would be the perfect style of travel.

Why the dramatic difference? Well first, the prescriptive Americans with Disabilities Act is now three decades old. Its introduction not only focused the creative minds of architects and designers of the built-environment on land, but also at sea.

It means today, whatever the nature and purpose of any ocean-going new-build – be it for the family, luxury or expedition market – barriers to inclusivity are designed out on the drawing board. Equity of experience is a given, no questions asked.

So why has not one single keel been laid on a river ship with an instructing brief from the buyer to "build accessible", despite some of these ships being built at the very same shipyards responsible for their ocean-going sister fleets?

It’s clearly not capability, it’s instruction from a sector that has never shown intent or desire to chart a new course. Of course, the lines have excuses, and over many years canvassing the trade, I’ve heard them all. But the two we hear time and time again are "low bridges" and "stacking".

Let’s take the first of these – low bridges versus sun deck access. So far as I’m concerned, this problem has already been solved. The very cruise lines that argue they can’t push a lift shaft through to the top deck have a mechanism where the entire wheelhouse retracts into the deck.

As for stacking, the practice of mooring ships side-by-side against a jetty or quayside and transferring passengers from one to another. It is a problem, but only because it’s been allowed to become one. Working with river ports along the world’s great rivers, I don’t believe this can’t be solved.

But there is hope on the horizon. Or at least, I hope there is. Alison Pearson, who heads up our travel operations at Inclu Travel, is a Celebrity Cruises diversity champion, so we know them well.

Given their decades-long commitment to universal design and build practices, and best-in-class guest inclusivity, I for one would be delighted to see them crack a bottle of bubbly on the bow of the world’s first luxury river cruise ship – designed for all.

Richard Thompson is co-founder and chief executive of World of Inclu.

Clia declined to comment when approached by TTG for a view on this topic.