Rave reviews from passengers are driving interest in cruising on the Great Lakes, says the Detroit Free Press in an article on the growing popularity of cruising in the region.

“We’ve been on 26 cruises and I’m enjoying this one so much,” passenger Jill Hoose of Texas told the newspaper. “There’s not such a rush, rush, rush feeling. There are not 3,500 people standing in lines.”

Her sentiments are not lost on the cruise companies, which are lining up guests on their ships.

“We have two cruise lines invested in the Great Lakes quite heavily at the moment,” Stephen Burnett, executive director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition, told the  Free Press.

The ships include the Pearl Seas Cruises, owners of the Pearl Mist, and Victory Cruises, which operates the Victory I, a ship that can accommodate about 200 passengers. Would-be travelers can book both of them and two other ships through the Ann Arbor-based Great Lakes Cruise Company.

And it’s not just enjoying an increase in U.S. travelers. German company Plantours is planning on bringing a 400-passenger ship to the Great Lakes next season.

Maybe what is making the region so popular isn’t what you do do see, but what you don’t.

“What you won’t see in Great Lakes cruising: Behemoth ships with 5,000 passengers and their own onboard amusement parks. Those ocean-going vessels are simply too big to fit through the canals and locks that connect the ocean and lakes. They also don’t fit the Great Lakes vibe,” writes the Detroit Free Press.

Either way, don’t be surprised if you start to hear about the Great Lakes region in cruising circles.

— Cruiseable news services