Before I went on my first smaller ship cruise I was told to watch out as I would find myself
unable to escape boring or annoying people as the ship’s too small, while someone else told me
the problem would be no atmosphere as too few people to make trivia, events and parties buzzing.
This and other watch outs made me wary. Until I clicked that all these warnings
were misconceptions from people who had never been smaller ship cruising.
Though I did find, as you will hear, how one belief is right
and could be a deal breaker for many, including you
I'm Gary Bembridge, welcome aboard!
First, what exactly do I mean by smaller ships? The industry includes ships
of around 1,200 or fewer passengers here.
So that ranges from ships like Oceania Marina (1,200), Viking Ocean ships (930) though R-class
ships in the Azamara and Oceania fleet with around 700 guests, the ultra-luxury lines like Seabourn
and Silversea with 600 down to the small Windstar and Star Clippers with fewer than 150 on some.
I've been on many smaller ship lines now including Azamara, Windstar,
Fred Olsen, Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal,
Ponant, Hapag-Lloyd, Hurtigruten, Oceania, Paul Gauguin, Voyages to Antiquity and Saga.
Let’s start with what I found are the upsides from these trips.
Smaller ships have a higher crew-to-passenger ratio, partly because they need a certain
amount of crew to operate a ship. So, for example on my recent Azamara Quest
and Seabourn Encore trips there was double the amount of crew per passenger than I had
on my recent Majestic Princess and Holland America Nieuw Statendam trips.
I found service more personal, where crew in all departments got to know my name quickly,
knew my preferences and started to pre-empt me by delivering things like
Caffeine-Free Diet Coke ready at dinner and the coffee bar knowing I like skimmed milk. Even the
shore excursions team remembered what trips I went on and were recommending similar ones.
On smaller ships I always feel I’m being looked after in a very personal way.
The second obvious advantage: it's easier to find my way around a smaller ship,
partly as there’s fewer decks. While ships like Majestic Princess I mentioned
had 19 decks, the Azamara Quest I was on the month before had 9 decks.
I can get the feel of the layout quickly, know where everything is and not miss any
hidden venues within a short time of boarding, ready to focus on the trip and the destinations.
On larger ships it takes ages, and I have often missed or forgotten about
venues. Like I was almost through an entire cruise last year on Celebrity
Silhouette before I even realised and found the huge Sky Lounge overlooking the bow.
It takes much less time to get around,
and so popping from dining to the show takes minutes rather than ages.
One thing I like, is the more adult-only experience as there are no or only a few kids,
even though only a few of the lines are officially adults only like Viking and Saga.
Partly because of their size but as they tend to be more destination
and enrichment focused, they don't have kids’ clubs, kids’ programs, or family cabins.
With smaller ship cruising I love that with fewer guests the check-in and disembarking
is an absolute breeze. For example, when I was on that Azamara Quest trip, it literally
took minutes boarding in Barcelona, the same on Viking Sky in Venice and all the others.
The thing I also love is smaller excursion group sizes. The downside of that though,
as I have seen, as they have minimum numbers
to operate them, there are more frequent cancellations than on bigger ships.
On that Azamara Quest trip, they cancelled many excursions, and a guests were upset
because one of the reasons they'd chosen the Western Mediterranean itinerary,
was to go and visit some of the places on specific excursions.
Of course, on board there are at no to at best small lines, even for Guest Services,
booking Shore Excursions and at the bar.
The fifth upside, and the reason that I now love going on small cruises,
is the more intensive way to see a region.
Bigger ships can only go to a certain ports that can handle them.
This limits and makes their itineraries basically the same, especially in the
Mediterranean and Caribbean. Many of these ports tend to be working freight ports too.
On a small ship, they can ease into smaller and out-of-the-way places,
especially as fewer guests make mooring offshore and tendering guests in manageable.
For example, when I on Seabourn Encore in the Greek islands, we did exactly that
at stunning tiny islands, many I hadn't even heard of before,
with us the only ship visiting. While friends of mine on Celebrity Apex at the
same time were calling only on big well-trodden and tourist-packed ones.
Also, when calling into the big popular ports on other smaller ship trips,
I found we often docked closer to the action. For example, recently, when I was in Marseilles,
we were docked right in the centre of town, while the bigger ships were right out in the port.
When were able to call on St. Petersburg,
on Silversea we were docked right next to the Hermitage Museum. All the big ships were miles
and miles out. The same too in Ho Chi Minh City, Silversea was right in the centre of the city,
while Queen Mary 2 in at the same time was docked an hour and a half away.
I have also found less nickel and diming on board. That’s partly because they don't even have
some of the departments, like a photographic department, as many shops or art auctions.
Also, as I will talk about more later, smaller ships fares often have more inclusions.
So, unlike on bigger ships, I don't feel that I’m constantly being squeezed for more money.
One of the biggest upsides is smaller ship lines focus on food. Possibly because they have fewer
diversions on board, food is more important. And there are more venues that I expected.
Oceania Cruises claim to have the “finest cuisine at sea” and reportedly spend more
money per passenger on food than any other. But every smaller ship I have been on I found dining
is an important part of the experience, with main dining room, buffet, and speciality options.
For example, on the Azamara ships and the smallest Oceania ships, like Insignia and Sirena,
they have two specialty restaurants. And in addition to the main dining room and buffet,
they have a grill-style dining on the pool deck with burgers and informal dining.
On most small ships, specialty dining is included. I think the only exception to that, is Azamara.
So, that are the upsides I found. What are the downsides and that big possible deal breaker?
Many cruisers tell me they are nervous about
small ship cruising due to more motion and so greater risk of sea sickness.
I do find bigger ships tend to be more stable, and that smaller ships do move around more.
Particularly if you're in the front of the ship or at the rear of the ship, you do feel it much more.
Even when I was on Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia,
which doesn't have particularly rough seas, I could feel movement more than I expected. Sailing
to Iceland on both Voyages to Antiquity and Saga Sapphire was noticeably bouncy.
So, people that suffer from motion sickness can find it less comfortable.
As I said at the start, I was warned about bumping
into the same people, or as they put it, “being stuck with boring people”.
I find that staying anonymous is a more of a challenge on a smaller ship,
although I can, of course be as sociable or as antisocial as I like.
But I discovered a flip side for people like me, who are and not great at talking to
strangers. It easy to meet incredibly people because you do see them around frequently.
I have met and built some of the strongest cruising friendships
on smaller ships, Cammy and Jim who I met on Oceania, John and Simon on Seabourn, and Ben
and Sarah off Queen Mary 2. People I have kept in contact with and met up with.
I've met so many interesting people, because I think travellers attracted to smaller ships, and
quirky and interesting destinations tend to have even more interesting backgrounds and stories.
Of course, there is less choice, fewer venues, and a much slimmer daily programme.
Compare the daily program from 2 of the recent cruises I spoke about, one from Azamara Quest
small ship and one from Majestic Princess. Huge difference in amount going on.
It suits me as when I’m on vacation, I want to unwind
and don’t need lots of entertainment laid on.
I am happy with the choice of dining,
having a theatre lounge with nightly singers, a bar or two with some live music, a fitness room,
spa, coffee shop and a lounge overlooking the bow to hang out in and a pool and hot tubs.
But you may need more, like my partner Mark. He wants big glitzy production shows,
a large and busy casino, and a packed fitness class program. He is much less keen on small ships
unless we’re going for a port-intensive tour of a region. Like the Greek islands.
Leading on from that, a downside of smaller ship cruising
is they cater incredibly well for couples, but if you're a solo traveller, much less so.
I cruise often without Mark and very few smaller ship lines have solo fares or solo cabins.
Although I am seeing one or two starting to introduce it, like Oceania,
I often must pay the same as if I was travelling with him. It’s a big ask.
On the issue of price,
probably the biggest downside is price even when travelling as a couple.
Although I have some cheaper options, smaller ships tend to be in luxury lines like Oceania,
Azamara, or Windstar, and ultra-luxury ones like Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, and Silversea.
During the pandemic lines like Holland America and Princess sold off their small ships.
And as those still sailing smaller ships have many more inclusions, that pushes the price up too.
If I go on a resort ship with over 3,500 passengers like the Royal Caribbean, MSC,
Carnival, and Norwegian, I can easily get a balcony cabin from $100 to $200 per person,
per night. But a balcony on smaller ships, range from $400 per person, per night,
on lines like Azamara and Oceania up to $800 on Seabourn, so it's four to eight times more.
There are some smaller ship value lines, like Fred Olson out of the UK, UnCruise, G Adventures,
and CroisiEurope, some of the American cruise lines particularly, doing some of the great lakes.
Price is a big deal breaker for many.
If it is for you, watch this video where I compare each of the 4 big cruise categories
and recommend the best line in each right now, starting with the best value. See you over there