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Small Ship Cruise Line Cruising Wasn’t What I Expected. Here's Why
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Jan 28, 2025
I look at the reality of cruising on smaller ship lines versus the many misconceptions and things I was warned about by other cruisers about them. I discuss what I found to be the at the 5 upsides and the 5 downsides of small ship cruise line cruising ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 96 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- * Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
View Video Transcript
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before i went on my first smaller ship
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cruise i was told to watch out as i
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would find myself unable to escape
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boring or annoying people as the ships
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are too small while someone else told me
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the problem would be no atmosphere as
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too few people are on board to make
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trivia events and parties buzzing this
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and other watch outs made me really wary
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until i clicked that all those warnings
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were misconceptions from people who had
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never even been smaller ship cruising
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though i did find as you'll hear how one
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belief is absolutely right and could be
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a deal breaker for many including you
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i'm gary bembridge welcome aboard first
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what exactly do i mean by smaller ships
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the industry includes ships of around 1
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200 or fewer passengers in this category
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so that ranges from ships like oceania
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marina 1200
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viking ocean ships 930 through to
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r-class ships in the azamara oceania
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fleet with around 700 guests the ultra
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luxury lines like seabourn and silversea
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with 600 down to the small windstar and
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style clippers with fewer than 150 on
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some i've been on many smaller ship
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lines now including azamara windstar
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fred olsen silversea seabourn crystal
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planant hapagloid oceania porgogan
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voyages antiquity and saga so let's
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start with what i found are the upsides
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from all of these trips smaller ships
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have a higher crude passenger ratio
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partly because they just need a certain
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amount of crew anyway to operate this
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ship so for example on my recent azamara
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quest and seabourn encore trips there
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was double the amount of crew per
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passenger than i had on my recent
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majestic princess and holland america
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new staten dam trips i found service
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more personal where crew in all
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departments got to know my name really
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quickly they knew my preferences they
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started to preempt me by delivering
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things like caffeine-free diet coke
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already when i sat down for dinner the
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coffee bar knew that i liked skim milk
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even the shore excursions team remember
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what trips i'd been on and were
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recommending similar ones to me on
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smaller ships i always feel i'm being
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looked after in a much more personal way
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the second obvious advantage it's easier
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to find my way around a smaller ship
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partly as there's fewer decks so while
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ships like majestic princess i mentioned
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had 19 decks the azamara quest i was on
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the month before only had nine decks i
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can get the feel of the layout really
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quickly i can find out where everything
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is and not miss any hidden venues within
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a short time of boarding ready to focus
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on my trip and of course the
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destinations on larger ships it takes
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ages and i've often missed or forgotten
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about venues like i was almost through
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an entire cruise last year on celebrity
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silhouette before i even realized and
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found the huge sky lounge overlooking
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the bow it takes much less time to get
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around and so popping say from dining to
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the show in the evening takes a couple
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of minutes rather than ages one thing i
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like is the more adult only experience
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as there are no or only a few kids even
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though only a few of the lions are
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officially adults only like viking and
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saga
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now partly because of their size but as
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they tend to be more destination and
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enrichment focused they don't have kids
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clubs kids programs or family cabins
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usually with smaller ship cruising i
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love that with fewer guests the check-in
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and disembarkation is an absolute breeze
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for example when i was on that azamara
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quest trip it literally took minutes
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boarding in barcelona the same on viking
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sky the month before in venice and all
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the other ones i've been on the thing i
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also love is smaller excursion group
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sizes the downside of that though as
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i've seen is you have to have minimum
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numbers to operate excursions and there
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are definitely more frequent
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cancellations of tors than on bigger
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ships on that azamara quest trip they
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cancelled many excursions and quite a
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few guests were upset because one of the
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reasons that chosen that western
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mediterranean itinerary was to go and
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visit some of the places on very
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specific excursions of course on board
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there are no to at best small lines even
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for guest services booking shore
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excursions and at the bar the fifth
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upside and the reason that i now love
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going on smaller ship cruises is a more
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intensive way they give you to see a
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region bigger ships can only go to
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certain ports that can handle them and
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the passengers it limits and makes those
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itineraries basically the same
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especially in the mediterranean and the
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caribbean many of those ports
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particularly the mediterranean tend to
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be working freight ports too on a small
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ship they can ease into smaller and out
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of the way places especially as fewer
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guests makes mooring offshore and
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tendering guests into the port
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completely manageable for example when i
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was on sibo and encore in the greek
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islands we did exactly that at stunning
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tiny little islands many i hadn't even
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heard of before with us the only ship
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visiting while friends of mine on
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celebrity apex at the same time were
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calling only on big well-trodden and
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tourist-packed ports also when calling
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into the bigger popular ports on other
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smaller ship trips i found we often
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docked much closer to the action for
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example recently when i was in marseille
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we were docked right in the center of
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the town while the bigger ships were
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right way out in the freight port when
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we were able to call in saint petersburg
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on silver sea we were docked right next
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to the hermitage museum all the big
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ships were miles and miles out the same
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two in ho chi minh city silver sea was
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right in the center of the city while
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queen mary 2 and at the same time was
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stocked an hour and a half away i've
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also found less nickel and diming on
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board that's partly because they often
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don't even have some of the departments
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like a photographic department they
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don't have as many shops they don't run
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art auctions also as i will talk about a
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little bit more later smaller ships
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fares often have more inclusions so
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unlike on bigger ships i don't feel that
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i'm constantly being squeezed for more
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money one of the biggest upside is
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smaller ship lines focus on food
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possibly because they have fewer
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diversions on board to keep people busy
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food is even more important and there
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were and are more venues than i expected
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oceanic cruises claimed at the finest
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cuisine at sea and reportedly spend more
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money per passenger on food than any
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other but every smaller ship i've been
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on i've found dining is an important
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part of the experience with a main
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dining room a buffet and speciality
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options for example on the azamara ships
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and the smallest oceania ships like
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insignia and serena they have two
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speciality restaurants in addition to
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that they have the main dining the
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buffet they have a grill style dining on
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the pool deck with burgers and other
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informal dining on most small ships
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specially dining is included i think the
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only exception to that is probably
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azamara
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so those are the upsides what about the
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downsides and that big possible deal
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breaker many cruisers tell me they're
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nervous about small ship cruising due to
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more motion and so greater risk of
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seasickness i do find bigger ships do
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tend to be more stable than smaller
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ships and smaller ships do move around
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much more particularly
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if you're in the front or the rear of
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the ship you do feel it much more than
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on bigger ships
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even when i was on poor golgan in french
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polynesia which doesn't have
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particularly rough seas i could feel
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much more movement than i'd expected
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sailing to iceland on both voyages to
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antiquity and saga sapphire was really
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noticeably bouncy where the seas are
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much rougher so people that suffer from
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motion sickness can find smaller ships
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less comfortable as i said at the start
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i was warned about bumping into the same
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people or as they put it being stuck
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with boring people i found that staying
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anonymous is definitely more of a
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challenge on a smaller ship although i
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can of course be as sociable or as
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antisocial as i like anyway but i
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discovered a flip side for people like
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me who are not that great at talking to
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strangers it becomes much easier to meet
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incredible people because you do see
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them around more frequently i have met
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and built some of the strongest cruising
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friendships on smaller ships jim and
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kami who i met on oceania john and simon
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on seabourn ben and sarah of queen mary
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2 people that i have kept in contact
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with and met up with i've met so many
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interesting people on scholarships
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because i think travis attracted to them
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they're looking for quirky and
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interesting destinations and they tend
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i've found to have even more interesting
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backgrounds and stories than i've found
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often with people are met on bigger
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ships of course there is less choice
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fewer venues and a much slimmer daily
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program compare the daily program from
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two of the recent cruises i spoke about
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one from azamara quest small ship and
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one from majestic princess
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huge difference in the amount going on
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it suits me as when i'm on vacation i
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want to unwind and don't need lots of
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entertainment late on i personally am
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happy with the choice of dining
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which is pretty good having a theater
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lounge with nightly singers a bar or two
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with some live music a fitness room spa
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a coffee shop and a lounge
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overlooking the bow to hang out and of
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course a pool and hot tubs but you may
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need more like my partner mark he wants
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big glitzy production shows he wants a
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large and busy casino and a packed
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fitness class program he's much less
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keen on small ships unless we're going
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for one of those port intensive tour of
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region like that one we did in the greek
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islands leading on from that a downside
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of smaller ship cruising is they cater
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incredibly well for couples but if
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you're a solo traveler much much less so
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now i cruise often without mark and very
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few smaller ship lines have solo fares
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or solar cabins although i'm seeing one
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or two starting to introduce them like
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oceania i often must pay the same price
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as if i was traveling with him
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it definitely is a big ask as a solo
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traveler on the issue of price
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probably the biggest downside is price
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even when traveling as a couple although
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have some cheap options are mentioned
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shortly smaller ships tend to be in
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luxury lines like oceania azamara
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windstar or ultra luxury ones like
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region seven seas seabourn and silversea
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because during the pandemic lions like
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holland america and princess sold off
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their smaller ships offering a more
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value option
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and then those that are still selling
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smaller ships also have more inclusions
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and that pushes the price up too if i go
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on a resort ship with over say 3500
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passengers like royal caribbean msc
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carnival norwegian
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i can easily get a balcony cabin from
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one hundred dollars to two hundred
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dollars per person per night but a
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balcony on smaller ships range from four
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hundred dollars per person per night on
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lines like azamara in oceania up to 800
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on seabourn so it's four to eight times
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more expensive now there are some
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smaller value lines like fred also not
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the uk on cruise g adventures across the
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europe and some of the american cruise
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lines doing things like the great lakes
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but price is a challenge price is a big
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deal breaker for many when it comes to
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smaller ships if it is for you watch
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this video where where i compare each of
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the four big cruise categories and
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recommend the best line in each of those
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right now starting with the one that is
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the best value
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see you over there
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