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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
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00:00 Start
00:40 What is a "small cruise ship" ?
01:20 Upside: Service
02:15 Upside: Getting Around
03:05 Upside: Kids
03:35 Upside: Lines
04:20 Places
05:52 Downside: Nickle & Diming
06:15 Downside: Food
07:13 Downside: Motion
08:03 Downside: Passengers
08:55 Downside: Choice
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
before i went on my first smaller ship
0:02
cruise i was told to watch out as i
0:04
would find myself unable to escape
0:06
boring or annoying people as the ships
0:09
are too small while someone else told me
0:11
the problem would be no atmosphere as
0:13
too few people are on board to make
0:15
trivia events and parties buzzing this
0:18
and other watch outs made me really wary
0:20
until i clicked that all those warnings
0:22
were misconceptions from people who had
0:24
never even been smaller ship cruising
0:27
though i did find as you'll hear how one
0:30
belief is absolutely right and could be
0:32
a deal breaker for many including you
0:35
i'm gary bembridge welcome aboard first
0:37
what exactly do i mean by smaller ships
0:40
the industry includes ships of around 1
0:43
200 or fewer passengers in this category
0:46
so that ranges from ships like oceania
0:48
marina 1200
0:50
viking ocean ships 930 through to
0:53
r-class ships in the azamara oceania
0:55
fleet with around 700 guests the ultra
0:58
luxury lines like seabourn and silversea
1:00
with 600 down to the small windstar and
1:03
style clippers with fewer than 150 on
1:05
some i've been on many smaller ship
1:07
lines now including azamara windstar
1:10
fred olsen silversea seabourn crystal
1:13
planant hapagloid oceania porgogan
1:17
voyages antiquity and saga so let's
1:19
start with what i found are the upsides
1:22
from all of these trips smaller ships
1:25
have a higher crude passenger ratio
1:27
partly because they just need a certain
1:30
amount of crew anyway to operate this
1:32
ship so for example on my recent azamara
1:35
quest and seabourn encore trips there
1:37
was double the amount of crew per
1:40
passenger than i had on my recent
1:43
majestic princess and holland america
1:45
new staten dam trips i found service
1:48
more personal where crew in all
1:50
departments got to know my name really
1:52
quickly they knew my preferences they
1:54
started to preempt me by delivering
1:55
things like caffeine-free diet coke
1:58
already when i sat down for dinner the
1:59
coffee bar knew that i liked skim milk
2:02
even the shore excursions team remember
2:04
what trips i'd been on and were
2:05
recommending similar ones to me on
2:08
smaller ships i always feel i'm being
2:11
looked after in a much more personal way
2:14
the second obvious advantage it's easier
2:16
to find my way around a smaller ship
2:18
partly as there's fewer decks so while
2:21
ships like majestic princess i mentioned
2:23
had 19 decks the azamara quest i was on
2:27
the month before only had nine decks i
2:30
can get the feel of the layout really
2:32
quickly i can find out where everything
2:33
is and not miss any hidden venues within
2:37
a short time of boarding ready to focus
2:39
on my trip and of course the
2:40
destinations on larger ships it takes
2:43
ages and i've often missed or forgotten
2:45
about venues like i was almost through
2:47
an entire cruise last year on celebrity
2:50
silhouette before i even realized and
2:52
found the huge sky lounge overlooking
2:55
the bow it takes much less time to get
2:57
around and so popping say from dining to
3:00
the show in the evening takes a couple
3:02
of minutes rather than ages one thing i
3:04
like is the more adult only experience
3:07
as there are no or only a few kids even
3:11
though only a few of the lions are
3:12
officially adults only like viking and
3:15
saga
3:16
now partly because of their size but as
3:18
they tend to be more destination and
3:20
enrichment focused they don't have kids
3:23
clubs kids programs or family cabins
3:26
usually with smaller ship cruising i
3:28
love that with fewer guests the check-in
3:31
and disembarkation is an absolute breeze
3:34
for example when i was on that azamara
3:36
quest trip it literally took minutes
3:39
boarding in barcelona the same on viking
3:41
sky the month before in venice and all
3:43
the other ones i've been on the thing i
3:45
also love is smaller excursion group
3:48
sizes the downside of that though as
3:50
i've seen is you have to have minimum
3:52
numbers to operate excursions and there
3:54
are definitely more frequent
3:56
cancellations of tors than on bigger
3:58
ships on that azamara quest trip they
4:00
cancelled many excursions and quite a
4:02
few guests were upset because one of the
4:04
reasons that chosen that western
4:06
mediterranean itinerary was to go and
4:08
visit some of the places on very
4:10
specific excursions of course on board
4:13
there are no to at best small lines even
4:16
for guest services booking shore
4:18
excursions and at the bar the fifth
4:20
upside and the reason that i now love
4:23
going on smaller ship cruises is a more
4:26
intensive way they give you to see a
4:28
region bigger ships can only go to
4:30
certain ports that can handle them and
4:32
the passengers it limits and makes those
4:35
itineraries basically the same
4:37
especially in the mediterranean and the
4:39
caribbean many of those ports
4:41
particularly the mediterranean tend to
4:43
be working freight ports too on a small
4:46
ship they can ease into smaller and out
4:48
of the way places especially as fewer
4:50
guests makes mooring offshore and
4:53
tendering guests into the port
4:55
completely manageable for example when i
4:57
was on sibo and encore in the greek
4:59
islands we did exactly that at stunning
5:02
tiny little islands many i hadn't even
5:03
heard of before with us the only ship
5:06
visiting while friends of mine on
5:08
celebrity apex at the same time were
5:11
calling only on big well-trodden and
5:14
tourist-packed ports also when calling
5:17
into the bigger popular ports on other
5:19
smaller ship trips i found we often
5:22
docked much closer to the action for
5:24
example recently when i was in marseille
5:26
we were docked right in the center of
5:28
the town while the bigger ships were
5:30
right way out in the freight port when
5:33
we were able to call in saint petersburg
5:35
on silver sea we were docked right next
5:38
to the hermitage museum all the big
5:40
ships were miles and miles out the same
5:42
two in ho chi minh city silver sea was
5:44
right in the center of the city while
5:46
queen mary 2 and at the same time was
5:48
stocked an hour and a half away i've
5:50
also found less nickel and diming on
5:53
board that's partly because they often
5:55
don't even have some of the departments
5:57
like a photographic department they
6:00
don't have as many shops they don't run
6:02
art auctions also as i will talk about a
6:04
little bit more later smaller ships
6:07
fares often have more inclusions so
6:09
unlike on bigger ships i don't feel that
6:12
i'm constantly being squeezed for more
6:14
money one of the biggest upside is
6:16
smaller ship lines focus on food
6:19
possibly because they have fewer
6:21
diversions on board to keep people busy
6:24
food is even more important and there
6:26
were and are more venues than i expected
6:29
oceanic cruises claimed at the finest
6:32
cuisine at sea and reportedly spend more
6:34
money per passenger on food than any
6:36
other but every smaller ship i've been
6:38
on i've found dining is an important
6:40
part of the experience with a main
6:42
dining room a buffet and speciality
6:45
options for example on the azamara ships
6:48
and the smallest oceania ships like
6:50
insignia and serena they have two
6:53
speciality restaurants in addition to
6:55
that they have the main dining the
6:56
buffet they have a grill style dining on
6:59
the pool deck with burgers and other
7:01
informal dining on most small ships
7:04
specially dining is included i think the
7:06
only exception to that is probably
7:08
azamara
7:09
so those are the upsides what about the
7:12
downsides and that big possible deal
7:15
breaker many cruisers tell me they're
7:16
nervous about small ship cruising due to
7:19
more motion and so greater risk of
7:21
seasickness i do find bigger ships do
7:25
tend to be more stable than smaller
7:26
ships and smaller ships do move around
7:29
much more particularly
7:31
if you're in the front or the rear of
7:33
the ship you do feel it much more than
7:35
on bigger ships
7:36
even when i was on poor golgan in french
7:39
polynesia which doesn't have
7:40
particularly rough seas i could feel
7:43
much more movement than i'd expected
7:45
sailing to iceland on both voyages to
7:47
antiquity and saga sapphire was really
7:50
noticeably bouncy where the seas are
7:52
much rougher so people that suffer from
7:55
motion sickness can find smaller ships
7:57
less comfortable as i said at the start
7:59
i was warned about bumping into the same
8:02
people or as they put it being stuck
8:04
with boring people i found that staying
8:06
anonymous is definitely more of a
8:07
challenge on a smaller ship although i
8:09
can of course be as sociable or as
8:11
antisocial as i like anyway but i
8:14
discovered a flip side for people like
8:16
me who are not that great at talking to
8:18
strangers it becomes much easier to meet
8:21
incredible people because you do see
8:23
them around more frequently i have met
8:25
and built some of the strongest cruising
8:28
friendships on smaller ships jim and
8:30
kami who i met on oceania john and simon
8:33
on seabourn ben and sarah of queen mary
8:35
2 people that i have kept in contact
8:37
with and met up with i've met so many
8:40
interesting people on scholarships
8:42
because i think travis attracted to them
8:45
they're looking for quirky and
8:47
interesting destinations and they tend
8:49
i've found to have even more interesting
8:51
backgrounds and stories than i've found
8:53
often with people are met on bigger
8:54
ships of course there is less choice
8:57
fewer venues and a much slimmer daily
8:59
program compare the daily program from
9:01
two of the recent cruises i spoke about
9:04
one from azamara quest small ship and
9:06
one from majestic princess
9:08
huge difference in the amount going on
9:11
it suits me as when i'm on vacation i
9:14
want to unwind and don't need lots of
9:16
entertainment late on i personally am
9:18
happy with the choice of dining
9:20
which is pretty good having a theater
9:22
lounge with nightly singers a bar or two
9:24
with some live music a fitness room spa
9:27
a coffee shop and a lounge
9:29
overlooking the bow to hang out and of
9:31
course a pool and hot tubs but you may
9:34
need more like my partner mark he wants
9:37
big glitzy production shows he wants a
9:40
large and busy casino and a packed
9:42
fitness class program he's much less
9:44
keen on small ships unless we're going
9:47
for one of those port intensive tour of
9:49
region like that one we did in the greek
9:51
islands leading on from that a downside
9:54
of smaller ship cruising is they cater
9:56
incredibly well for couples but if
9:59
you're a solo traveler much much less so
10:02
now i cruise often without mark and very
10:05
few smaller ship lines have solo fares
10:08
or solar cabins although i'm seeing one
10:10
or two starting to introduce them like
10:13
oceania i often must pay the same price
10:16
as if i was traveling with him
10:18
it definitely is a big ask as a solo
10:20
traveler on the issue of price
10:23
probably the biggest downside is price
10:25
even when traveling as a couple although
10:28
have some cheap options are mentioned
10:30
shortly smaller ships tend to be in
10:32
luxury lines like oceania azamara
10:34
windstar or ultra luxury ones like
10:36
region seven seas seabourn and silversea
10:40
because during the pandemic lions like
10:41
holland america and princess sold off
10:44
their smaller ships offering a more
10:45
value option
10:47
and then those that are still selling
10:49
smaller ships also have more inclusions
10:51
and that pushes the price up too if i go
10:54
on a resort ship with over say 3500
10:56
passengers like royal caribbean msc
10:59
carnival norwegian
11:00
i can easily get a balcony cabin from
11:02
one hundred dollars to two hundred
11:04
dollars per person per night but a
11:06
balcony on smaller ships range from four
11:08
hundred dollars per person per night on
11:10
lines like azamara in oceania up to 800
11:13
on seabourn so it's four to eight times
11:15
more expensive now there are some
11:17
smaller value lines like fred also not
11:19
the uk on cruise g adventures across the
11:22
europe and some of the american cruise
11:23
lines doing things like the great lakes
11:26
but price is a challenge price is a big
11:29
deal breaker for many when it comes to
11:30
smaller ships if it is for you watch
11:33
this video where where i compare each of
11:35
the four big cruise categories and
11:37
recommend the best line in each of those
11:40
right now starting with the one that is
11:42
the best value
11:44
see you over there
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