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Cruises have gotten a bad rap lately: One recent scientific study found that air quality on a cruise ship deck was “worse than the world’s most polluted cities.”
But not all cruise companies feature gigantic cruise ships carrying 5000+ passengers. In our eyes, small ship cruises are much better for travelers, locals, and the environment alike.
The best small ship cruise lines typically have less than 300 passengers, a lower guide-to-passenger ratio, and expert local guides. These small luxury cruise ships have become increasingly popular in recent years, offering a more intimate and immersive travel experience.
Some small luxury cruises focus squarely on nature and wildlife, while others focus more on the history and culture of a destination. But in general, small cruises are less about the amenities of the ship itself and more about exciting shore-based adventures.
Whether you’re taking a river cruise in READ MORE: The Importance of Community-Based Tourism
WHY SMALL SHIP CRUISES ARE SUPERIOR
Galapagos Islands Cruise Ship – The Eric by Ecoventura
More Personal Space
With the On a luxury cruise ship packed with several thousand people, you often feel like a nameless face among the huddled masses. But on a smaller ship with 20-50 people, you feel more like a treasured guest, with ample room to roam.
This makes it much easier to find your own personal space away from the crowd, to have quiet time or special moments as a couple or family.
READ MORE: 0 Romantic Places for Your World Travel Bucket List
Drinking curacao on the island of Curacao
Better Personal Service
When you’re just one of the 5,000 cruisers packed into a huge floating city, it’s unreasonable to expect the attention to detail that comes with four-star service.
For travelers willing to sacrifice luxury in exchange for rock-bottom prices, the affordability and But there’s also a lot to be said for the value of the experiences you get on small boat cruises. There, all the staff (including the cruise director) knows your name and preferences, and can provide more personalized recommendations.
Having a bartender who knows you want a Blue Hawaiian with your Happy Hour appetizers may not make or break your trip. But traveling with a company who makes you feel like more than just a number-coded wristband goes a long way towards making your trip feel special.
READ MORE: The Top 0 Things to Do in Curaçao
Peruvian Amazon River Cruise excursion – swimming in the Amazon River
Connect with Like-Minded People
When you’re on a small ship with just 20-50 passengers for a week to 0 days, you tend to get to know everyone on board to some degree.
Instead of being sat at the same table with the same people night after night, on small cruises there seems to be an unspoken agreement that passengers will swap dining tables nightly.
It’s like a game of musical chairs, giving you plenty of opportunity to find out who you click with.
Inevitably, you’re bound to meet a handful of folks that share your same ideals. Especially when you take a nature/wildlife or history/culture-focused cruise, which each tends to attract a certain type of traveler.
Going on life-changing adventures with perfect strangers can create some surprisingly strong bonds. Perhaps you’ll even meet your future travel buddies!
READ MORE: Small Ship Cruising the Peruvian Amazon
Peruvian Amazon River Cruise Boat docks on the river bank
Small Ships Go Where Big Ships Can’t
You’ve heard the old saying, “Size doesn’t matter”? Well, in the case of cruise ships, it does. And in this case, bigger is very rarely better.
Small ships are simply more nimble than large ships. Unless you’re going to a mega port, big cruise ships often have to ferry their entire passenger load back and forth via small boats or Zodiac rafts.
We have great memories of our small ship cruise through the Greek Islands. Although our boat docked in When you’re cruising in places like the rivers of Europe or the READ MORE: Happy Accidents on Aegina Island, Greece
Galapagos Islands Cruise gives you intimate experiences with Galapagos wildlife
Exclusive Experiences
One of our favorite things about travel is getting a chance to learn first-hand about the history, culture, nature, and wildlife of a destination.
While other travel bloggers may prefer to explore places on their own, we love the knowledge we gain by traveling with local experts.
As a longtime professional writer, I’m continually asking our guides questions, taking notes, and interviewing local people. We ultimately use a lot of this information to make our posts more in-depth and authoritative.
Because the number of people on small ship cruises is limited, there is usually at least one guide for every 8 to 2 passengers. With such intimate access to an expert, you’re virtually guaranteed to have once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
READ MORE: NatGeo’s Don George on Travel Writing
THE WORLD’S BEST SMALL SHIP CRUISES
Africa Cruises: Nile River Cruise, Seychelles Cruise, Botswana Cruise
Antarctica Cruises: Antarctica Cruise, New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands Cruise
Asia Cruises: India Cruise, Philippines islands Cruise
Caribbean Cruises: Coastal Cuba Cruise, Lesser Antilles Cruise
European Cruises: Greek Islands, European Christmas Markets Cruise, Black Sea Cruise
North America Cruises: Northwest Passage, Alaska Inside Passage Cruise
South America Cruises: Chilean Fjords Cruise, Galapagos Islands Cruise, Peruvian Amazon Cruise
South Pacific Cruises: Great Barrier Reef Cruise, Micronesia Cruise, Polynesia Cruise
CRUISES
Elephants along the Chobe River (Botswana) Image by hbieser from Pixabay
Chobe River Cruise (Botswana)
Botswana is currently on our African safari bucket list, primarily because of the country’s forward-thinking approach to READ MORE: 55 Interesting Facts About Elephants
Nile River Cruise, photo via Pixabay
NILE RIVER CRUISE
If you’re interested in ancient history, READ MORE: 20 Longest Rivers in the World
Seychelles Cruise via Pixabay License
Seychelles Cruise
Located nearly ,000 miles off the coast of mainland Africa east of important marine areas. Together, these marine reserves cover more than 8,000 square miles.
The Seychelles are collectively very small, with a total population of around 94,000 people spread across 77 square miles of land. But their natural beauty makes them a favorite on lists of the world’s most beloved islands, with some visitors describing it as like “a garden of Eden.”
Highlights include the Seychelles National Botanical Gardens, Curieuse Marine National Park, Veuve Nature Reserve, and Morne Seychellois National Park. About 42% of the archipelago is set aside for conservation, protecting wildlife such as the rare Seychelles Black Parrot, Seychelles Giant Tortoises, and some of the world’s largest seabird colonies.
A Seychelles cruise is the best way to explore the islands’ myriad attractions. These range from idyllic READ MORE: The World’s 30 Best Exotic Islands to Visit
CRUISES
Antarctic Cruise
There’s a lot of very good reasons why taking a cruise to The Antarctic peninsula is also one of the world’s best places for watching wildlife. We saw everything from pods of Orcas and READ MORE: 30 Antarctic Animals You Can See on an Antarctic Cruise
Rockhopper Penguin image by Michael Frankenstein from Pixabay
Cruising New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands
You may know that New Zealand is divided into a North and South island. But did you know that the country also boasts remote archipelagos of islands, which have been collectively named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their pristine wilderness and READ MORE: Ecotourism in New Zealand (Top 0 Things to Do for Nature Lovers)
CRUISES
Brahmaputra River, photo via Pixabay
Brahmaputra River Cruise (India)
The northeast Indian state of Assam, which shares its border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, has emerged in recent years as a bright spot in Asian ecotourism
.
This is thanks in large part to Kaziranga National Park, which is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A luxurious cruise down the mighty Brahmaputra River is arguably the best way to explore the region, offering amazing opportunities to see some of the region’s Elephants to Sloth Bears, the endangered South Asian River Dolphin, and thousands of bird species. In short, it’s a must-see for animal lovers!
READ MORE: Indian Animals: A Guide to 40 Incredible Indian Wildlife Species
Philippines Islands Cruise image by Guy Goddard from Pixabay
Cruising the Philippines islands
Located in Southeast Asia near READ MORE: Top 5 Things to Do in Coron, Palawan (Philippines)
CRUISES
Cuba Mountains, photo via Pixabay
Costal Cuba Cruise
President Obama loosened the decades-long restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba
several years ago, causing a dramatic surge of interest in traveling to the Caribbean island.
With Donald Trump actively working to reverse these improved diplomatic relations, there’s never been a better time to explore mass tourism.
Lesser Antilles Cruise
When most Americans think of the Caribbean, they tend to think of perennial sun/surf/sand hotspots such as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica.
But the more remote islands of the Lesser Antilles (which form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean) are generally less over-developed and more pristine than those crowded mass tourism destinations.
Included among the Lesser Antilles islands are Martinique, St. Lucia, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Grenada, which has recently emerged as a haven for ecotourism. Popular activities in the region range from bird watching and snorkeling/Dominica. From the gorgeous waterfall and diving READ MORE: 20 Best Caribbean Islands to Visit
CRUISES
The Swallow’s Nest on the Black Sea in Crimea image by Irina Rassvetnaja from Pixabay
Black Sea Cruise
As bodies of water go, the Black Sea is pretty strange. On the map, this inland sea looks more like a giant lake, connected to the Aegean Sea (and the Mediterranean) by the narrow Bosphorus Strait.
But, with 68,500 square miles of surface area and a maximum depth of 7,257 feet, the Black Sea is considerably bigger than the ancient archaeological sites.
Must-see sites you can visit while cruising the Black Sea include Instanbul’s Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, Romania’s Danube River Delta, the Ukranian city of Odessa, and Sochi Olympic Park, the first theme park in all of Russia.
READ MORE: 40 Fascinating Facts About Russia’s Amur Leopard
Christmas Market in Hamburg, Germany via Pixabay license
European Christmas Market Cruise
Although we’re not at all religious, our family goes bonkers for Christmas, especially anything to do with READ MORE: 75 Christmas Traditions Around the World
Greek Islands Cruise
From to the ancient history of Athens
to Meteora’s majestic mountains, mainland Greece has plenty to offer travelers with an interest in nature, culture and history.
But for a true taste of Greek tradition, it’s hard to beat small ship cruises through the countless s are tiny (7.4 to 59 square miles) and quaint: Many mainland residents have vacation homes there, so it’s a great place to catch locals in a celebratory mood. They’re also considerably less crowded with tourists than some of the more famous islands.
The Cyclades, with around 220 islands, is the densest and most popular grouping in Aegean archipelago thanks to Delos, Mykonos, and Santorini. For ancient history, the Dodecanese Islands (especially Rhodes) and Crete are hard to beat.
READ MORE: 40 Photos Of Greece That Will Make You Want To Go
AMERICA CRUISES
Northwest Passage Cruise
The Arctic Circle is considered to be one of the planet’s last truly wild places.
The Arctic region encompasses northern Alaska and A small ship cruise of the historic Northwest Passage is arguably the best way to explore the Arctic. It offers unique opportunities to see explorer’s bucket list.
READ MORE: Polar Bears Photo Gallery
Cruising in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Alaska Inside Passage Cruise
Stretching from Washington State’s Puget Sound north to the Alaska Panhandle, the Inside Passage is a coastal route in the Pacific Northwest. Popularized during the Klondike Gold Rush, the route allows ships to avoid the bad weather and often rough waters of the open ocean.
Today, around 36,000 boats navigate portions of this route each year, from massive cruise ships and freighters to smaller AdventureSmith and Alaskan Dream Cruises. The Alaskan portion encompasses ,000 READ MORE: Visiting the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
AMERICA CRUISES
Caguach Island, Chiloé Archipelago, photo by Robert Gould CC BY-SA 3.0
Chilean Fjords Cruise
When it comes to Chilean travel, the wine region around Santiago and the dynamic landscapes of Torres del Paine National Park in READ MORE: Exploring Grytviken, South Georgia Island
Swimming with Galapagos Penguins
Galapagos Islands Cruise
A small ship is vital if you want to really explore the The Voyage of the Beagle, Thanks to its remote location and UNESCO/National Park protection, the wildlife of the Galapagos is plentiful.
Endemic species such as READ MORE: 30 Amazing Galapagos Island Animals
Peruvian Amazon River Cruise
Amazon rainforest
’s total area of 2,00,000 square miles. Unfortunately, that country’s unsustainable exploitation of its natural resources has damaged this once-pristine ecosystem, perhaps irreparably.
For a better taste of the Amazon rainforest’s world-famous biodiversity, you’ll want to take a READ MORE: Cruising the Peruvian Amazon
PACIFIC CRUISES
Great Barrier Reef, photo via Pixabay
Great Barrier Reef Cruise
Don’t believe the hype! Click-bait headlines claimed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef dead in 206 after a cheeky column by Rowan Jacobson appeared in Outside. But news of the demise of the place UNESCO called “the most impressive marine area in the world” was greatly exaggerated.
Yes, the reef suffered READ MORE: 0 Awesome Australian Road Trips
Manta Ray in Micronesia, photo via Pixabay
Micronesia Cruise
Spread across the western Pacific northeast of Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia is comprised of more than 600 islands.
The country is made up of four island states– Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk, and Yap– and known for its palm-shaded beaches, ancient ruins, and thriving indigenous cultures. If you want to see the best of them in one trip, a cruise is really the only way.
The islands are widely ranked among the READ MORE: 5 Rare Sharks Worth Saving
Polynesian Islands Cruise
There are so many beautiful Polynesian Islands, it would be impossible to pick just one favorite.
But, with less than 2,000 miles separating tropical hotspots such as Tahiti and Fiji, a small-ship cruise offers the perfect way to explore numerous gorgeous getaways in just a few weeks.
From pearl diving in Bora Bora and birdwatching in the Cook Islands to READ MORE: 2 Photos of Tahiti To Fuel Your Fantasies
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