What are best Smaller cruise ships?

[caryrae]

We just started cruising last year and have done 3 so far, all on different cruise lines, all big ships. We’ve done the Disney Dream, Royal Harmony of the Seas and just a couple weeks ago the Discovery Princess and they were all awesome, ships and crews on each were great. Started thinking it may be nice to try a smaller ship next time just to see the difference. What smaller ships have people been on that you loved? We are adults in our 50’s, well almost, I turn 50 next week.

Edit: guess I should say midsize instead of smaller. Just meant smaller compared to the big mega ships. The celebrity and NCL ships look very nice.

 

[tvguy]

I guess it depends these days on what you consider a smaller ship to be.
200? 1,000? 2,000?
Most of the Viking ships are around 190 passengers. My neighbors take those cruises regularly. Wife loves it, husband is wishing for a bigger ship with more entertainment and dining options. Although the food is far better than on bigger ships.
My first cruise was on the MS Mermoz, with a passenger capacity of 625. Food was amazing, but they sold themselves as a gourmet cruise. But there was only one seating for dining, 6 pm, and all your meals were in the main dining room. No fast service food. No buffets. The entertainment, well, the featured singer was the Captain of the ship and the comedian was the Cruise Director!

 

[georgina]

We just started cruising last year and have done 3 so far, all on different cruise lines, all big ships. We’ve done the Disney Dream, Royal Harmony of the Seas and just a couple weeks ago the Discovery Princess and they were all awesome, ships and crews on each were great. Started thinking it may be nice to try a smaller ship next time just to see the difference. What smaller ships have people been on that you loved? We are adults in our 50’s, well almost, I turn 50 next week.

We just did a Viking river cruise in April and the ship, food, and crew were so great that if I was to do an ocean one I would probably go with them. Loved the casual feel, no dressing up. Beer and wine were included for lunch and dinner and the additional drinks package for the week was only 350 euros for both of us together. (We're not big casino and theater entertainment people though.) All veranda rooms, and as the website says -

• No casinos
• No children under 18
• No umbrella drinks
• No photography sales
• No art auctions
• No charge for beer & wine with lunch & dinner
• No charge for alternative restaurants
• No charge for Wi-Fi
• No charge for use of launderettes
• No entrance fee for The Spa
• No spa sales pressure
• No inside staterooms
• No smoking
• No waiting in lines
• No formal nights, butlers or white gloves
• No nickel and diming

*The river cruise ships are 190 passengers, but the ocean ships bigger, 930 guests, and definitely have more than one restaurant!

 

[GAN]

The entertainment, well, the featured singer was the Captain of the ship and the comedian was the Cruise Director!

THAT sounds like quite the lineup!

 

[tvguy]

THAT sounds like quite the lineup!

Well, it was my first cruise, it was free, and I was being paid to Produce 5 half hour TV shows on cruising. Rough assignment for a 23 year old who was 10 months out of College!
The first cruise I paid for was 3 years later on the SS Norway, with 2,000 passengers at the time it was the largest cruise ship on the seas. Far different experience. Broadway quality shows like all ships have now, but their hook was they also had name entertainers on board, folks you would see on the Tonight Show etc, who not only put on a show, but mingled with the passengers for the week. Did two cruises on the Norway and saw and hung out with The Fifth Dimension, Norm Crosby, Jack Jones and his dad Allan who was a big name entertainer in his own right, Shields and Yarnell. Nobody I know has name entertainers anymore on their ships.
Cruising has changed a lot since my first cruise 43 years ago. Everything seems to cost extra. And people seem to have lost the ability to have a fine dining experience. They expect fast food restaurant experiences.......dinner in an hour, not a 3 1/2 hour 12 course Production like I experienced on my first cruise.

 

[Kennywood]

Stay away from the SS Minnow.

I'm just sayin'.......

 

[tvguy]

Stay away from the SS Minnow.

I'm just sayin'.......

Why? You'd end up shipwrecked on Castaway Cay. And a lot of folks on the DIS over the years have asked why people can't stay overnight on Castaway Cay. The best of both worlds. The isolation of Gilligans Island with restaurants and bars.

 

[HeatherC]

We really like Royal’s Enchantment of the Seas. Would also like to try one of their Radiance Class ships sometime.

 

[bcla]

Small is relative. I remember as a teenager taking a river cruise in China. It was odd though because they still had dormitory style rooms 6 (3rd class) or 8 (4th class) to a room. No "first class" but second class (this was very much Communist China) was two to a room. But overall the boat was nowhere as large as an old cruise ship.

And the ship many remember was the Pacific Princess from The Love Boat, which seems almost charmingly small these days.

 

[georgina]

We really like Royal’s Enchantment of the Seas. Would also like to try one of their Radiance Class ships sometime.

We were on Serenade of the seas in 2004 (Alaska) and Jewel of the seas in 2008 (Western Caribbean). Had to go look it up, 2501 passengers. There was a short Disney cruise in between (kids decided they preferred RC). Didn't cruise at all between 2008 and our 2023 river cruise.

The older we get the less we want to deal with all the chaos of the larger ships, even this size!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'll be going on a Seabourn cruise next month so I can report back on that one. The particular ship we're on is about 600 max and I believe it's sold out for our cruise. They have two large (for the company) ships the one we'll be on and its sister ship. Those ships are considerably smaller than the mega ships but are bigger than their other current ships of 450 passengers and their newer (but back to smaller of the olden days) expedition ships which are 254 passengers.

Virgin Voyages is something around 2,700 passengers which was another cruise line we had considered. HAL is another one which would have had more than 1,900 passengers. To be fair we would have chosen a suite for Virgin Voyages and a suite for HAL.

We have also considered Viking but there are cons surrounding on what type of cabin you book and your priority that have me not as excited as I once was but they are considered a good cruise line.

Are there certain things you are looking for? Are you still wanting some features that come with larger ships or were those not as imperative?

For our ship there's not water slides, go-karts and the like but there is a much more relaxing vibe on the ship with multiple places to dip into water and the ability to ask for what you want without additional cost. The only restriction was their specialty dining location (which does not cost extra) requires a reservation (or you can walk up if there's room) and is restricted to 1 time per every 7 days (although if they are not busy you can eat there more). We booked our reservation for it with ease but from what we understand they hold back some inventory for on board availability. Anyone can book it at any point in time so no complicated booking windows. Same for excursions. You book whenever you want not timeline.

We'll see how Seabourn goes but there were multiple things that appealed to us beyond a smaller ship when originally we both had considered the mega ships.

 

[easyas123]

I've never been on any of the 'bigger' cruise lines, however we have taken two river cruises w/ Viking. We really liked it - no kids, no casinos (not against them, just not interested) and just the vibe we were looking for. Of course, our first one was in our mid-40's so we were among some of the younger cruisers which didn't bother us at all.
We are considering a possible ocean cruise sometime soon, will go with Viking if we do. On the flip side, my brother & SIL like to cruise on the bigger boats and while they'd like to try a Viking Ocean cruise, they are concerned it won't be "the same" as the bigger boats. I think it all depends on what you are-or are not- looking for.

 

[Libby X 3]

We just started cruising last year and have done 3 so far, all on different cruise lines, all big ships. We’ve done the Disney Dream, Royal Harmony of the Seas and just a couple weeks ago the Discovery Princess and they were all awesome, ships and crews on each were great. Started thinking it may be nice to try a smaller ship next time just to see the difference. What smaller ships have people been on that you loved? We are adults in our 50’s, well almost, I turn 50 next week.

Edit: guess I should say midsize instead of smaller. Just meant smaller compared to the big mega ships. The celebrity and NCL ships look very nice.

Love WindStar.Cruises

 

[Karin1984]

Fred Olsen's ships are around 1350 guests max. But they have interesting routes to the Northern Lights.

Hurtigruten has great routes and ships around 600 guests.

Emerald Waterways has riverships for just 100 guests.

 

[CynBeth]

We really like Royal’s Enchantment of the Seas. Would also like to try one of their Radiance Class ships sometime.

We will hopefully be on Enchantment next month. We have also done an Alaskan cruise on Radiance.

 

[HeatherC]

We will hopefully be on Enchantment next month. We have also done an Alaskan cruise on Radiance.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[tvguy]

And the ship many remember was the Pacific Princess from The Love Boat, which seems almost charmingly small these days.

626 passengers. 352 crew members.

 

[Travel60]

We like Ponant. Their ships have 100-125ish rooms so 200-250 occupancy. It is a French line and the service is wonderful. The food is French/European and very good - but you can get a burger if that's what you crave. Entertainment is usually a pianist or similar - no comedians, magicians, dance shows, etc.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Another vote here for a river cruise. We did a Rhine River cruise on Avalon in 2017 and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I've never been on a cruise, probably never will. But, I do get the Viking mailings a couple times a month. I think if I were to take a cruise, Viking would be a top choice for me. Their river cruises are somewhat appealing to me.