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Small Ship Cruise Line Cruising Wasn’t What I Expected. Here's Why

Tips For Travellers
Tips For Travellers
🥈Expert
👁️ 117K views📅 3 years ago⏱️ 11:45

Key Moments

Editorial Summary

Gary Bembridge examines the realities of small ship cruising, addressing common misconceptions regarding social atmosphere and boredom. He defines the category as vessels carrying 1,200 passengers or fewer, ranging from mid-sized lines like Oceania to ultra-luxury brands like Silversea. The creator highlights several advantages, including higher crew-to-passenger ratios that lead to personalized service, easier navigation of the ship, and more efficient check-in processes. He emphasizes that smaller ships can access unique, out-of-the-way destinations and dock closer to city centers than larger vessels. Additionally, he notes that dining is often a central focus with high-quality food. However, the video identifies significant drawbacks, most notably the increased risk of motion sickness due to less stability. Other challenges include more frequent shore excursion cancellations, a slimmer daily entertainment program, and limited options for solo travelers. Finally, the creator concludes that price is a major factor, as smaller ships are often positioned in the luxury market and can be significantly more expensive per night than large resort ships.

Written by TripBacon from this video's transcript.

How This Review Compares

This review's score for Azamara Quest
A Nibble
All-time creator consensus for Azamara Quest
Solid Strip

This review is more critical than the all-time creator consensus.

What This Creator Said
Creator RecommendsFull Ship Review🥈Expert Creator
OtherVeteran Cruiser

Source: Our analysis of the creator's lived experience, based on what they said in this video.

Creator's Key Takeaways

i found service more personal where crew in all departments got to know my name really quickly

the fifth upside and the reason that i now love going on smaller ship cruises is a more intensive way they give you to see a region

i do find bigger ships do tend to be more stable than smaller ships and smaller ships do move around much more

price is a big deal breaker for many when it comes to smaller ships

Creator's Tips & Advice

Watch out for motion sickness on smaller ships
Consider the price difference compared to larger ships

🆕New to Cruising? This Creator Addresses:

motion sicknessBigger ships are more stable; smaller ships move more, especially at front or rear
being stuck with boring peopleIt's easier to meet incredible people due to frequent encounters

Questions This Creator Answers

QWhat are the upsides and downsides of small ship cruising?
QIs small ship cruising worth the higher price?

Topics Covered

Dining Specialty2½ Happy BaconValue Pricing2½ Sad BaconExcursions2 Sad BaconDining Main3 Happy BaconEmbarkation3½ Happy BaconService Crew3 Happy BaconSafety Medical2 Sad BaconItinerary Route3 Happy Bacon

Port Highlights

Barcelona3½ Happy Bacon
Ho Chi Minh City3 Happy Bacon
Saint Petersburg3 Happy Bacon
How to read the Trip Bacon Score
Happy Bacon — creators loved this aspect
Sad Bacon — creators took issue with this
Meh — no strong opinion either way

Scale: 0–5 strips in half-step increments. 0 = “meh”, 5 = “bacon bliss”. Aggregated from creator-review sentiment, weighted by channel expertise.

About our Bacon Score methodology

Video content sourced from the creator's original upload. Watch on YouTube