Small ships

[lenquixote66]

11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We once did a week cruise (out of Corfu) on a 20 passenger yacht called the Sea Crown.  She had been chartered by a Greek company called Zeus Cruises (long gone) for a 7 day cruise around the Ionian Islands.  We had 10 Germans, 8 Dutch, and 2 Americans (DW and me) with a 7 person Greek crew (only 2 of which spoke English).  It was one of the most wonderful weeks we have ever spent on a vessel.   Although this cruise happened many years ago we still can remember lots of interesting stories about that voyage.  Although we are now in our 70s we would still consider doing this type of cruise.  Consider pulling up to a deserted island after breakfast, dropping anchor and then diving/jumping off the bow to swim into the empty beach.  or imagine docking at a small Greek Island for lunch where all the passengers hike to a nearby village (of about 100 souls) and sit in the lone cafe for lunch.  The lady who owned that cafe had to run all around town to gather enough ingrediants to make us lunch and it was terrific :).  A totally different world then being on a huge cruise ship.

 

By the way, Zeus Cruises was eventually bought-out by Variety Cruises (there is a recent CC story about this company in the News section).

 

Hank

P.S.  If anyone is really interested in this post here is a link to info about that "yacht."

https://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=sea-crown-3155

 

We have never been out of North America except for one cruise to South America.

We have been to most of the US states and to most of Canada.

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

We have never been out of North America except for one cruise to South America.

We have been to most of the US states and to most of Canada.

 

We have been to a lot of places in North America and there are places that we still hope to visit.  However, there are lots of really great places that are not in North America and restricting yourself to only trips in North America is very limiting.  Another thing - you are constantly posting on Cruise Critic and I wonder what cruises you go on if you restrict yourself to only North America.

 

DON

[GUT2407]

2 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

We have been to a lot of places in North America and there are places that we still hope to visit.  However, there are lots of really great places that are not in North America and restricting yourself to only trips in North America is very limiting.  Another thing - you are constantly posting on Cruise Critic and I wonder what cruises you go on if you restrict yourself to only North America.

 

DON

Not really much different to me restricting myself to cruises out of Australia, Doctors say flying Could kill Mrs Gut and to be honest as my back slowly (or not so slowly) deteriorates, flying has lost all attraction to me. The same well apply to Lenny.

[getting older slowly]

I think i doesn't matter where one cruises. we only cruise out and back from Australia,

 

as the better half simply doesn't like flying....

 

but did get her in a helicopter once   

( to go the white island NZ then it erupted a week later, so flying it now totally out )

 

Also we just enjoy the whole cruising vibe......

 

and that is that... not everybody wants to go all over the world...

( particularly now with Covid-19 )   I nice trip in the car would be nice....

 

since that is out at the moment.... bought a bigger TV...

( so I can see the big picture       LOL )

 

Cheers and relax Don

 

OH small ships  a few in Australia but way to dear....

thought always a row boat.....

Edited July 31, 2020 by getting older slowly

[lenquixote66]

12 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

We have been to a lot of places in North America and there are places that we still hope to visit.  However, there are lots of really great places that are not in North America and restricting yourself to only trips in North America is very limiting.  Another thing - you are constantly posting on Cruise Critic and I wonder what cruises you go on if you restrict yourself to only North America.

 

DON

Currently I am disabled and I am extremely limited in any travel.In my younger days when I was physically able I had no desire to go anywhere except the US and Canada.

My wife and I initially went to Montreal in 1969 ,loved the city and had the desire to see as much of the country as possible.

,.

[clo]

16 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

Very small “ships” always seem to have the guy or gal who think they own the place. Now, I know this is also true on large ships, but on smaller ships, you have a lot harder time avoiding them. 
 

 

What do they do???

[c-boy]

clo, your on holiday and should be relaxing, not worried about what they do.

[clo]

41 minutes ago, c-boy said:

clo, your on holiday and should be relaxing, not worried about what they do.

What on earth makes you think I'm worried. I'm curious as with some examples I can't imagine that. Haven't seen it. I'm retired; I'm retired so always on holiday.

[ldubs]

19 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

Very small “ships” always seem to have the guy or gal who think they own the place. Now, I know this is also true on large ships, but on smaller ships, you have a lot harder time avoiding them. 
 

 

 

Haha, need an "ignore" button on board!  😃

[cruisemom42]

19 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

Very small “ships” always seem to have the guy or gal who think they own the place. Now, I know this is also true on large ships, but on smaller ships, you have a lot harder time avoiding them. 
 

 

 

Maybe you've just been picking the wrong small ships. 

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, clo said:

What on earth makes you think I'm worried. I'm curious as with some examples I can't imagine that. Haven't seen it. I'm retired; I'm retired so always on holiday.

 🤣   I donno, I can't shake the idea that being stuck on an 80th floor elevator ride with you, will lead to me questioning my sobriety.

[clo]

58 minutes ago, c-boy said:

 🤣   I donno, I can't shake the idea that being stuck on an 80th floor elevator ride with you, will lead to me questioning my sobriety.

IRL I happen to be considered quite a lot of fun. Face to face I'd have said, "huh, what do you mean,"

[Hlitner]

On 7/30/2020 at 9:13 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Very small “ships” always seem to have the guy or gal who think they own the place. Now, I know this is also true on large ships, but on smaller ships, you have a lot harder time avoiding them. 
 

 

I have been curious to see if your post would generate some comments.  Our own experience does not reflect your post.  We have been on boats/ships ranging from 20 passenger to over 4000 passengers and have never had any bad experiences (with people) on smaller vessels while we have seen numerous unpleasant behavioral incidents on larger ships.  In fact, it is on the more upscale cruise lines that we seem to see the least snobbism.  

 

It is also interesting to note that all of the truly high end cruise lines use small to midsize ships with none even thinking about a mega ship.  One huge reason to go on small vessels is that they can go to ports not open to larger ships.   For example, one of our favorite spots in the world is Shipwreck Bay (Navigio Beach) on the island of Zayknthos.  This picturesque place has been featured in photo sections of numerous travel magazines but is not accessible by any large cruise ship (or even most smaller cruise ships).   Another good example are cruises to Antarctica where only smaller vessels can actually get their passengers ashore (using Zodiacs or other tiny boats).   Another thought is "will COVID be the death of Mega ships?"  Only time will tell.

 

Speaking of large ships you may not have noticed that Key West has put a referendum on their Nov 2020 ballot that would ban any cruise ship with more than 1300 passengers (still a large ship in my humble opinion).  Here is an interesting post about that issue and some of the reasoning:

https://yourmileagemayvary.net/2020/07/17/key-west-could-ban-large-cruise-ships/

 

Hank

 

 

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 Our own experience does not reflect your post.  We have been on boats/ships ranging from 20 passenger to over 4000 passengers and have never had any bad experiences (with people) on smaller vessels while we have seen numerous unpleasant behavioral incidents on larger ships.  

 

I have to say my experience has been similar. Though in fairness, there is one (small ship) forum here where I get that feeling a little too often...

 

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

It is also interesting to note that all of the truly high end cruise lines use small to midsize ships with none even thinking about a mega ship.  One huge reason to go on small vessels is that they can go to ports not open to larger ships.   For example, one of our favorite spots in the world is Shipwreck Bay (Navigio Beach) on the island of Zayknthos.  This picturesque place has been featured in photo sections of numerous travel magazines but is not accessible by any large cruise ship (or even most smaller cruise ships).   Another good example are cruises to Antarctica where only smaller vessels can actually get their passengers ashore (using Zodiacs or other tiny boats).   

 

Unfortunately the trend of the industry toward larger ships does put those of us for whom the itinerary is a BIG part of our travels in a bind. Finding reasonable options for longer cruises on smaller ships is getting more challenging as options are fewer. 

 

But, happily, I'm going to be seeing Zakynthos in October 2021... if cruising makes a return by then.

 

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

Another thought is "will COVID be the death of Mega ships?"  Only time will tell.

 

 

I think the other option is equally possible -- with the economies of scale possible on the larger ships, it would seem to me that they could successfully cruise with fewer cabins filled and still potentially be profitable.

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I have to say my experience has been similar. Though in fairness, there is one (small ship) forum here where I get that feeling a little too often...

 

 

Unfortunately the trend of the industry toward larger ships does put those of us for whom the itinerary is a BIG part of our travels in a bind. Finding reasonable options for longer cruises on smaller ships is getting more challenging as options are fewer. 

 

But, happily, I'm going to be seeing Zakynthos in October 2021... if cruising makes a return by then.

 

 

I think the other option is equally possible -- with the economies of scale possible on the larger ships, it would seem to me that they could successfully cruise with fewer cabins filled and still potentially be profitable.

LOL Cruisemom.  When we dropped anchor off of Zayknthos's Shipwreck Beach is was a glorious hot morning.  Our ship had 20 passengers.  Most of us dove off the bow and swam the 150 - 200 yards to the incredibly gorgeous deserted beach where we walked around the rusted out junk from the shipwreck (which was actually smuggling cigarettes).  We looked up to the top of the overhanging cliff and hundreds of feet above there was a viewing area (empty at the time).  Those that visited the island from the other side (near the main port) could visit the overlook...but they could not get to the beach without a small boat.

 

Most of the islands we visited in the Ionian chain could not handle any kind of vessel with more then a few dozen souls.  This is the same area where Onassis and Jackie Kennedy lived (Skorpios) and our yacht actually circled that private island where we could see some of the private security guards in the distance.    So here is the reality from somebody who loves cruising on larger ships as much as most folks.  While those large ships are fine, being on a much smaller vessel offers many advantages for those that have a spirit of adventure.  When we cruise on larger ships (I am talking about 200+ passengers) we give up a lot to be on those vessels.  These days many cruisers would not want to give up their pool games or water slides to jump off the bow of a small ship into gorgeous clean seas.  Times have really changed.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

On 7/30/2020 at 9:13 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Very small “ships” always seem to have the guy or gal who think they own the place. Now, I know this is also true on large ships, but on smaller ships, you have a lot harder time avoiding them. 
 

 

Every ship “can” have blowhards, drunks, and boors on board - perhaps one or two would stick out on a small ship — but on a large ship (say 3,000 or 4,000 passengers, you are virtually guaranteed to have dozens, if not hundreds, on board -I prefer to take my chances and simply avoid that one or two on a small ship as opposed to having to avoid the swarms on a mega-ship.

[iancal]

We had a cruise stop at Corfu a number of years ago.  Enjoyed it.  This fall we spent 7-10 days on each of Corfu, Kefelonia, and Zakynthos.  It was fabulous.  Made us realize how much of these islands we missed by doing a short one day stop.

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

We had a cruise stop at Corfu a number of years ago.  Enjoyed it.  This fall we spent 7-10 days on each of Corfu, Kefelonia, and Zakynthos.  It was fabulous.  Made us realize how much of these islands we missed by doing a short one day stop.

Agree that many of the Ionian Islands are special.  Perhaps what makes them charming is the fact that they are not visited by large cruise ships (except for Corfu).  These islands are very popular with boaters/yachters who will often spend weeks or months just meandering among the islands and often using Corfu as their base.

 

Hank

[iancal]

That is one of the reasons we selected them. And we selected two weeks in Cyprus on the that trip for the same reason.   The only other time we saw a cruise ship was in Argostoli....and it was departing.

 

  When we island hop from Athens to Crete we pay close attention to the cruise ship port data pertaining to islands we plan to visit.

Edited August 3, 2020 by iancal