Small cruise ships..with 35-220+/- people! Must do!!

[Krob58]

Hey all, I'm starting this thread to let people know about the smaller cruise ship industry and the great sailing they offer!

I first learned about these 'smaller' 35-220 person ships from the reality TV show 'Below Deck' when they were sailing off the coast of Croatia. It sparked my interest and I was fortunate to find Katarina Lines https://www.katarina-line.com that offers their packages, I travel solo so I usually wait for an offer where they waive the single supplement. 

The sailing is amazing, that particular ship, Adriatic Sun held about 40 people at the time, covid was just ending so no full bookings then.

This is an amazing way to see the world, I traveled to Croatia, The Leeward Islands, The Windward Islands, Greek Islands, Panama and Costa Rica.

Some of the other cruise lines are Variety Cruises, https://www.varietycruises.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw2K6lBhBXEiwA5RjtCReWftYL9auNQ-75r8YMQGv6TbKw5fFMUY5y8gZ8jSyJtgnxEMoy9hoCL20QAvD_BwE, and also Star Clippers, which boast the largest 5 masted fully rigged sailing vessel, holding approx. 220 people, what a way to travel!

I enjoyed Croatia so much I'm going back on Katarina Lines but to different Croatian islands this year!

Here's hoping people start following and add to this new Community forum!

https://www.starclipperscruises.com/?source=google&nlp=i&cn=mscclipper&ag=starclippers&gclid=CjwKCAjw2K6lBhBXEiwA5RjtCVAs_LI83r_OtmN2NGZBTXKVBUjiF0wb5YYnLtPOo31yv8Kn26dFGxoChoYQAvD_BwE

[oakridger]

@Krob58 Welcome to Cruise Critic!!  Thanks for this information!  Up until now I felt like my sweet spot as a solo (usually) cruiser was the ships with around 800-ish passengers.  Not too big and not too small!  However, I have just booked a Windstar cruise to check out their 312 passenger ships.  I wonder if the smaller ships you mention are just a little too small to offer some places onboard if "I want to be alone"??  (thanks Greta Garbo) I do like meeting new people though.

 

Thoughts?

 

~Nancy

[Krob58]

15 hours ago, oakridger said:

@Krob58 Welcome to Cruise Critic!!  Thanks for this information!  Up until now I felt like my sweet spot as a solo (usually) cruiser was the ships with around 800-ish passengers.  Not too big and not too small!  However, I have just booked a Windstar cruise to check out their 312 passenger ships.  I wonder if the smaller ships you mention are just a little too small to offer some places onboard if "I want to be alone"??  (thanks Greta Garbo) I do like meeting new people though.

 

Thoughts?

 

~Nancy

Hi Nancy,

I've only been on one 4000 passenger cruise ship and it's just not for me. I didn't feel at all like I was even on the water, just in some big City, but to each his own.

You speak of a 312 passenger ship, can you find an 'alone' place on that, other than your cabin? And I don't mean that facetiously, I understand what you're saying.

The most passengers for me lately has been 178 and there will always be someone around, but frankly I'll just go on top deck with a book or earbuds and be in my own little world on a lounge chair. My thing is I can't find someone who wants to go where I go, for how long I go, or when I go....so I just go! And always love it!

And when you find a special they're running, say no single supplement, for a weeks cruise in the Caribbean or off the coast of Italy et al  the prices are great, approx. $1,800. I highly recommend them. My next one coming up is with 49 people, I haven't done that small amount for awhile but I know I'll love it!

 

[oakridger]

Thanks @Krob58.  I'm like you, the thought of a 4000+ megaship doesn't appeal to me at all! It doesn't look like you can even see the ocean inside most of it!  Nah!  My largest ship experience was the new Holland America Rotterdam with about 2600 passenger capacity.  It was a very pretty ship and I know many people love it, but even that was much larger than I want. That experience is why I am next on Windstar!!   I'll keep this info on the smaller ships handy for future reference.  

 

~Nancy

[CTBob]

Hi, we (Bob & Stephanie) are sailing on Katarina Line's MV Maritimo on August 5th, 2023.  The cruise is called "Breathtaking Croatia" and we are sailing from Opatija to Split with stops at Pula, Mali Losinj, Zadar, Primosten, Vis, and Bol.  There are 17 of us joining our TA who sailed on the Black Swan a few years ago and loved it so much she's going back. 

 

CTBob

[Krob58]

6 minutes ago, CTBob said:

Hi, we (Bob & Stephanie) are sailing on Katarina Line's MV Maritimo on August 5th, 2023.  The cruise is called "Breathtaking Croatia" and we are sailing from Opatija to Split with stops at Pula, Mali Losinj, Zadar, Primosten, Vis, and Bol.  There are 17 of us joining our TA who sailed on the Black Swan a few years ago and loved it so much she's going back. 

 

CTBob

Nice! Glad to see people are responding to this new Topic! I did Katarina's Split to Dubrovnik cruise 'One Way Wonders' July, 2021 and loved it so much I'm going back September 2, 2023 for their Opatjia to Opatjia cruise, 'Kvarner Bay of Islands' cruise on the MV Moonlight! You say there are 17 of you going! You'll take over the ship! I like how you were able to list you're past cruises, I'm still new with this site and still not sure what the '+ Quote' is for.

[CTBob]

4 hours ago, Krob58 said:

Nice! Glad to see people are responding to this new Topic! I did Katarina's Split to Dubrovnik cruise 'One Way Wonders' July, 2021 and loved it so much I'm going back September 2, 2023 for their Opatjia to Opatjia cruise, 'Kvarner Bay of Islands' cruise on the MV Moonlight! You say there are 17 of you going! You'll take over the ship! I like how you were able to list you're past cruises, I'm still new with this site and still not sure what the '+ Quote' is for.

The + is when you want to quote more than one post.  To add cruises go to your name at the right hand side at the top of the page, use the drop down to select "Account Settings", and choose "Signature" from the box at the left side.  That will open a text box where you can list your cruises.  CTBob 

Edited July 18, 2023 by CTBob

[kaymoz]

I'd like to add another small cruise to this thread, which we did two years ago -- a circumnavigation of Iceland with a company called Iceland Procruises.  This is a seasonal operation, using smallish "ice class" ships (about 150 passengers max), which might be doing Antarctica tours in the opposite season.  Because they are expedition oriented, they have their own flotilla of rubber inflatable boats (RIB)  which they use for a few excursions here and there, as well as for tendering.  There are informative lectures every evening, on Icelandic history, flora & fauna, etc.  This was a fantastic way to see Iceland!  When we found ourselves doing a few ports at the same time as one of the Viking ships, I remember one of my fellow passengers commenting as we passed by the hulking ship while tendering in the RIB:   "those poor people, they don't know what they're missing."   https://www.icelandprocruises.com/

Edited July 20, 2023 by kaymoz
spelling

[Krob58]

Oakridge, I'm in Tahiti right now and I'm sure this is a Windstar ship, I've seen them before and they are impressive! 

[oakridger]

I wish I was in Tahiti right now too!!!  Those Windstar sailing ships are just beautiful but I'm actually going on the Star Breeze, which is one of Windstar's three slightly larger motor yachts.  It carries 312 passengers.  Is it too large for you?

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by oakridger

[Krob58]

Oh wow, I didn't know they also had those, I've only seen the type in my picture, I also saw the picture I sent going through the Panama Canal. 

But I like the one you sent! Very sleek!! Where will you go on that? 

[oakridger]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:00 AM, Krob58 said:

Oh wow, I didn't know they also had those, I've only seen the type in my picture, I also saw the picture I sent going through the Panama Canal. 

But I like the one you sent! Very sleek!! Where will you go on that? 

 

Auckland to Fiji to Papeete then around the Society Islands and Tuamotus.  I'm very excited but have to wait!! Boo!

 

I just noticed in your signature that you are there on Panorama II right now!! Enjoy your trip!  Any insights on how things are going there at the moment?  I have read fairly current CC posts from Paul Gauguin.

 

~Nancy

Edited July 26, 2023 by oakridger

[oakridger]

Windstar Star Breeze on the left, Ruby Princess on the right.  😮

 

 

~Nancy

[CTBob]

Leaving today for a few days in Venice and then on to Opatija for my "Breathtaking Croatia" cruise with Katarina Lines.  I'll let you know how it goes.  CTBob

[asalemo]

Hi all, I have been on Unforgettable Croatia, once in October '21 and then again May '23 - Split to Dubrovnik and reverse.  One was the last cruise of the season and the other was the first cruise of the season. The ship was MV Memories with a max of 35 passengers.  Absolutely loved it for the following reasons: went to ports that are lesser known but still hit the highlights (Hvar, Split, Dubrovnik), all former Yugoslavian staff (Croatian, Serbian, etc), three course lunches that were regional cuisine, beautiful swim stops, inexpensive drinks, casual not fussy feel, excellent service, comfortable cabins, included transfers at beginning/end, history/culture talks, and included excursions. All of this at an incredibly reasonable price!  You really got to know the other passengers and crew if you wanted to or you could keep to yourself. No pressure. When you left Croatia, you felt like you really knew the country and its history. 

 

We are taking Unforgettable Greece starting on September 2nd.  Will post what I think when I return.

[Krob58]

asalemo, thanks for sharing that info, I'm always looking for different cruise lines to check out. I wish I knew sooner, I'm going back to Croatia in a weeks time to do Opatjia to Opatjia and the islands around it, as I mentioned before I did the Split to Dubrovnik cruise with Katarina and loved it. I'll take a look at their Unforgettable Croatia website and their ship!

[new_cruiser]

On 8/21/2023 at 2:07 PM, asalemo said:

Hi all, I have been on Unforgettable Croatia, once in October '21 and then again May '23 - Split to Dubrovnik and reverse.  One was the last cruise of the season and the other was the first cruise of the season. The ship was MV Memories with a max of 35 passengers.  Absolutely loved it for the following reasons: went to ports that are lesser known but still hit the highlights (Hvar, Split, Dubrovnik), all former Yugoslavian staff (Croatian, Serbian, etc), three course lunches that were regional cuisine, beautiful swim stops, inexpensive drinks, casual not fussy feel, excellent service, comfortable cabins, included transfers at beginning/end, history/culture talks, and included excursions. All of this at an incredibly reasonable price!  You really got to know the other passengers and crew if you wanted to or you could keep to yourself. No pressure. When you left Croatia, you felt like you really knew the country and its history. 

 

We are taking Unforgettable Greece starting on September 2nd.  Will post what I think when I return.

Which cruise line is that with?

[CTBob]

Back from my Katarina Lines "Breathtaking Croatia" cruise.  Bad start as our van from Venice to Opatija got stuck behind a closed road due to an accident.  Turned around and arrived about two hours late due to the detour.  Also due to high winds our itinerary was changed and so we missed Pula, which would have been a highlight.  However the port that was substituted was Cres and was one of my favorites.  Our ship the MV/Maritimo was gorgeous and kept beautifully clean by the crew which consisted of the Captain's (Dino) family and a few other deck hands.  Our cabin was spacious with the best shower I've ever had on over 30 cruises on ships of all sizes.  The food was good, but there were few choices so hopefully you aren't fussy.  The John Dory fish I had one day was done perfectly.  We ate so well at breakfast and lunch that we usually only grabbed a piece of Pizza on shore for a late snack.  The swim stops were all wonderful as the water is so clear and refreshing (Cool).  Not much to see if you are a snorkeler, some small fish, not very colorful and a few sea cucumbers and things like that.  Someone did report seeing an octopus, but that was about it.  We often racked with other ships at the dock but it was very easy to walk from ship to ship to get on or off.  Our group was mostly older, but I think the cruise would be better for young to middle aged people with more energy than we had.  I wish I had found this ten years ago.  My only complaint is that we didn't have that much time in the ports, but we could have gone out late if we were younger.  It wasn't my wife's cup of tea, but I loved it.

CTBob

[asalemo]

New_cruiser, the company is called Unforgettable Travel. They do land and cruise trips. Highly recommended! We board Elysium tomorrow in Lavrio tomorrow.  

[trtog7]

On 7/26/2023 at 3:58 AM, oakridger said:

Windstar Star Breeze on the left, Ruby Princess on the right.  😮

 

Love the picture Getting on Star Pride in 2 days

~Nancy

 

[oakridger]

@trtog7 Have a great time!  People have been seeing the Northern Lights near Iceland in the last week, so I hope you have the same luck!  I'd love to hear what you think about the Star Pride and Windstar in general.

 

~Nancy

[Krob58]

Hey all,

I just came back from Katarina Lines Opatjia to Optajia ‘Kvarner Islands cruise’ on the M/S Moonlight for one week.

The last time I went with Katarina was just after the pandemic, the Split to Dubrovnik week long cruise on the M/S Adriatic Sun, and knowing nothing about their different classes of ships, this time I learned that I was originally on their top of the line Deluxe Superior line ship, but this time I was two steps below on their Premium Superior ship.

 

With that said, I had a great time BUT their are quite a few differences, the one that really stood out was at breakfast and lunch they had plastic cups on the table, actually, not even on the table, you had to go to the water cooler and get one to fill and get up again for a refill. I missed having someone came over and refill my glass!

 

The room was a good size for a single person (they waived the single supplement as I always try to get) but it had two beds that were anchored so they couldn’t be joined together, on my Premium Superior cruise I had a large double bed. And these ‘twin’ beds were even narrower than the ‘average’ twin bed. Still I have to say the room was larger than my previous Variety cruise or Star Clipper cruise. But otherwise the crew were attentive, and the breakfasts and lunches which were included were also good, lunch is a three course meal so that makes up for no dinner other than the captains dinner which I dread anyway. I did like that for dinner I could in town for a local dish. I also love the relaxed atmosphere, shorts, tee shirts and sandals throughout. That’s one thing on Star Clipper’s that I’m not crazy about, I want to relax, not dress to impress, besides, much less clothes to then bring, meaning only a carry on board the plane. I have to add also that the ship was spotlessly clean! Not at all like my last two Variety Cruises which looked run down.

 

So that’s my review of my Katarina Lines cruise, I would defintily go with them again, I just wish they branched out to other destinations than Croatia being they have, I heard over a hundred ships!

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Krob58
added pics

[Krob58]

Has anyone ever sailed on Dream Yachts Charter? I was looking at doing their Seychelles 7 day cruise, BUT, this is a big departure for me, there's only 12 people on board, and going as a single person and probably all couples (?) well that's a small ship, I'm really loving the 37 people ship, plenty of people to get to know, BUT 12???? This is what they refer to as a coin charter cruise.

If you don't have a good group.....

Any comments greatly appreciated.!

 

https://www.dreamyachtcharter.com/cabins/seychelles/praslin-dream-premium-2024/?destination_id=482413&period_from=05.02.2024&period_to=12.02.2024&current_currency=USD

 

[asalemo]

Just returned from Greece earlier this week - we sailed on the Elysium with Unforgettable Greece. There were 40 passengers on board. Unforgettable Travel contracts the ship and crew of the Elysium but provides their own cruise director and other staff. We had the same cruise director from our Unforgettable Croatia cruise in May. His name is Darko and is absolutely amazing.  We traveled with three other couples, all of whom had never cruised before.

 

When we arrived in Greece, we were concerned because there were huge storms north on the mainland and also down south in Crete.  The day we boarded, the captain and cruise director revised the entire itinerary so we missed the rain. We had sun every day. There were definitely white caps on most of the days – we weren’t bothered by it and only a few passengers seemed to be impacted by it. Because of significant winds, our itinerary was changed on the fly. Their communication of these changes were timely and detailed.  We loved the transparency of the crew. If Croatia waves impacted you, you would want to do more research on whether the winds are "normal" for Greece - I got the impression that they are.

 

Here was our final itinerary:

Day 1-free transfer from hotel/airport, board in Lavrio (different port than big cruises), welcome cocktails, introductions/port talk, depart to Kythnos/anchor, plated dinner, overnight travel to Sifnos

Day 2 –breakfast, pilates, port talk, explore Sifnos, lunch, Kimolos-explore on your own or tour Chora (old town), dinner on your own.

Day 3-depart to Polkyaigos for swim stop, breakfast, pilates, port talk, lunch, Greek dance lesson, Milos-explore or tour, dinner on own, overnight to Ios

Day 4-breakfast, pilates, Magganari beach (Ios), port talk, Greek cooking lesson, lunch, Santorini-tour/wine tasting, dinner on your own, late: Name that Tune, overnight to Naxos

Day 5-breakfast, St Ana Beach time, lunch, port talk, Naxos (dock)-tour and dinner on your own

Day 6-breakfast, Delos-on your own, pilates, lunch, port talk, Mykonos

Note:  we were supposed to have a tour, however, the white caps prevented us from being able to tender for safety reasons. We ended up heading to Syros for sheltered port

Day 7-breakfast, pilates, port talk/schedule change info, Syros on your own, farewell lunch, due to waves ended up having dinner on board as well, overnight to Lavrio

Day 8-departure, free transfer to Airbnb/hotel

 

Here are the negatives compared to cruising Croatia (which I've done twice on Unforgettable Croatia):

• Definitely windier
• Ship showed some wear and tear, minor plumbing issues
• Throw toilet paper in bin (this is EVERYWHERE in Greece which was a pain) but they emptied the bins at least twice daily
• Daily swimming is off the side of the ship (instead of off the back) or were tendered to beach
• Less docking, more tendering at ports
• Less storage than cabins in Croatia
• No balconies (but we never used our balcony in Croatia anyway)

 

Positives:

• Crew was amazing. Best service I've ever had-I've cruised on Seabourn all the way down to Carnival on virtually every cruise line). Our cruise director and Unforgettable staff were also incredible.
• Authentic Greek Food on board – buffet lunch daily.  Unbelievable!
• Better beaches and swim stops than Croatia
• Comfy beds
• Stylish furnishings throughout
• Great hottub on top deck
• Really comfortable large sun loungers on top deck
• Free daily pilates/yoga
• Included free excursions/tours
• Spa services (extra)
• Laundry services (extra)
• Spacious lounge, separate from indoor dining, for everyone to sit and relax – more than enough for everyone
• Better stocked bar
• Outside dining (inside dining when too windy)
• No other small ships out there except personal megayacht

 

Because of the ship layout, this is not for people with walking/mobility issues.  The gangplank to get to the tenders and swimming was steep. The crew was terrific with the people who had mobiity issues but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

 

I LOVE that Unforgettable really fosters camraderie for those who want to participate.  As I said in my previous post, you can isolate if you prefer. It is very casual and nonplussed. You really feel like you get to know other travelers but also the crew really well.

 

The other thing that I love about small ship cruising is that you typically get to eat more meals in port - this to me is so much better than the restaurants on the ship. I feel like it is more immersive.

 

I would recommend this small ship experience!

 

 

[westcoasttech]

Sailed with Katerina Line, Acquamarin in September 2019.   Dubrovnik to Split route through the Dalmatian Islands. I had booked it through a ‘clearing house’ type of website - which I can’t name here - and had no idea what to expect.  I was blown away by the actual ship and cruise and would do it again in a heartbeat!  Can’t recommend it high enough!  Very different to the ‘usual’ - food options onboard were more limited and somewhat basic, but every day had a port stop so lots of restaurants to choose from on land.  Price was very good for a solo.

 

I’m happy to answer any specific questions …

 

attached a few pics … my room (which was a basic category)… daily schedules … and a couple of exteriors.

Edited September 17, 2023 by westcoasttech