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

[radiationman]

Great Thread:

We have done several cruises on Windstar both sailing and motor yachts. Excellent "small ship" experiences. Will be on Atlas World Navigator in Feb for Anarctica

[asalemo]

Hi all,

 

I did my review of Unforgettable Greece but thought I'd give you a link to see the blog I put together of the trip:

 

https://findpenguins.com/2023greece/trip/2023-greece?sort=ASC&s=d4c1e54704f084a0b59d52129ca50157d4e0cf8b

[tsthomas68]

Thank you for that nice review!

 

[Momrocks7564]

So excited to hear these reviews. My fiancée and I will be honeymooning with Katarina, starting on Monday. 

[Krob58]

Here’s a short review of my Variety cruise on the Panorama - Panama/Costa Rica 7-day cruise  March 5-12, 2022

I have to say I was somewhat disappointed when arriving on board the Panorama.

When I first booked this trip looking at the photos I thought this was going to be the most posh cruise ship I've been on yet, and having been on five other small boat cruises, and not to mention the pricing also made me think this would be a higher standard ship. 

But when first boarding looking at the aft deck I noticed all the blue cushions were streaked with black marks, I thought I do not want to sit on these! (see picture). I wasn't sure if this was grease, oil or just plain dirt, also looking at the bottom of where the seat meets the deck you can see it's not cleaned very well. You can also see how worn and faded the wood railings are, not kept up at all.

 The dining area carpet was very dirty, you can easily see by the photo how bad it was. 

When tendering back to the boat you could see the rust along the waterline area and also just pockmarks of dirt all along the sides of the ship, regardless of whether this ship just came back from a cruise and went out again, you can see it's not been maintained properly.

 Generally the service was great, the staff were very attentive and always there when you needed them. The rooms were well kept and always cleaned promptly. 

The food was okay, nothing to really brag about or really complain about, just okay.

 I would have to say it was the boat itself that stood out as not being very well maintained.

 Also we had a problem with the captain, he wasn't letting people swim off the aft deck most times, saying something about 'big fish', we later found out he was generally not anchoring where people could swim or just wouldn't let them swim. 

Personally on all my ships I've never seen a captain walking around looking so slovenly, old tee-shirt, dirty shorts, basically unkempt, every other captain on other ships actually wore whites, not that that's what makes a ship, just saying.

In fact the captain was relieved of his command and another captain joined us midway through the trip (I heard due to complaints), he was a little better, at least more personable.

 Also, we only went through the Panama Canal one way, the Pacific locks, we didn’t go through the Atlantic locks but docked somewhere in the middle islands where we were driven to the taxi stop at the end of our trip. We were told something about costruction but the rumor circulating was that Variety didn’t want to pay the high price to go through the other locks. Not sure how true that is.

Regardless I still had a great time, just not sure I would recommend Variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oakridger]

If the visible areas of the ship look that dirty and unkempt, I hate to see what the engines look like!

 

~Nancy

[Krob58]

Here's a link to another small ships website for your use:

 

https://www.small-cruise-ships.com/trip/cruises-garden-eden/

 

[Krob58]

Hi all,

Does anyone know of any small ship lines like Katarina Lines (37 passengers) but that go to the Caribbean??

I'm not finding much luck other Star Clippers which is 145+

I'd love to do a 38+/- to the Caribbean but not having much luck, most go to Seychelles, South Pacific areas.

Thanks

[gullcruiser]

Hello!

I'm looking for a small ship (up to 500) that sails to or in Alaska.  I've found a couple with National Geographic but the affordable rooms as so small I would be claustrophobic! Any suggestions?

Thanks

[wine-wine-wine]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:00 AM, Krob58 said:

Hi all,

Does anyone know of any small ship lines like Katarina Lines (37 passengers) but that go to the Caribbean??

I'm not finding much luck other Star Clippers which is 145+

I'd love to do a 38+/- to the Caribbean but not having much luck, most go to Seychelles, South Pacific areas.

Thanks

The original Sea Cloud has max capacity of 64 pax and sails the Caribbean every winter. Spendy though. https://www.seacloud.com/en/sea-cloud/

[Krob58]

2 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

The original Sea Cloud has max capacity of 64 pax and sails the Caribbean every winter. Spendy though. https://www.seacloud.com/en/sea-cloud/

Thank you, I searched alot and couldn't find anything so thank you for this! Yes, they are somewhat pricey. Similar sailing vessel to Star Clippers

[wine-wine-wine]

15 minutes ago, Krob58 said:

Thank you, I searched alot and couldn't find anything so thank you for this! Yes, they are somewhat pricey. Similar sailing vessel to Star Clippers

Happy to! Extremely luxurious. Have seen all three ships in the wild - fabulous. DW and I are scheduled for our 25 wedding anniversary cruise on Sea Cloud Spirit next  September. 
 

The original Sea Cloud has an amazing history. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Cloud

[wine-wine-wine]

6 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Happy to! Extremely luxurious. Have seen all three ships in the wild - fabulous. DW and I are scheduled for our 25 wedding anniversary cruise on Sea Cloud Spirit next  September. 
 

The original Sea Cloud has an amazing history. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Cloud

Original Sea Cloud just off the coast of Delos, Greece. 

[Krob58]

wine-wine-wine, have you ever been on Star Clippers??

[wine-wine-wine]

On 1/10/2024 at 11:58 AM, Krob58 said:

wine-wine-wine, have you ever been on Star Clippers??

No… the reviews and comments on the board put me off of the idea. Seems like the ships are not in the state of upkeep that I would hope for. 
 

Also, and I don’t mean to offend anyone, we would rather not be on a very “family friendly” ship. We are very much after peace, quiet and a little luxury. 

[wine-wine-wine]

30 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

No… the reviews and comments on the board put me off of the idea. Seems like the ships are not in the state of upkeep that I would hope for. 
 

Also, and I don’t mean to offend anyone, we would rather not be on a very “family friendly” ship. We are very much after peace, quiet and a little luxury. 

Two other things.
 

DW loves to have a veranda. As far as I know, Sea Cloud Spirit is the only clipper type ship with private verandas. Speedy but this is for her major milestone birthday. ❤️

 

Our mobility is good but not fabulous. Neither of us will be running marathons from this stage out in our lives. Sea Cloud Spirit has an elevator and the other two Sea Cloud ships seem to be in such good repair and layout that I wouldn’t worry if one of us, for instance, sprained an ankle. 

[Krob58]

20 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Two other things.
 

DW loves to have a veranda. As far as I know, Sea Cloud Spirit is the only clipper type ship with private verandas. Speedy but this is for her major milestone birthday. ❤️

 

Our mobility is good but not fabulous. Neither of us will be running marathons from this stage out in our lives. Sea Cloud Spirit has an elevator and the other two Sea Cloud ships seem to be in such good repair and layout that I wouldn’t worry if one of us, for instance, sprained an ankle. 

Thanks, and to be honest the three or four times I was on Star Clippers the ships were in good shape, I never had a problem with them other than too many people lol I'll have to see if sea cloud has waived single supplement specials

[wine-wine-wine]

3 minutes ago, Krob58 said:

Thanks, and to be honest the three or four times I was on Star Clippers the ships were in good shape, I never had a problem with them other than too many people lol I'll have to see if sea cloud has waived single supplement specials

Ah this is good to know, thank you! One never knows what to believe.

[wine-wine-wine]

On 1/14/2024 at 9:40 AM, Krob58 said:

I'll have to see if sea cloud has waived single supplement specials

And they have! See attached email that I receive today. I will also cross post in the solo travelers section.seacloud-solo.pdf

[Krob58]

29 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

And they have! See attached email that I receive today. I will also cross post in the solo travelers section.seacloud-solo.pdf

Thank you for sending that!

But that is VERY high priced! Almost 8k!

[wine-wine-wine]

2 minutes ago, Krob58 said:

Thank you for sending that!

But that is VERY high priced! Almost 8k!

Yes it is very spendy - but it is also one of the most luxurious cruise lines in the world. A bucket list cruise for DW and me, likely not an every year event (unless we can find an amazing deal).

[wine-wine-wine]

25 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Yes it is very spendy - but it is also one of the most luxurious cruise lines in the world. A bucket list cruise for DW and me, likely not an every year event (unless we can find an amazing deal).

Very good YouTube tour of Sea Cloud Spirit released about two days ago. 

 

[CinKav]

@westcoasttech What website did you book the Katarina Line cruise?

[Krob58]

https://www.katarina-line.com/

[westcoasttech]

On 4/9/2024 at 11:15 PM, CinKav said:

@westcoasttech What website did you book the Katarina Line cruise?

Sorry for the delay getting back to you ... it's a sort of clearing house for tours, so not sure if I can actually quote the full website as it might be considered an "agent" and I don't want to annoy the CruiseCritic powers that be 😁... it lists tours and has Radar in the name so hopefully you can work it out from there.  I actually didn't know the ship or any details apart from the basic itinerary until about a day or so before as somehow I never got any paperwork and I had to chase my contact once I was in Croatia to get the vessel name so I knew where to go to board!  It was a very happy surprise once on board and I was very happy with the room and ship.  It's very different to the "usual", but I would happily do it again ... just trying to fit it into my schedule and travel budget!