Small Cruise Ship - Christmas / New Years

[Cdn_Traveller]

Good day.

 

We are looking for a small cruise ship to travel on for Christmas / New Year's Eve.

 

There are just two adults. We are open to ports of call. We would prefer a minimum of 10 days or longer.

 

We do not like crowds so a large ship would not work for us.

 

Thank you in advance.

[njhorseman]

25 minutes ago, Cdn_Traveller said:

Good day.

 

We are looking for a small cruise ship to travel on for Christmas / New Year's Eve.

 

There are just two adults. We are open to ports of call. We would prefer a minimum of 10 days or longer.

 

We do not like crowds so a large ship would not work for us.

 

Thank you in advance.

You could look at Oceania. Azamara or Viking. 

[Essiesmom]

You could look at Cunard QM2 out of NYC.  12 days to the eastern Caribbean leaving December 22. She’s big, but never feels crowded .  Azamara Onwards Dec. 22 from Ft. Lauderdale.  Seaboirn Quest from MIA19 December .  Explora I Dec 22 MIA.  Oceania Sirena Dec. 22 MIA.

Crystal Serenity Dec. 23 MIA.  Dec 22. HAL. Volendam San Diego.  
That’s about it from US ports.

   Is it cruisetimetables.com to search further afield.  EM

Edited September 2, 2023 by Essiesmom

[CruiserBruce]

Another brand to check is Ponant. Or SilverSeas.

[whogo]

Four hundred and fifty passenger Seabourn Sojourn sails over Christmas and the New Year for 41 days from Miami to Los Angeles and onward to Hawaii and back to Los Angeles. Embark on December 1.

 

Too long a cruise? Ponant's Le Dumont d'Urville sails on December 28 with a maximum of just 184 passengers from Belize City to Colon. From about $8600.

[Haljo1935]

Hi - "small" is subjective, but I will weigh in. We consider HAL (Holland America) to be good size for us as they are not mega-ships but not Seabourn small, either.

San Diego round trip has a 16 day Hawaiian itinerary departing Dec 21 that has you at sea for Christmas and New Years. There are several legs before and after that can added if you want something longer than 16 days.

Whatever your final decision, safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

[shipgeeks]

How small do you have in mind?  We choose small ships, but those usually carry 2,000 pax rather than 6,000, and that would be on a mainstream line such as RC, Celebrity, HAL, etc.  We usually sail out of Baltimore, with itineraries of 9 to 12 nights.  Although we started cruising on ships (not luxury ships) that carried around 600 to 1200 pax, we find our current choices very comfortable.

[Essiesmom]

Another option is the ‘ship within a ship’ concept.  People on the MSC board love the Yacht Club, an area within a huge ship that has its own dining room, deck areas with pool, buffet, butlers.  You need not leave the area unless you wish to go ashore or attend shows in other venues.  EM

[navybankerteacher]

4 hours ago, Cdn_Traveller said:

Good day.

 

We are looking for a small cruise ship to travel on for Christmas / New Year's Eve.

 

There are just two adults. We are open to ports of call. We would prefer a minimum of 10 days or longer.

 

We do not like crowds so a large ship would not work for us.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

4 hours ago, Cdn_Traveller said:

Good day.

 

We are looking for a small cruise ship to travel on for Christmas / New Year's Eve.

 

There are just two adults. We are open to ports of call. We would prefer a minimum of 10 days or longer.

 

We do not like crowds so a large ship would not work for us.

 

Thank you in advance.

Seabourn Quest Miami-Miami 12/19- 1/4- 450 passengers, or Oceania Insignia , also Miami 12/17-12/29 - 650 passengers. 

[donaldsc]

How big is "small".  If you are used to traveling on one of the Monstrsities of the Seas class ships a ship with 2000 might be considered small.  For us, we consider anything over 1000 to be overly large.  You need to define your parameters.

 

DON

[capriccio]

7 hours ago, donaldsc said:

How big is "small".  If you are used to traveling on one of the Monstrsities of the Seas class ships a ship with 2000 might be considered small.  For us, we consider anything over 1000 to be overly large.  You need to define your parameters.

 

DON

And one of those parameters must be the budget (assuming there is one).

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

And one of those parameters must be the budget (assuming there is one).

Aanndd…some of those suggestions involve quite a hefty budget.  EM

[donaldsc]

3 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Aanndd…some of those suggestions involve quite a hefty budget.  EM

 

That is obvious  but the OP did not mention budget as a parameter that he was considering.  

 

DON

[Banditswife]

Just to add another option:  this cruise might be sold out now, but we are booked on Zaandam from 12/19-1/4 of this year-16 days-Holland America.  Not sure this is what you consider small either

[MCC retired]

I think that “Budget” is being asked for before recommending as wishing a small ship on a holiday itinerary, for most cruisers ,  will be a shocker $$$ compared to mass market holiday cruises.

[LHT28]

I agree

Smaller ship is usually more $$$

But maybe the OP will return  & define their definition of "Small Ship"

 

For me  it is under 1500 pax  others may have a different definition

 

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

That is obvious  but the OP did not mention budget as a parameter that he was considering.  

 

DON

And OP hasn't mentioned anything since first post, so maybe we're all discussing something for nothing, lol...

[new_cruiser]

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

And OP hasn't mentioned anything since first post, so maybe we're all discussing something for nothing, lol...

It's only been one day since they posted. Not everyone checks every day. 

On 9/2/2023 at 2:14 PM, Cdn_Traveller said:

We are looking for a small cruise ship to travel on for Christmas / New Year's Eve.

Since small can mean anything from ships under 1500 to ships under 100, you'll have to give some more ideas about what you want to get more helpful suggestions. 

 

How small you consider small ship? Are there any ship features you are looking for? If small is less than 1500 to you and you still want a casino and big shows, it won't help if we suggest ships that carry 300 where the ports and a more laid back atmosphere are the highlights. Or vice versa.

 

For me, small is around 300 passengers or less and that's what I prefer. I've mostly done Windstar, but there is also Star Clippers in that size. 

 

While small ships are often more expensive per night than huge ships, one can find specials with pretty good prices. Christmas/New Year's is going to tend to be more expensive on most lines large and small as a lot of people have vacation then. 

 

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

And OP hasn't mentioned anything since first post, so maybe we're all discussing something for nothing, lol...

 

Op also posted about a "high end" cruise further in the future, so perhaps budget isn't a major concern.  

 

This was the thread about 3 adults cruising together:

 

However, OP posted as Post #1, and then again as #3, and it doesn't seem they ever posted again despite approximately 20 responses.

(perhaps I overlooked an additional post by Op?)

 

GC

[donaldsc]

6 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

And OP hasn't mentioned anything since first post, so maybe we're all discussing something for nothing, lol...

 

They only posted their question yesterday.  Maybe they do not spend all  their time on CC.  

 

DON

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

They only posted their question yesterday.  Maybe they do not spend all  their time on CC.  

 

DON

🤔

Edited September 4, 2023 by Haljo1935

[Cdn_Traveller]

First, a big thank you to everyone for their comments.

 

My apologies for the lack of information. I would prefer a ship with no more than 1,000 people.

 

We would like to keep the cost of the cruise to a maximum of $10,000.00 Canadian.

 

We are very flexible on the ports of call. We would prefer to depart from a North American port.

[Roz]

Have you considered a European river cruise in Europe over the holidays? 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Cdn_Traveller said:

First, a big thank you to everyone for their comments.

 

My apologies for the lack of information. I would prefer a ship with no more than 1,000 people.

 

We would like to keep the cost of the cruise to a maximum of $10,000.00 Canadian.

 

We are very flexible on the ports of call. We would prefer to depart from a North American port.

I would go to the top of the page to FIND A CRUISE   & look for the time frame you are interested in

Ports in Florida will get you to the warmer  weather  sooner

 Then narrow the choice by ship size

 

Viking/Crystal/Oceania (small ship) Azamara   plus others fit your parameters

Enjoy

[new_cruiser]

5 hours ago, Cdn_Traveller said:

First, a big thank you to everyone for their comments.

 

My apologies for the lack of information. I would prefer a ship with no more than 1,000 people.

 

We would like to keep the cost of the cruise to a maximum of $10,000.00 Canadian.

 

We are very flexible on the ports of call. We would prefer to depart from a North American port.

Would you consider a cruise terminating in ports in the Caribbean or Central America?  Many cruises to the Caribbean departing from the US, hit the same few big ports on the same mid-week days. You might be on a smaller ship, but if, for example, you stop at St. Maarten on a mid-week day, you still deal with crowds in port due to sharing the port with multiple behemoth ships. Itineraries that start in the Caribbean, usually hit the more common ports at the beginning or end of the week when they are less crowded and visit smaller islands on other days. Also, the port times are generally better as the ship doesn't have far to travel between ports.