Small Ship Mediteranean Cruises

[CarolinaKathy]

We are considering a small ship cruise in the next couple of years. I would be interested in feedback from previous cruisers on their experiences. What lines besides Viking and Oceania cruise the Mediterranean?

[LHT28]

Windstar, Seabourn, silversea, Seadream, Regent, Star Clippers, Azamara, Voyages to Antiquity

[SuiteTraveler]

Don't forget the new Crystal Yachts - those will be brand new this season! They look fabulous!

[Essiesmom]

Compagnie du Ponant, too. EM

[jocap]

Celestyal, Thomson- both small, older ships. Others sailing out of the UK, including Saga, Cruise and Maritime and Fred Olsen.

[Hlitner]

We have cruised the Ionian Islands (Greece) on a 20 passenger vessel and that is what we consider a "small" vessel :). When I hear cruisers calling 600+ passenger ships "small" it just makes me smile. Our first cruise was on NCL's Sunward 2 which was about 14,000 tons and considered (at the time) a mass market cruise ship.

 

So hear are a few thoughts. Nearly all the top ultra luxury lines (i.e. Seabourn, Silverseas, Sea Dream, etc) use relatively small vessels. The reason is that it is impossible to deliver very high quality service and cuisine on a Mega Ship where the galley must prepare thousands of meals a day. At best, you get good banquet food and at worst ......we will not go there.

 

Smaller ships allow you to get into some ports not even open to large vessels. For example, HAL's Prinsendam (800 passenger) has cruised right up the river and docked in downtown Bordeaux. And there are quite a few other ports in Europe that can only dock smaller ships which means they are either not on the itineraries of large vessels or must become tender ports.

 

Smaller vessels mean less hassles getting on and off ships at ports. A 3400 passenger ship can take hours to simply tender all their passengers ashore in such popular ports as Villefranche or Santorini.

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

Smaller vessels mean less hassles getting on and off ships at ports. A 3400 passenger ship can take hours to simply tender all their passengers ashore in such popular ports as Villefranche or Santorini.

 

Hank

 

:eek:

 

That's ten times more passengers than the ship I prefer most: Aegean Odyssey (Voyages to Antiquity cruise line).

 

If the OP is looking for interesting itineraries coupled with excellent onboard enrichment lectures, I can highly recommend this line. They sail in the Med for about 9 months of the year (and are in Asia the remainder). Swan Hellenic is another line with a similar philosophy. (The Swan passengers tend to be about 95% British, while VTA attracts a good mix of US, British, Australian and Canadian pax.)

 

The Aegean Odyssey is small enough to go through the Corinth Canal -- try that on a megaship!!

[Hlitner]

:eek:

 

That's ten times more passengers than the ship I prefer most: Aegean Odyssey (Voyages to Antiquity cruise line).

 

If the OP is looking for interesting itineraries coupled with excellent onboard enrichment lectures, I can highly recommend this line. They sail in the Med for about 9 months of the year (and are in Asia the remainder). Swan Hellenic is another line with a similar philosophy. (The Swan passengers tend to be about 95% British, while VTA attracts a good mix of US, British, Australian and Canadian pax.)

 

The Aegean Odyssey is small enough to go through the Corinth Canal -- try that on a megaship!!

 

And the ship you describe (Voyages to Antiquity) is about 10 times the size that we would prefer :). That is why when folks say "small" its relative. There are small ship companies (such as Variety Cruises) that have far fewer then 100 on their vessels. When we think small, we remember our 20 passenger cruising yacht (which cost no more then most larger lines) where we would spend our morning jumping off the bow and swimming into deserted beaches on small Greek Islands. Now that is truly small :) 150 foot schooner with 20 passengers (10 Germans, 8 Dutch, and 2 Americans) and a crew of 7. Pure heaven.

 

Hank

Edited July 24, 2015 by Hlitner

[Keith1010]

Don't forget the new Crystal Yachts - those will be brand new this season! They look fabulous!

 

I agree.

 

And they only carry 64 guest.

 

It is one to take a look at and this will take the original poster to the web site.

 

http://www.crystalcruises.com/YachtCalendar.aspx

 

Keith