School me on differences between small ship ocean lines

[jbinbi]

Looking at going on Seabourne/Viking/Tauck/Silverseas/etc. Not looking for snob appeal, in fact, don't want that. Don't want to have to put on jacket/tie for dinner, but we do want excellent food. Want to have excellent tours as well, this is the critical part of cruising to us. I don't really care about a large room, just so it is not cramped, we get a regular Balcony on Princess and that has been fine. We are active in our mid 60s.

 

I know these are all luxury lines, but are they all competing for the same client, or do they differentiate , e.g. BMW and Cadillac are both luxury autos, but they are aimed at different wants and needs. I am looking to learn what line I think I should be looking at. Will be doing several cruises in the future, probably starting with Adriatic/Eastern Med.

 

Hoping some on this forum have been on the different lines and can compare them.

[Essiesmom]

How small are you thinking?  Have you looked at Windstar?  Ponant?  Star Clippers?  Ritz Carlton.  sea Dream…Do you want a standard cruise on a smaller ship?  Or a more adventurous cruise to less visited places.  There is a forum here for small ship cruising…under Special Interest Cruising.  EM

[GeezerCouple]

20 minutes ago, jbinbi said:

Looking at going on Seabourne/Viking/Tauck/Silverseas/etc. Not looking for snob appeal, in fact, don't want that. Don't want to have to put on jacket/tie for dinner, but we do want excellent food. Want to have excellent tours as well, this is the critical part of cruising to us. I don't really care about a large room, just so it is not cramped, we get a regular Balcony on Princess and that has been fine. We are active in our mid 60s.

 

I know these are all luxury lines, but are they all competing for the same client, or do they differentiate , e.g. BMW and Cadillac are both luxury autos, but they are aimed at different wants and needs. I am looking to learn what line I think I should be looking at. Will be doing several cruises in the future, probably starting with Adriatic/Eastern Med.

 

Hoping some on this forum have been on the different lines and can compare them.

 

Here are a couple of other sections of CruiseCritic that might be helpful for you:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2651-small-ship-cruising/

and

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/343-luxury-cruising/

 

If you browse through all the CC categories, something else might jump out that would be useful for you:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/858-categories/

 

Enjoy!

 

GC

[StollyBolly]

I don’t think you could go wrong with any of your choices stated.  We like dressing for dinner, but usually there are options on ship.  We have done 2 Seabourn cruises on the Venture.  It’s more casual and I suspect all of the small expedition ships will be the same.   I think Tauk block books on ships, no Tauk ships.  I may be wrong.  
 

We had a fabulous Seabourn cruise in the Adriatic.   The ports were excellent.  
 

Have fun searching