I've Cruised All 5 "Small Ship Luxury" Lines. No-One Warns You About This!

I’ve traveled on Viking Ocean twice and agree with Gary’s observations. I like the consistency of the ship design and quiet experience, and also found that excursions can be sold out by the time they’re released to my cabin category and that many excursions are routine tours. I’ll add that even though Viking promotes itself as the “thinking man’s cruise,” that’s a relative term. The lectures are superficial (I had better on Cunard) although if you have a chance to talk with the lecturers, they are experts in their field. We supplemented our cruise with a couple guidebooks and went out on our own in port. Much more satisfying. The added bonus of Viking is that if you book your flights through them, they meet you at the airport during the layover to help you navigate large airports (like Frankfort) and if you arrive early, station someone at the hotel as a concierge. A nice touch if you’re in unfamiliar places.

Masterful reviews. Never on a cruise, but at 60 and well off, starting to consider. Watched many of your videos and subscribed. Small luxury for me when the time comes. Just wanted to compliment the excellent content you consistently put out.

After 70+ cruises, we find ourselves wanting to do fewer cruises with more luxury. As full-time travelers, we also use cruises for transportation whenever possible (as opposed to flying!). We’ve booked our 5th Oceania cruise and simply love the line. We have yet to try Windstar, Explora or Azamara. We HAVE booked our first Princess Grills on the Queen Elizabeth and have our first Viking cruise booked for later this year. We have also enjoyed MSC Yacht Club twice. Thanks for helping us spend the high-end dollars most wisely!

The problem I found with Azamara is they don't have any print marketing materials. I want/need something to hold in my hot little hands, something that's easy to pick up and look through. So I went with Oceania, which has beautiful brochures I could pore through with a wide variety of choices. Am sailing on Nautica this summer and can't wait. Going on a cruise has been one of the top three items on my bucket list for decades, and even though I'll have to go alone, at least I'll be going!

You’re right about Azamara being for folks who like the maximum time in port. That’s exactly what I love about them.

Only Explora for me from now on. Beats Regent . Far above Oceania.

Gary I am currently on an Explora Caribbean cruise and must challenge your phobia about children on board. On this cruise there are 750 passengers and perhaps 6 very young children. Also since you travelled the onboard entertainment offers have increased significantly . There are events on every 1/2hr during the day Surprisingly the one point that has disappointed slightly is the food. I feel that in an effort to stand out Explora have over worked the food. Sometimes simple offer without sauces etc are welcome. All that said we will certainly be booking again and will not revert to Seabourn which was our previous go to line. Paul

Very little is mentioned about the French cruise line, Ponant, although Gary has done a video about this company. My wife and I have done several cruises: Croatia, Iceland, Seychelles (onboard scuba facility), and Greece. Ship capacity is about 180 to 260. Passengers are mostly French but there are plenty of Americans, Brits, and occasionally Australians. The staff and crew are mostly bilingual. The food is excellent and seating is open. There are minimal on board activities. As Gary has pointed out, ships like this tend to a more active crowd. In port the ship empties out for the excursions. So, we tend to look at this trips as a means to visit multiple locations to explore with the advantage of unpacking once. We also enjoy interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. We are not passionate cruisers and also do plenty of land trips. Way back (8 weeks in the late 1970’s) I did the Eurail trip London to Greece and back. I tease my wife about revisiting that including the youth hostels.

Thank you for this review Gary! I’ve been a dedicated Viking Ocean (& River) cruise customer for several years now & it certainly works for me, especially being adults only & no upselling or casinos. I do wish they offered more solo supplement fares as other cruise lines do. But the outstanding crew, relaxed decor, Viking Air Plus program, & enrichment programs have won me over—I have 2 more booked & looking at more itineraries!

I love that Viking ships are quiet. We usually travel with another couple. While on-board, our focus is on spending time with our traveling compaions.

I just booked a Viking cruise for Oct 2028. The Viking agent pushed back the final payment until March 2028 (6 months prior to departure) because I'm a past Viking guest. And it's only $25 deposit for the cruise. So I guess the early final payment policy is subject to various promotions or past guest status?

Thanks for the Vid Gary. I'm guessing Paul Gauguin falls into the same category (but of course you were covering the major lines) and I know you've covered PG before as stand alone. I recently returned from one of their Cook and Society Islands cruises and had an absolute blast. This was my second cruise with them and I've got a further one booked for March next year. I am a solo traveller so what appeals to me apart from anything else is their willingness to provide zero solo supplement fares on selected cruises.

Azamara ticks all the boxes for me. I can’t wait to try them.

Coming from a Royal Caribbean/Celebrity experience we loved Oceania Vista. We sailed in March 2025 and will sail on Allura in 2027. Food was good. Best ever? No, but very good food for a cruise ship. Comfortable rooms, no inside rooms on Allura class.

I like a ship of about 900 passengers, small enough but not so small as to being with people you might not be too keen on. That’s what concerns me about a too small ship. Why do you leave Saga out ? They are excellent. OK over 50 but most people are about 65-70 I would say which is par for the course on the more expensive cruises anyway.

Thank you for updating your chart with the cruise line category assignments and the category cost ranges! That's such a helpful way to explain things to people and I use your references all the time.

I hadn't realized the Windstar ships had so few passengers. I know you've covered them, Gary, but it never sunk in. Have to re-weigh the pros & cons now. Thanks for such a complete review of this class. 👍

Re Explora Journeys. The seating throughout the ship is low. Yes there are bar stools that are high, but most seating is lower than standard chairs. This makes it hard for some of us to get out of the seats, and for those of us who are taller, hard to get comfortable. Food though good on EJ does not change. The menus in each venue except the not a buffet, buffet does not rotate. I was on E 1 for a back to back and it didn't even change between cruises. I was on EJ because they had GREAT solo fares, 0% solo supplement.

Have you done any of the even smaller (100-200) luxury/yacht cruises? Ponant, Scenic, Emerald Yachts, Club Med?

We’ve been Viking Ocean travelers and loved the experience. The included excursions were fine, but the ones we purchased were great - lobster and champagne on a catamaran is hard to beat. We found that Viking enhances your location travel information, but you have to search for it pre-trip. For our Leeward Islands cruise, they provided a reading list that changed our expectations for excursions. The books on the list gave us a great historical education before we even got on the ship.