1 out of 5 stars (5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=good, 2=poor, 1=terrible)
-Food Rating: 2
-Cabin Rating: 2
-Service/Crew Rating: 5
-Itinerary Rating: 1
HAVE YOU BEEN ON A SMALL SHIP CRUISE BEFORE?
I’ve been on 10 small ship cruise.
REVIEW
I booked two back to back cruises to different areas, it wasn’t until I was on the second trip that I was told the itinerary had changed and we were going back to do the same itinerary in which I had just finished, no one from the company had warned me otherwise I would have chosen something different or cancelled one of them. When I contacted the head office they apologised and offered me a free 6-day cruise to which I asked for the cost equivalent instead as I wasn’t going to be in the Caribbean again plus the wasted 6 days repeating everything again.
They didn’t want to do that and their response was a letter reminding me about their Small Print that says they have the right to substitute any scheduled sailings and itineraries without notice, a great cop out and an extremely bad way to treat customers.
After talking to some of the other guests about it I found out I wasn’t the only one unhappy with their customer service treatment from head office and they wouldn’t be travelling with them again.
I have travelled extensively for many years to over 90 countries and work in tourism as a Guide and also spent 10 selling trips just like this and never had I had or heard of such bad service.
Air-con didn’t work for a while in some of the rooms so 2 of us had to sleep in the hallway.
Average food, horrible coffee and undrinkable wine.
There are lots of other companies out there to choose from.
The ship staff were fantastic.
Contribute to our pool of honest reviews by real passengers. QuirkyCruise wants to hear about your latest small ship cruise for our Reader Reviews, a growing reservoir of opinions by small ship cruise lovers around the world. We don’t edit or sugarcoat, we just present QuirkyCruise reader reviews straight from travelers to you.
Ted & Heidi are long-time travel writers with a penchant for small ship cruising. Between them they've traveled all over the world aboard hundreds and hundreds of small cruise ships of all kinds, from river boats to expedition vessels and sailing ships.
I'm up to 78 countries and 110+ cruises worldwide, and it's the small ship journeys that I love writing about most. And so QuirkyCruise.com was born, an excellent research tool for planning your own unforgettable small ship trip.
THEODORE W. SCULL
I have traveled between all continents by sea and cruised along three dozen rivers. Ships and travel are in my blood, and so is writing. My journeys have translated into many books and many hundreds of articles.
Antarctica Air Bridge Option By Anne Kalosh Reaching the otherworldly wonders of Antarctica from South America means crossing the Drake Passage, a notoriously rough patch of sea. This usually takes two days each way on an expedition cruise ship. I've done it several...
Tulip Time Cruise By Katherine Rodeghier After a cold winter, I anxiously await welcoming signs of spring: the first robin, more daylight hours, flowers poking their heads from bulbs growing in slowly warming soil. I especially look for my favorite — tulips — and...
Seatrade Miami Convention 2024 News By Anne Kalosh From newbuilds to a new expedition brand, plenty of small-ship news emerged from cruising's biggest annual B2B event, Seatrade Cruise Global, this month. The Seatrade Miami Convention 2024, with a jam-packed...
Windstar Adding 2 Ships By Ted Scull, with reporting by Anne Kalosh Windstar broke the mold 40 years ago when in 1984 the new firm launched its first of what would be a trio of sleek combination motor sailers. Now, decades later, Windstar is adding a new build, the...
Biking River Cruise With Backroads & AmaWaterways By John Roberts You can have it all as a cycling enthusiast who wants to explore Europe on a highly curated, hassle-free vacation. In fact, I took a river cruise bike tour that combines the best elements of sailing...
7 Alaska Small Ship Cruises By M.T. Schwartzman I took my first cruise to Alaska in 1988 aboard the old Noordam — an ocean-liner-type ship with over 1,200 passengers aboard, which was considered big back in those days. The next year, I boarded my first small-ship...
American Cruise Lines Buys American Queen By Ted Scull. If you are old enough to recall the nightly newscaster Gabriel Heatter, he began his nightly news broadcast with “Good evening everyone, there’s good news tonight.” Indeed, there is great news for those cruisers...
sponsored New UnCruise Itineraries As usual, UnCruise keeps things fresh and exciting! Check out this cool new UnCruise itinerary debuting in 2025, in the Aleutian Islands. New UnCruise Itineraries for 2025 — Aleutian Islands Adventure with Kodiak, Katmai & Kenai...
sponsored Packing Tips For Alaska Cruising With Uncruise Adventures By Heidi Sarna No one does small-ship cruising better than UnCruise Adventures. The leader in small-scale Alaska cruises, the Uncruise fleet carries from 22 to 86 passengers on wide-ranging...
sponsored Overnight River Boat Cruising In Canada This year, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines’ (SLCL) one-of-a-kind small passenger ship, the 64-passenger Canadian Empress, will sail the scenic waters of eastern Canada’s 1000 Islands and the St. Lawrence River for its 44th...
Bar Harbor To Limit Cruise Visitors By Anne Kalosh For many years Bar Harbor, with a year-round population of just 5,500, was Maine's busiest cruise port, handling hundreds of thousands of passengers a season. For some residents, that was too many. Even though the...