QuirkyCruise’s Ben Lyons is Named to Seatrade’s ’20 under 40′ By Anne Kalosh. QuirkyCruise.com contributor Ben Lyons has been named to a prestigious list of 20 people under 40 who…
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…Ben Lyons The galley and indoor dining area. * Photo: Ben Lyons A Focus on Food & Drink when Barge Cruising in France Patsie, in addition to her duties as…
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…and hedges reaching to the river below. Hearty hikes daily. * Photo: Ben Lyons One of the knowledgable guides. * Photo: Bey Lyons The Weather Again Despite the dire predictions…
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…pales in comparison to son Ben’s. (Read more about Ben Lyons here!) Many trips have been enjoyed together. Somewhere along the years, the experience has shifted from Jane instructing Ben…
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…bike, getting read to cycle in Reims. * Photo: Kathryn Harrison Kathryn cycling along the canal. * Photo: Ben Lyons For me, exercise meant I could indulge completely, and that…
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By Ben Lyons. In a week full of absurd luxuries, perhaps nothing was more sybaritic than our evening anchored off St. Barths. I was cruising the Caribbean onboard SeaDream Yacht…
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…more vaguely, helping to link the shoreside teams with the shipboard teams. Ben at dry dock in Germany as captain on board Nat Geo Explorer. * Photo: Ben Lyons The…
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…and skills. Ben Jackson and expedition staff member Jens Wikström making plans for an upcoming excursion. * Photo: Ben Jackson QuirkyCruise: Why did you start an expedition guiding academy? Ben…
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…so far away…” READ THE REVIEW: Here’s Ben‘s full Johanna review. READ THIS REVIEW TOO: Enjoy Ben‘s mother Jane’s review here. Ben & Jane aboard barge Johanna. * Photo: Ben…
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Safari Endeavour to Alaska By Ben Lyons. It was with some trepidation that I pushed off from the stern of my anchored ship, UnCruise Adventures’ Safari Endeavour, wearing only a…
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…right from the sea. Sea ice and large icebergs are often mixed in here as well. It is just raw, spectacular beauty. Capt. Ben Lyons, EYOS Expeditions. * Photo: Ben…
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…to cruising trip. The 50-passenger Hebridean Princess is a great way to travel to the remote western isles of Scotland. * Photo: Ben Lyons Ben Lyons has been obsessed with…
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By Heidi, Ted, Jane & Ben Lyons. Updated June 2025 Barge cruises are often not well understood. Don’t barges carry cargo? Well, originally the flat-bottomed boats were used for carrying freight,…
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…the onboard culture, mental health programs, better benefits and effective mentorship. Also, seafarers want health benefits to extend to their families at home, something the CMI chief said is actually…
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…the river cruise business several years ago, the expedition cruise sector is on the cusp of a building boom that will fuel tremendous growth, according to Capt. Ben Lyons, CEO…
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…fan of the Hebridean Princess. Hebridean Princess Queen portrait. * Photo: Ben Lyons Another visible Royal connection comes in the form of a commemorative plaque, dating back to 26 April…
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…Hebridean Princess. * Photo: Hebridean Island Cruises RELATED: 7 Small Ship Scottish Cruises You Should Know About. Reviews of Hebridean Princess QuirkyCruise Contributor Ben Lyons writes “Footloose to the Clyde”…
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…Ted Scull as well as contributing writers John Roberts, Ben Lyons, Judi Cohen and others. And later this year, Heidi will hit the Pacific Northwest on UnCruise’s “Rivers of Adventure…
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…Ben Nevis, before heading south into the Hebrides. Ben Nevis. * Photo: Robin McKelvie Loch Linnhe ranks up the wildlife. We spot a herd of wild red deer — the…
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…of the Highlands picked up the tab. The Old Forge Inn at Inverie. * Photo: Denise Dacey RELATED: Ben Lyons reviews his “Footloose to the Clyde” Hebridean Princess cruise. RELATED:…
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…avid traveler Ben Lyons, CEO of EYOS Expeditions, no need to bring a tangle of cords — Ben packs super light including always charging his phone in his laptop and…
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…ship reviews, round-ups & offers! RELATED: Sven Lindblad Moves to New Role. RELATED: Ben Lyons Interviews Sven Lindblad. Itineraries include expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica; natural history and…
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…autumn 2025. The mini SeaDream cruisers can slip into ports and waterways the biggies cannot. * Photo: Ben Lyons Why Go? The ships are casually chic and all-inclusive, and you…
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…not be. Kayaking may be included in locales other than the Arctic and Antarctica where closer supervision is required. Kayaking right from the ship in Southeast Alaska. * Photo: Ben…
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…the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic.” As an addendum, Ben Lyons, CEO, Expedition Voyage Consultants had this to add: Certainly the number of increased…
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…for so many people.” Sven-Olof Lindblad. * Photo: Lindblad Expeditions RELATED: Stay tuned for a closer look at Sven’s career and legacy, by QuirkyCruise contributor Ben Lyons, who has worked…
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…of the Highlands.) RELATED: Ben Lyons reviews his Hebridean Princess trekking-focused cruise. RELATED:Pat Dacey reviews hisLord of the Highlands cruise. RELATED: Judi Cuervo reviews her Hebridian Princess cruise. Majestic Line…
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…charters of late, Princess Anne certainly showed her fondness for the vessel at the lunch. RELATED: Robin McKelvie talks about the Hebridean Princess’s Royal connections. RELATED: Writer Ben Lyons cruises…
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…along aquarium-clear lochs beneath towering 3,000-foot mountains, feeling the enormity and grandeur of the Scottish Highlands, one of Europe’s last great wildernesses. En route there are castles, distilleries and cute…
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…time on our own to explore the town and just happened to come across the replica steamboat Judge Ben Wiles, just as it was about to depart on an hour’s…
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…end of the war) and the sprawling Ben Thanh market. We also toured the famous Cu Chi tunnels an hour outside of the city, an impressive underground complex built by…
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…with an endearing Chicago couple, a wise-cracking salesman and his doting young wife, and shared a meal with a charming, French Ben Kingsley lookalike and his glamorous wife, who had…
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…Egyptian Museum; Old Cairo, known for its Coptic churches; and the thousand-year-old Ben Ezra Synagogue. The Gayer-Anderson Museum, the former residence of a British officer in the Egyptian army who…
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…Katzenberg, Henry Kissinger, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Sting, Robert De Niro, Hugh Jackman, Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Cameron Diaz, Elle Macpherson, Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush….
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…captain told us), while the massive masts are hewn from Douglas fir, which one of the mates explained is more “bendable” in strong winds than oak. The J&E Riggin keeps…
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…endearing Chicago couple, a wise-cracking salesman and his doting young wife, and shared a meal with a charming, French Ben Kingsley lookalike and his glamorous wife, who had sailed with…
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…brief stops to learn about the Temple Bar Gate, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Christ Church Greyfriars and chewing gum artist Ben Wilson — look up his fascinating street art. Christ Church…
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HEIDI SARNA
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. SCULLI 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.
More...If you can imagine it, we’ve cruised it! With reviews, articles and destination overviews, we’ve got you covered.
Uncommon Journeys In New York & Canada By Rail & River Boat By Peter Knego Uncommon Journeys, also known as Train Holidays, has been offering curated cruise tours for decades, often combining the best elements of land, sea and rail to provide a unique...
Canadian Empress 1000 Islands Cruise Review By Heidi Sarna One chilly afternoon, after spending some time alone up on the Sun Deck admiring the scenery of the 1000 Islands, I paused and peered through the lounge’s etched glass doors. I could see (and hear!) that just...
Costa Rica UnCruise Adventures By Heidi Sarna I had a chat with Captain Dan Blanchard, Owner & CEO of UnCruise, to ask him all about his upcoming new 7-night Costa Rica itineraries. Dan loves getting his feet wet (and ours!) in some of the most beautiful natural...
Viking & American Cruise Lines Mississippi Comparison By Aaron Saunders River cruises span nearly every corner of the globe. While the term often conjures images of European castles and storied capitals, North American travelers have an equally compelling option...
Viking Christmas Markets Cruise By Donna Heiderstadt I’m a big fan of the European capitals located along the Danube River — notably Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; and Bratislava, Slovakia — and I’ve visited them several times, always in spring or fall when...
America Cruise Lines Alaska Review By Tracey Teo A black bear at Alaska’s Tongass National Forest perched statue-like on a boulder overlooking Anan Creek, and I watched curiously through my binoculars to see what he would do next. I didn’t have to wait long. Suddenly,...
Antarctica Cruise Tips By John Roberts Today, there are more cruise lines and more ships offering exciting expeditions to Antarctica than ever. I’m talking about getting down to the peninsula and to the Antarctic continent for actual landings and other adventurous...
New Atlas Ocean Voyages Ship By Charles Kipps Given its reputation for polar expedition cruising, it seemed fitting that on the day Atlas Ocean Voyages chose to make a major announcement in New York City the temperature would be 13 degrees with a wind chill of seven....
New River Cruise Ships for 2026 & 2027 By Anne Kalosh River cruises are booming, and for good reason. They offer everything we at QuirkyCruise love about small-ship travel. They take you to the heart of destinations — European capitals or major wine regions, tiny...
Douro River Cruise Review By Heidi Sarna Joyfully wandering around hilly Porto, a colorful old city built on the steep banks of Portugal's Douro River where it meets the Atlantic Ocean, after flowing some 500 miles from north-central Spain, I was smitten by this...
Wilderness Legacy Cruise Ship Review By Peter Knego (Photo Above: The handsome Wilderness Legacy, shown at anchor near Le Conte Glacier, was built in 1984 as a replica Chesapeake Bay coastal steamer. * Credit: Peter Knego) After no less than a dozen Alaska cruises on...
