Feature Articles

Ponant and Aqua Expeditions Join Forces — Ponant Explorations Group Acquires Aqua Expeditions

by Anne Kalosh | Jan 20, 2025 | Anne Kalosh Reviews, NEWS | 0

Ponant and Aqua Expeditions By Anne Kalosh Ponant Explorations bought a majority stake in Aqua...

Island Windjammers Review — A Week in the Caribbean on the Cozy Diamant Sailing Between the Grenadines

by QuirkyCruise | Jan 19, 2025 | Caribbean Islands, Charter This, Charters, Feature Articles, sailing, Sailing Feature Articles, Scuba & Snorkeling | 0

Island Windjammers Review By Amy Fried Standing barefoot on the teak deck of the Diamant, with...

Galápagos Cruise Review — An Exciting Galápagos Islands Catamaran Cruise in the Land of Charles Darwin

by Alison Abbott | Jan 14, 2025 | Alison Abbott Stories, Charter This, Charters, Galapagos, South America, Wildlife | 0

Galápagos Cruise Review By Alison Abbott Swimming with sharks, snorkeling with penguins,...

Swan Hellenic Antarctica Review: Robin McKelvie Shares Details About his 10-night Expedition Aboard the 192-pax Diana

by Robin McKelvie | Dec 27, 2024 | Expedition Feature Articles, Antarctica, Robin McKelvie Reviews | 0

Swan Hellenic Antarctica Review by Robin McKelvie Half a dozen gentoo penguins bounce past the...

CroisiEurope Rhine River Cruise — Peter Knego Reviews A Week Aboard Croisi’s 106-Passenger Symphonie

by Peter Knego | Dec 21, 2024 | Germany, French Rivers/Canals, Holland, Peter Knego Reviews | 0

CroisiEurope Rhine River Cruise Review By Peter Knego On various journeys with a wide range of...

Mississippi River Cruise: Expert Review of the American Melody on a Lower Mississippi River Cruise between Memphis and New Orleans

by Sandra and John Nowlan | Dec 9, 2024 | Feature Articles, American and Canadian Waterways, John & Sandra Nowlan Stories, North America | 0

Mississippi River Cruise By John and Sandra Nowlan Our first glance of our Mississippi riverboat...

Eastern Europe Viking Cruise Review — Rediscovering My Mother’s Hungarian Roots on a Journey of Tastes and Heritage

by Judi Cohen | Nov 24, 2024 | Europe, Feature Articles, Hungary, Judi Cohen Reviews, Theme Cruises | 0

Eastern Europe Viking Cruise By Judi Cohen The moment our Viking longship, Viking Ullur, arrived...

American Cruise Lines New England Cruise — Island Hopping Aboard the American Liberty, A Great Way to Travel

by Lynn-Cele Seldon | Nov 21, 2024 | Feature Articles, American and Canadian Waterways, Coastal America, North America, Seldons Reviews | 0

American Cruise Lines New England By Cele and Lynn Seldon As we’ve mentioned before in some of our...

Viking Eastern Seaboard Explorer Cruise, Including the St. Lawrence Seaway — Peter Knego Reviews the Viking Polaris

by Peter Knego | Nov 3, 2024 | Expedition Feature Articles, American and Canadian Waterways, Coastal America, Feature Articles, North America, Oceangoing Feature Articles, Peter Knego Reviews | 0

Viking Eastern Seaboard Explorer Cruise By Peter Knego It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of...

More Murray River Cruise Options as Australia’s Murray River Adds a New Sidewheeler to its Fleet

by Theodore Scull | Oct 31, 2024 | Australia, Murray River | 0

Murray River Cruise By Ted Scull For Australia, the mention of river cruises would probably result...

Variety Cruises Galileo Review by QuirkyCruise Reader Jay Katz

by QuirkyCruise | Oct 30, 2024 | Reader Reviews | 0

Variety Cruises Galileo Reviewer Jay Katz from USA. Cruise Line Variety Cruises. Ship The...

Celebrating Victory Cruise Lines Return to the Great Lakes

by QuirkyCruise | Oct 16, 2024 | Coastal Feature Articles, American and Canadian Waterways, Coastal America, New Ships, North America | 0

Victory Cruise Lines Return By Peter Barnes As an occasional Quirky Cruise contributor, I was...

Majestic’s Glen Etive — Scotsman Robin McKelvie Reviews the 12-Pax Glen Etive, 8 Years After He Sailed on the Inaugural Voyage

by QuirkyCruise | Oct 15, 2024 | Charters, Europe, Feature Articles, Micro Cruise Liners — Expert Reviews & Articles, Robin McKelvie Reviews, Scotland | 0

Majestic’s Glen Etive By Robin McKelvie When The Majestic Line launched their first...

New Owners for The Majestic Line — Scotsman Robin McKelvie Takes a Look at the Direction of Scotland’s Largest Small-Ship Cruise Operator

by Robin McKelvie | Oct 15, 2024 | Atlantic Ocean, Charters, Feature Articles, Robin McKelvie Reviews, Scotland | 1

New Owners for The Majestic Line By Robin McKelvie It’s hard to overemphasize the role that The...

Inside Windstar Cruises’ New Star Seeker — Anne Kalosh Shares Some Details of Windstar’s Upcoming New Ship

by Anne Kalosh | Oct 15, 2024 | Japan, Anne Kalosh Reviews, New Ships, NEWS | 0

Inside Windstar Cruises’ New Star Seeker By Anne Kalosh Bookings are open for Windstar...

14 Europe River Cruise Packing Tips — Heidi Shares Her Expert Advice Based on More Than 125 Cruises

by Heidi Sarna | Oct 10, 2024 | Packing Tips & Hacks | 0

Europe River Cruise Packing Tips By Heidi Sarna I’ve taken more than 125 cruises all over...

4 Small Sailing Ship Cruises in the Caribbean to Consider — Our Experts Weigh in on Sea Cloud, Star Clippers, Windstar & Island Windjammers

by Heidi Sarna | Oct 3, 2024 | Caribbean Islands, Judi CUERVO Stories, sailing, Sailing Feature Articles | 0

Small Sailing Ship Cruises in the Caribbean By Judi Cuervo & Heidi Sarna It was probably about...

Sea Cloud Cruise: Expert Review (2024) — Writer Peter Knego Reunites With A Floating Legend

by Peter Knego | Oct 2, 2024 | Heritage Ships, Peter Knego Reviews, sailing, Sailing Feature Articles | 0

Sea Cloud Cruise Review By Peter Knego Every now and then, a dream comes true twice. For me, that...

Colombia’s Magdalena River — AMA Waterways Newest River Cruise Region … Inaugural Delayed Until March 15, 2025

by Theodore Scull | Oct 1, 2024 | Colombia, Feature Articles, New Ships, NEWS, South America | 1

Colombia’s Magdalena River By Ted Scull Updated Sept 2024 — The inaugural sailing of AmaWaterways’...

AmaWaterways Soulful Experience Cruise on France’s Rhône River — Paul C. Thornton Reviews a 10-Night Cruise & Paris Combo

by QuirkyCruise | Sep 27, 2024 | Europe, Feature Articles, French Rivers/Canals, Theme Cruises, Wine Cruise | 0

AmaWaterways Soulful Experience Cruise By Paul C. Thornton I recently checked a river cruise off...

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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. 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.

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Our Small Ship Cruise Reviews & Articles

If you can imagine it, we’ve cruised it! With reviews, articles and destination overviews, we’ve got you covered.

Another Antarctica Air Bridge Option Would Let Cruisers Skip The ‘Drake Shake’

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...

Tiptoeing Through Tulips on an AmaSerena Tulip Time Cruise in Belgium and the Netherlands

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 Small Ship Cruise News

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 To Its Fleet In 2025 & 2026, One A New Build

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...

5 Reasons A Biking River Cruise With Backroads & AmaWaterways Is Perfect For Active Travelers Of Any Age

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 To Consider — Alaska Expert M.T. Schwartzman Shares Details

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 & Her 3 Former Fleetmates From Defunct American Queen Voyages

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...

New UnCruise Itineraries — Aleutian Islands Adventure

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...

9 Packing Tips For Alaska Cruising With Uncruise Adventures

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...

Overnight River Boat Cruising In Canada On A Classic Small Ship — The Canadian Empress

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, As It Reverts To A Small-Ship Destination

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...

Quirky Cruise Contributors

Heidi & Ted and their team of curious travel writers explore the far corners of the world to share their experiences & insights about small-ship cruising.

Heidi M. Sarna

So far, I’ve explored 78 countries around the world by boat, road, plane, foot, bicycle and camel. My first big journey was a six-month trip around the world back in the days when…

Theodore W. Scull

I am happiest near water, over water or better still on a conveyance moving through water. When my brother Sandy and I were deemed old enough, mother took us to Europe by ship.

Peter Knego

John Roberts

Judi Cohen

Robin McKelvie

Ben Lyons

Dana Freeman

Gene Sloan

Randy Mink

Judi Cuervo

Lynn and Cele Seldon

Elysa Leonard

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