Criterion Travel Cruises Focus On Educational Small Ships

Criterion Travel Cruises

By Anne Kalosh

Imagine being able to sail on small ships where you’re engaging with noted professors and alumni from elite universities with a deep interest in the destinations visited.

You get to hear great lectures and take special-interest shore excursions led by experts such as archaeologists, art historians, classicists or political scientists. You can discuss and mingle informally during meals or on deck.

These types of trips are highly curated for alumni from, for example, Harvard, Stanford or Yale, or members of the Archaeological Institute of America, the National Trust for Historic Preservation or the Smithsonian Institution.

Criterion Travel, a tour operator specialized in educational trips for alumni groups and museums, is now opening some of these trips to independent travelers. You don’t have to be a Harvard grad or a Yalie to take part.

Exceptional Educational Content

“The small ship cruises we operate are exceptional programs in terms of educational content,” said Steve Ridgway, president of Criterion Travel, based in Beaverton, Oregon.

“These trips draw travelers who are interested in learning about the destination. We set up programs that provide access they wouldn’t get on their own or with another tour operator with a broader reach.”

Ridgway founded Criterion Travel 15 years ago following decades of working in educational travel at larger companies. He has a highly experienced staff of 18.

Criterion either charters vessels or blocks space to create programs it offers to affinity group sponsors, or the clients come to Ridgway’s team to design a customized trip.

Ridgway will sometimes put more than one affinity group together, provided they share common purpose/style and the groups agree. During the pandemic many tour operators went out of business and so some of Criterion’s partners have agreed that the company can sell unsold cabins to independents as a way of helping keep his business healthy

These are aboard truly small, Quirky-sized ships — some with just 14 cabins, but typically none larger than 120 berths.

Since Criterion often charters the vessels, it can customize the itinerary to provide exclusive port content.

The result is one-of-a-kind programs not available to the general public.

Criterion Travel Cruises is run by Steve Ridgway,

Steve Ridgway has decades of experience in educational travel. * Photo: Criterion Travel

Subscribe to our monthly small ship cruise email

Subscribe to QuirkyCruise.com for monthly curated newsletters highlighting our top small cruise ship reviews, round-ups & offers!

Greek And Roman History On Emerald Sakara

For example, in September Criterion has a seven-night Athens to Rome charter of Emerald Sakara — which Ridgway likened to a billionaire’s yacht — with a strong focus on Greek and Roman history and excursions to archaeological sites.

The 100-passenger Emerald Sakara entered service in 2023 for Emerald Cruises, part of the Scenic Group. It measures 361 feet/110 meters and has all ocean-view suites, most with balconies, a pool, spa and marina platform with water toys.

During Criterion’s charter, a dozen cabins are open to individual travelers who’ll be privy to lectures and informal discussions with luminaries in architecture and historic preservation, archaeology and other disciplines.

The program begins with a special visit to the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, and includes a cruise through the Corinth Canal, a visit to Olympia and a call at 2,700-year-old Siracusa, rich with Greek and Roman history. Travelers can marvel at the 3rd-century BC Greco-Roman amphitheater at Taormina and the Greek Temple of Neptune at Paestum before visiting Pompeii.

The trip is priced starting at $7,990 per person, not including airfare. Independents may book via their own travel advisor or directly with Criterion Travel.

Criterion Travel Cruises the Emerald Sakara

Criterion Travel will operate a seven-night Athens to Rome charter of Emerald Sakara that is open to independent travelers. * Photo: Criterion Travel

‘One Big Happy Family’ On Board

“On board, it’s one big happy family,” Ridgway told me. “There’s no separation. Everyone can get on any bus for shore excursions. While an affinity group may host a members-only cocktail party, when it comes to dining tables, lectures and shore excursions, they’re open to everyone on board.”

As well, everyone pays the same fare. Pricing includes all meals; wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner; port fees, taxes and gratuities to ship personnel and tour managers.

“Most of our travelers are older, well educated, well traveled and have the wherewithal to spend $5,000 to $8,000 on a land tour and $10,000 to $12,000 on a cruise,” Ridgway said.

Japan Cruise-Tour

Criterion Travel is just planning 2026 programs now. The company likely will reprise a very successful cruise-tour of Japan that’s operated 25 or 30 times. For this, Criterion typically uses small ships like Noble Caledonia’s Island Sky or Hebridean Sky (from the original Renaissance Cruises of the early 1990s) or Heritage Expeditions’ Heritage Adventurer (a prior incarnation was Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Hanseatic).

The trip begins with three nights in Kyoto to delve into the history of the ancient capital and may include special programs like meeting a geisha, seeing a kabuki actor get dressed and made up and visiting artisans’ private workshops. The cruise may stop at Sado Island to see taiko drummers practice.

Criterion always sets aside some cabins for Japanese national guides it knows well to maintain consistency and a high level of delivery on all excursions.

For such a trip, “we have to work to keep the lead-in price under $10,000 per person,” Ridgway said.

Croatia On A Yacht

Another popular Criterion Travel cruise, Croatia on an 18-cabin yacht launched in 2018, lets travelers feel like they’re on their own boat.

Ridgway said the beauty of this little vessel, versus bigger ships on Adriatic cruises, is that it’s not limited to the major ports and can pull right into the center of town in small islands or the mainland alongside the local boats.

“People can eat dinner with the locals because we stay overnight. In the morning, they can have coffee on the pier and watch the place come to life … People have told us this is one of the best trips they’ve every had. Not only is it a very interesting part of the world, with a lot of archaeology and history, people feel like they’re on holiday by themselves but with the advantage of the group, the lecturers, the guides.”

Casablanca To The Canaries

Yet another full-ship charter planned in 2026 is on the three-masted tall ship Sea Cloud Spirit, which Ridgway called a “fantastic” vessel. I can vouch for that, having cruised aboard this hand-sailed beauty in the Caribbean in December 2023.

The specially curated Criterion Travel cruise trip will begin with a land program in Morocco before Sea Cloud Spirit embarks from Casablanca to the Canary Islands.