News & Cruise Reviews

Here we share the latest small-ship cruise news and first-person cruise reviews and round-ups from our team of globetrotting writers. If you've got a penchant for small-scale travel aboard boats, yachts, tall ships and mini cruisers, then enjoy the ride through our sea of stories about small-ship cruising.

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About Us


Heidi and Ted 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.

OCEANWIDE Expeditions

OCEANWIDE Expeditions

Oceanwide Expeditions Review Oceanwide Expeditions, based in the Netherlands, offers some of the most active and creative onshore adventures in the industry, almost exclusively in the Arctic and Antarctica regions. The ships are comfortable and efficient conveyances,...

Hebridean Princess “Ship of Queens” Has a Storied History

Hebridean Princess “Ship of Queens” Has a Storied History

Hebridean Princess Ship of Queens by Robin McKelvie. The legendary Orient Express is heralded as the Train of Kings. If that’s the case then I reckon the Hebridean Princess is undoubtedly the "Ship of Queens." And not just metaphorically. This grand British dame is a...

George Coughlin — Captain of Many Small Ships

George Coughlin — Captain of Many Small Ships

Small Ship Captain George Coughlin Interview by Ted Scull. George Coughlin has been sailing in navigating roles from mate to pilot to captain for many small ship firms such as Coastwise Cruise Line, Exploration Cruise Lines, Clipper Cruise Line, Cruise West, St....

Reader Review: Safari Explorer in HAWAII (UnCruise) by Leslie S.

Reader Review: Safari Explorer in HAWAII (UnCruise) by Leslie S.

Safari Explorer in Hawaii. REVIEWER Leslie Shepherd from the USA. CRUISE LINE UnCruise. SHIP Safari Explorer. DESTINATION Hawaii. # OF NIGHTS 7. DEPARTURE DATE & PORTS November 2018, from Kona, Hawaii. OVERALL RATING 5 out of 5 stars (5=excellent, 4=very good,...

Hebridean Princess: Footloose to the Clyde

Hebridean Princess: Footloose to the Clyde

Hebridean Princess By Ben Lyons Choosing Scotland for a hiking vacation at the end of October admittedly carried some risk. With weather in the Hebrides hardly settled even in the height of the summer, many of our UK friends kindly offered us well meaning, but clearly...

Adventures with Aranui Cruises’ MV ARANUI 5 Passenger Freighter

Adventures with Aranui Cruises’ MV ARANUI 5 Passenger Freighter

Adventures with Aranui Cruises By Peter Knego. All photos by and copyright Peter Knego 2020 unless otherwise noted. Follow Peter on Twitter! Aranui Cruises Day 1 Fortunately, this was not my first visit to Tahiti, so the pangs of spending just a couple of hours at...

Sea of Cortez Cruise Adventures with Windstar

Sea of Cortez Cruise Adventures with Windstar

Sea of Cortez Cruise By Elysa Leonard. When I signed up for Windstar's “Searching for the Sea of Cortez” cruise aboard the Star Legend, sailing from San Diego, California to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I knew it meant white-sand beaches, crystal blue waters, gorgeous...

Blount Small Ship Adventures Bows Out

Blount Small Ship Adventures Bows Out

Blount Small Ship Adventures Bows Out By Theodore W. Scull. Once “The World is Our Oyster” literally as well as figuratively contributed to the start of Blount Small Ships Adventures. So, it is with great sadness that this pioneering U.S.-flag cruise line has called...

BLOUNT Small Ship Adventures (DEFUNCT)

BLOUNT Small Ship Adventures (DEFUNCT)

Blount Small Ship Adventures Update (Aug 2020) COVID-19 news from Blount: The line will not resume cruises in 2021 as had been expected. The line's three existing vessels now docked at the company's HQ are for sale: Grande Caribe, Grande Mariner, and Niagara Prince....

UnCruise Update & More Small-Ship News

UnCruise Update & More Small-Ship News

UnCruise Update & Other News. By Anne Kalosh. The one traveler who tested positive for COVID-19, ending UnCruise Adventures' short-lived Alaska program, subsequently tested negative. This led many cruise fans to decry a "false positive," but UnCruise CEO Capt. Dan...

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