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.

UnCruise Alaska — Review of Their Wild & Woolly Cruise Aboard Wilderness Legacy (2026)

UnCruise Alaska — Review of Their Wild & Woolly Cruise Aboard Wilderness Legacy (2026)

by | Jan 14, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , | 0

Wilderness Legacy Cruise Ship Review By Peter Knego (Photo Above: The handsome Wilderness Legacy,...

Read More
Bella Desgagnés Cargo Passenger Cruise Review (2026) — Exploring the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Bella Desgagnés Cargo Passenger Cruise Review (2026) — Exploring the Gulf of St. Lawrence

by | Dec 21, 2025 | , , , , , , | 0

Bella Desgagnés Cargo Passenger Cruise By Aimée Laberge Natashquan, Harrington Harbour,...

Read More
Loading

Write A Review

Write a Review

Traveling Professor

The Traveling Professor

UnCruise Ad

UnCruise Ad Jan 2026 for 30 Years Anniversary

SLCL Ad

St Lawrence Cruise Lines Ad for Canada rivers

Croisi Ad

CroisiEurope ad

ACL Ad

Cruise American ACL Banner Ad

Heidi Booking Ad

QuirkyCruise Heidi Booking ad

2023 SATW Lowell Thomas QC Win

SATW Lowell Thomas Award winner

Adsense

Sign Up box

QC Sign Up Ad Sept 22

bird

Travel Without the Crowds

SATW Proud member

Adsense

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.

More...

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.

AVALON Waterways

AVALON Waterways

Avalon Waterways Avalon entered the fast-growing river cruise market in 2004 and is owned by the Swiss-based Globus family of travel industry brands. The line aims for the upper end of the river cruise market, operating a large number of riverboats on a vast range of...

PEARL Seas Cruises Review

PEARL Seas Cruises Review

Pearl Seas Cruises: Unbiased Small Ship Cruise Review Pearl Seas Cruises is a subsidiary of the firm that owns American Cruise Lines with its large and ever-growing fleet of coastal and river ships. Its one ship, the 210-passenger Pearl Mist, shares many of the...

EMERALD Cruises

EMERALD Cruises

Emerald Cruises. Emerald Cruises started in 2014 and operates a fleet of six similar riverboats along Europe’s Rhine, Rhone, Saône, Main, Danube, Moselle and Douro Rivers. In Southeast Asia, one vessel plies the Mekong River. Yachts cruise Mediterranean waters such...

Viking River Cruise in Ukraine Aboard Viking Sineus

Viking River Cruise in Ukraine Aboard Viking Sineus

Viking River Cruise in Ukraine By Gene Sloan Sept 2024 Note: Gene took this cruise in 2019. This Viking river cruise in the Ukraine is not currently being offered due to the war. Perhaps one day again travelers will be able to experience this quirky river cruise that...

Q&A With French Canal Barge Owner Edward Anderson

Q&A With French Canal Barge Owner Edward Anderson

French Canal Barge Q&A Barge cruises are an excellent way to indulge in fine French wines, cheeses and cuisine while moving at a snail’s pace through historic and beautiful regions of France. Like floating boutique hotels, French barge cruises offer an intimate...

GOTA Canal Steamship Company

GOTA Canal Steamship Company

Gota Canal Steamship Company The ships are historic treasures, full of charm and purpose-built to transit the canal; a truly unique way to see Sweden. Three historic canal boats sail full or partial cruises Sweden between Stockholm, the capital, and Gothenburg,...

QuirkyCruise News: Hapag-Lloyd's New Expedition Ship Named

QuirkyCruise News: Hapag-Lloyd's New Expedition Ship Named

Hapag-Lloyd's New Expedition Ship By Ted Scull. The naming ceremony for Hapag-Lloyd’s second of three expedition ships, HANSEATIC INSPIRATION, took place in Hamburg on October 11th. The traditional Champagne bottle was sent on its way to collide with the ship’s hull...

HURTIGRUTEN

HURTIGRUTEN

Special Note: As only two of the 12 ships in the Hurtigruten daily service coastal fleet fall below our limit of 300 cabin passengers, a brief addendum at the end will describe the remaining ships that handle from 451 to 640 berthed passengers. Also, the expedition...

HEBRIDEAN Island Cruises

HEBRIDEAN Island Cruises

Hebridean Island Cruises Based in Great Britain, the independently-owned British cruise line operates two small ships, the HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS, a lovely floating country house hotel that has had no equal for three decades in atmosphere or price, and the recently...

Brahmaputra River Cruise Tips You'll Find Very Useful

Brahmaputra River Cruise Tips You'll Find Very Useful

Brahmaputra River Cruise Tips. By Judi Cohen. Few travelers go to India for just one week unless you live in a neighbouring country. Our recent India adventure was nearly one-month long, with a Brahmaputra River cruise scheduled in the middle. RELATED: Here's Judi's...

More Articles

  • Subscribe

    Sign up for our monthly newsletter to get insider reviews, tips & deals on unusual & small-ship cruises.

  • * I would like to subscribe to the QuirkyCruise newsletters. QuirkyCruise.com will not sell your email. See PRIVACY POLICY