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,...

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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,...

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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.

Mekong River Cruising with Pandaw through Cambodia & Vietnam

Mekong River Cruising with Pandaw through Cambodia & Vietnam

A Taste of Mekong River Cruising By Ted Scull. Published Nov 2015. Throughout my many years of traveling, I’ve found that river journeys have often provided deeper insights into a country’s culture and history than more hectic travel by road or flying from city to...

Silverseas Galapagos Cruise — The Islands of Evolution

Silverseas Galapagos Cruise — The Islands of Evolution

Silverseas Galapagos Cruise By Laurel & Charles Doherty. “Dross, worthless…” was how Fray Tomas De Berlanga, the Bishop Of Panama, found the Galapagos Islands in 1535. “Paradise on earth” was how one Silver Galapagos cruiser, a New England restaurateur, found the...

Next Stop, The Russian Far East

Next Stop, The Russian Far East

The Russian Far East By Matt Hannafin. Welcome to the end of the earth, the place where East lies to the west of West. Sitting just two and a half miles from Alaska at its closest point and stretching over 1,400 miles from north to south, the harsh, sparsely...

Australia's Remote Kimberley Coast with Lindblad Expeditions

Australia's Remote Kimberley Coast with Lindblad Expeditions

Australia's Remote Kimberley Coast By Ted Scull. Married as I am to an Australian — a Queenslander, to be more specific — we trek out to the old country with certain regularity. After de rigueur family time, we then choose an exciting new domestic destination to...

Swan Hellenic Style on the High Seas around Ireland

Swan Hellenic Style on the High Seas around Ireland

Swan Hellenic Style By Ted Scull. Swan Hellenic’s origins, offering culturally rich cruises, date back to 1954 when two brothers named Swan began chartering Greek and Turkish ships to explore the Eastern Mediterranean, the Hellenic world of antiquity. More recently,...

A-ROSA

A-ROSA

A-Rosa A-Rosa started up in 2000 for a European clientele that was and still is heavily German-speaking. Then in 2013, some of the large fleet was dedicated to the English-speaking market increasing to six in 2018, yet keeping the European flavor, so it’s a different...

Royal Clipper Pleases a First-Time Cruiser

Royal Clipper Pleases a First-Time Cruiser

First-Time Cruiser by Heidi Sarna. Experienced cruisers all know that something special takes hold on a cruise, that a real connection develops between you and the other passengers and crew, and that you find yourself with the kind of proprietary feeling you never...

Small Ship News: Paddlewheeled Overnight Riverboats in Europe

Small Ship News: Paddlewheeled Overnight Riverboats in Europe

Starting in spring 2016, CroisiEurope will begin operating the 80-passenger ELBE PRINCESSE using stern-wheel propulsion directly between the German and Czech capitals. The boat’s extreme shallow draft allows passage from Berlin Spandau along the Elbe and Moldau...

Paddling the Pacific Northwest with American Queen Steamboat Co

Paddling the Pacific Northwest with American Queen Steamboat Co

The American Empress Paddlewheeler By Anne Kalosh. One day aboard the AMERICAN EMPRESS paddlewheeler began with a bald eagle sighting from my veranda, continued with a forest trek, waterfalls and Washington state wines and wrapped with one of the best meals I've eaten...

FRENCH America Line (DEFUNCT)

FRENCH America Line (DEFUNCT)

French America Line Update (Nov 2018) The riverboat LOUISIANE is currently not operating and is laid up. The last notice from the line's website was posted on February 4, 2018 (See below). As of late November 2018, there has been no further update to what is written...

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