Small-ship cruising: Experiences the big ships can’t easily deliver

By Brian Johnston
Updated September 27 2016 - 5:16pm, first published September 25 2016 - 12:15am
Star Clipper in Corsica.
Star Clipper in Corsica.
Sailing the Svalbard islands with Hurtigruten. Photo: Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik
Sailing the Svalbard islands with Hurtigruten. Photo: Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik
A SeaDream ship off the coast of Italy.
A SeaDream ship off the coast of Italy.

It's odd that some otherwise worldly travellers think of cruising as an amorphous entity that involves megaships, pool parties and ports of call swamped by shore excursionists in baseball caps. Cruising is, in fact, as diverse as any other form of travel. If a megaship might be likened to a skyscraper resort, a small ship is a boutique hotel or even a B&B: what it sacrifices in amenities, it might make up for in character and intimacy. A megaship is an A380, albeit vastly more entertaining while on board. A small ship  – generally considered to carry 200 passengers or fewer – is more akin to a private jet, with champagne popping and an interesting airstrip up ahead with the promise of somewhere unknown.

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