Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

You can watch your latest Patron bonus on-cruise update from my Regent Splendor in Canada here: https://youtu.be/1APwb4wB-1U

In this short update, recorded just over halfway through my Regent Seven Seas Splendor cruise where I am having a great time, I wanted to share two changes and one issues that I noticed since I was…

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Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

It is your last chance to vote for your “favourite cruise influencer” in the UK World of Cruising Wave Awards 2026 at https://www.worldofcruising.co.uk/wave-awards-2026-shortlist.

Fun fact: I have been on the finalist list since at least 2018 and never won.

This year are 12 on the shortlist (see attached image).

They are all UK based as magazine is UK and they don’t understand that social media is global (???), so your favourite cruise content creator may not be British? More accurate description would be “Favourite UK based cruise influencer”?

I digress! So, please vote for your favourite. I won’t be disappointed if I’m not your favourite - as long as you keep reading, watching and listening to me …

Gary

I am frequently asked by my Tips For Travellers followers what cameras and equipment I use to film my YouTube videos.

The answer has changed dramatically over the years.

When I started making travel videos, getting good-quality footage meant travelling with a relatively large DSLR camera, lenses, tripods and various accessories like gimbals. Today, most of the footage you see in my videos is filmed on cameras that can usually fit in my pocket.

All while the quality I get from these tiny cameras is considerably better at 4K quality than I could achieve from much larger and more expensive equipment shooting in HD 1080 not that long ago.

This has been revolutionary for all my travels as I don’t have to lug around a large camera bag and tripod. I also want to be able to film discreetly without making other passengers feel as though they have walked onto a film set.

So, here is the camera equipment I currently use to make my Tips For Travellers videos.

My Main Camera: DJI Osmo Pocket 4

• DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Creator Combo Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4gWdU3M

• DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Creator Combo Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4wTQml0

The camera I use for most of the footage you see in my cruise videos is with a DJI Osmo Pocket 4.

This is a small handheld video camera with built in gimbal. The gimbal constantly moves the camera to compensate for movement, which is means I can get smooth footage.

Instead of carrying a large camera and separate stabilising gimbal, I have essentially got both in something I can easily carry with one hand or put in my pocket.

The Pocket 4 is excellent in low light with a dedicated setting that gives impressive results, making it ideal for shooting on cruise ships in places like theatres, restaurants and cabins. Good low-light performance matters enormously to me for my video making.

Another reason I like it is that it is incredibly quick to use. I have it to hand, flick the screen to it on and can start filming.

I bought the Creator Combo, which includes a DJI wireless microphone transmitter that connects directly to the camera. That has turned out to be particularly useful because I also use the Pocket to record many of my informal on-cruise updates for my Patreon Patrons and YouTube Members.

The only weak area is the zoom function, so I have other cameras I use when I need that.

But, for anyone that wants one small camera for travel videos, this would be the first one I would look at.

My iPhone 17 Pro Max

• Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4gAcBGB

• Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4gXEBVP

I also use my iPhone 17 Pro Max for some footage.

Smartphone cameras have become so good that there are times when there is little reason to get another camera out, particularly if I spot something unexpected or just need a quick shot. And it has very good shot stabilisation, zoom, and shots in 4K too.

It also has another advantage: people pay much attention to somebody using a phone to film and take pictures as everyone is these days.

That helps when filming on a cruise ship and out on tours. I want to avoid disturbing passengers, and sometimes filming with a phone is less intrusive than using even the DJI Osmo Pocket.

But the fact that a phone I am already carrying can produce footage good enough to appear alongside footage from dedicated cameras shows just how much things have changed.

For Swimming and Underwater: DJI Osmo Action 6

• DJI Osmo Action 4 Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4xxmgVK

• DJI Osmo Action 6 Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4gUUhsW

For years, like many travellers, I used a GoPro whenever I needed an action or underwater camera.
I have now replaced that with what I feel is the much better DJI Osmo Action 6.

This is what I now use if I am snorkelling, swimming, or want underwater shots. You can see how good it is in this short clip of a recent wreck I snorkelled around and through:

The Action 6 is waterproof to 20 metres without a waterproof housing, and it also has remarkably stable footage – much better than my old GoPro

One of the things I particularly like is the colour. Underwater video is notoriously difficult because colours change dramatically and the light changes. DJI has a colour-temperature sensor built into the Action 6 to help deal with complex lighting and colour changes, including when filming underwater, and I have been blown away by how good it is.

My “Drone” Without A Drone: Insta360 X3

• Insta360 with Invisible Selfie Stick Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4wXjA2r

• Insta360 with Invisible Selfie Stick Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4gURujs

Another camera I get asked about a lot is the Insta360 X3. They see the more drone-like shots over the side of a cruise ship, me seemingly being filmed sitting on a zodiac or catamaran from the side, or walking through the ship.

This is a very different type of camera because it records everything around it in 360 degrees.

The clever part is the Invisible Selfie Stick. The software removes the stick from the footage as it is where the image from the upper and lower lenses are merged. This all makes it look as though a camera is floating several feet in front of or above me.

Insta360 itself describes the effect as creating aerial or third-person views without a drone.

That is why I use it.

Drones are prohibited by most cruise ships and now in many of the ports and sights I visit. The Insta360 can give me some surprisingly drone-like shots without flying anything.

It is also useful when I am walking and want to show myself in a context and in a surrounding.

Because it captures 360 degrees, I don’t even have to decide exactly where the camera is pointing when I film. I can choose the framing afterwards during editing.

Mine is the older X3 rather than the latest Insta360 model, because it still does everything I need it to do, and I try and not overuse it. Though I may upgrade at some point.

When I Need a Serious Zoom: Sony RX100 VII

• Sony RX100 VII Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4y86VKZ

• Sony RX100 VII Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4cLaxu6

There is one important weakness with all those tiny wide-angle cameras: zoom.

That becomes a much bigger issue on my expedition trips. For example, in Antarctica where the whales, seals, penguins or interesting scenery may be a distance away.

That is when I take my Sony RX100 VII.

This remains one of my favourite travel cameras of all time because Sony managed to put a 24–200mm equivalent optical zoom into a genuinely compact camera with a one-inch sensor.

That 200mm reach makes an enormous difference when filming wildlife. The shots I get are amazing

It also produces excellent image quality and copes well in low light. There is one issue, though.

I don’t find its video stabilisation anywhere near as effective for handheld filming as the Osmo Pocket. If I am zoomed right in, even tiny hand movements become obvious. So, I always use my RX100 VII with a small GorillaPod.

• Joby GorillaPod Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/3Stn0fb

• Joby GorillaPod Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4gUUhsW

That gives me a remarkably capable wildlife and expedition setup which is still small enough to carry around all day.

Another issue is Sony have stopped making this camera series, and while you can still find some online or in some photography shops, there is no direct alternative in their range, and most photography experts say the best alternative is the Panasonic Lumix ZS200 (TZ200)

The Camera I No Rarely Travel With: Sony A6400 + 400mm Lens

• Sony A6400 Camera Body Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4d4M1nO

• Sony 400mm lens Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/4zKfVaN

• Sony A6400 Camera Body Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4i0ra8D

• Sony 400mm lens Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4cdXDVj

I also own a Sony A6400 and a 400mm lens (a long zoom!), and this shows just how my approach to filming has changed.

It is an excellent camera setup and gives me much greater reach than the RX100 VII.

But I usually don’t take it travelling anymore.

The A6400 body itself weighs around 403 grams with battery and memory card before you even add a lens. Add a large telephoto lens, batteries, accessories and something substantial enough to support it, and suddenly I am having to carry a big and heavy piece of kit.

I increasingly found myself asking whether the extra size and weight justified the relatively small amount of footage for which I needed it. For me, the answer became no. So, mostly I use the RX100 VII (or even my iPhone 17) and accept the shorter zoom.

That is probably the biggest change in my filming philosophy. I used to think better filming meant taking more equipment. Now I am constantly looking for ways to take less.

What I Use in My Studio

I haven’t abandoned my Sony A6400 completely, though.

The main “Welcome aboard, I’m Gary Bembridge” pieces to camera you see in my Tips For Travellers videos are filmed using the Sony A6400.

In my home studio, the disadvantages of a larger camera disappear. I don’t have to carry it anywhere; I leave everything set up permanently ready to shoot my to-camera pieces.

For sound I use a RØDE Wireless GO microphone system, which allows me to have the microphone close to me without having a cable running from me to the camera. RØDE designed the Wireless GO specifically as a compact wireless system for applications including on-camera presenting, vlogging and YouTube filming.

• RØDE Wireless GO Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/3UZcLzT

• RØDE Wireless GO Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/4ceAp1p

And audio is something I would encourage anyone starting a YouTube channel not to overlook. Viewers will tolerate surprisingly imperfect pictures, but poor, echoey or difficult-to-understand sound becomes irritating very quickly.

The Biggest Lesson from All My Camera Gear

What strikes me most when I look at this list is not how much equipment I use. It is how little I now need. Technology has completely transformed travel filmmaking. I don’t go out filming with bulky camera gear like in the photo above any more!

And, fortunately for my back and my luggage allowance, those cameras seem to keep getting smaller – and better!

Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission. You pay the same price, and it helps support Tips For Travellers.

Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

The second of our port calls on this repositioning from Lisbon to New York served up another rather unique and special ship in port, and so making the ship geek in me very happy.

Here in St John’s, Newfoundland, we were docked near a rather striking vessel. I bumped into some people off Regent Splendor in town who follow Tips For Travellers who had not seen me around the ship, and assumed that I must be a passenger on this rather unique ship.

Now, that would be rather something when I explain the ship and what it would be costing me if I was.....

The ship is called La Datcha. It is a 77-metre (253-foot) ultra-luxury expedition super yacht with ice-class hull built for a Russian Oligarch but now available for charter for around $650,000 to $750,000 per week according to the yacht charter website Northrop & Johnson (https://www.northropandjohnson.com/yachts-for-charter/la-datcha-252-damen-yachting )

And she is quite something.

Built by Damen Yachting in 2020, La Datcha carries just 12 guests and was designed to head to remote expedition places like the Arctic and Antarctica.

The ship can carry a full set of Oligarch essentials including two helicopters, with suitable hangar, a three-person submersible, and carries expedition tenders, diving equipment, snowmobiles, and has a dive centre with a decompression chamber.

Despite all that expedition hardware, it looks like she's oozes Oligarch rich inside based on this YouTube video showing the toys and interiors I found: https://youtu.be/zS19244TnyQ?is=DdjuoXNK9szFqpzH

image from the YouTube video about the ship

Originally commissioned by Russian billionaire and Tinkoff Bank founder Oleg Tinkov, the ship I saw now sails under the Panamanian flag. Earlier this year the ship made the news after being refused permission to dock in Akureyri, Iceland, over sanctions relating to Russian vessels that changed flag after the invasion of Ukraine.

I checked and the ship has recently been operating up in the Arctic and Greenland Sea, which I guess why she has now turned up here in Newfoundland as she moves southwards for the Antarctica season that starts usually around October.

After spotting the unique Monge and Amerigo Vespucci in the Azores earlier on this trip , I am hoping the run of unusual ships in ports continues. Makes a nice change from docking next to Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line and so on!

Would you fancy exploring the Arctic or Antarctica on this rather than a conventional expedition cruise ship? I am assuming if one has the money to charter the ship, one could get a top notch expedition leader and team to lead it all....

Gary

Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

Here is your latest early release and permanently ad free video.

You can watch “More Cruisers Doing NOTHING WRONG Are Being Kicked Off Cruises! Here’s Why ” ad free clicking the image below

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I’m just back from a cruise and was disappointed how many passengers I met on there are still following cruise tips that frankly I know are overrated and out-of-date. Tips that many cruising articles and videos are still recommending cruisers use.

I want to tell you about four overrated cruise tips I think you should ditch overboard and (importantly) what you should be doing instead.

Overrated Cruise Tips #1: Loyalty

I meet many cruise passengers on cruises who proudly talk about the loyalty status level they’ve built with the line.

Many cruise pundits encourage building loyalty, remarking on the added perks and discounts you can build up. I disagree. Why?

First, it takes a lot of cruises to get to a significant tier with reasonable perks. For example, to get to a level on Royal Caribbean like Diamond with meaningful perks like access to a special lounge with all day snacks and happy hour, priority embarkation and disembarkation, and four drinks vouchers per day, even if you book a seven-night cruise every year, it’ll take you 12 years to reach that level.

Second, if you focus on one line to build loyalty, you’re limited by where they’re going, what ports they call on, what ships they have, and when they’re going. So, you very often will be compromising on the itinerary.

Let me give you some examples. Say you’ve got a cruise line you’re building loyalty with, and you want to go to Alaska.

If it’s not one of the few cruise lines with a licence to go into Glacier Bay, you miss out on one of the best parts of Alaska. But if you’d gone with another line, you’d have an even more incredible experience.

If you’re cruising in the Mediterranean or Asia, many ports are far away from the key towns and sights. Unless you go on a cruise line with smaller ships that can dock within the actual city.

For example, lines like Azamara with smaller ships dock in the centre of Marseilles France, while larger ships are way out in a container port. The same for example if visiting Shanghai China where I went on Crystal and was right in town while bigger ships were miles out.

Third, by switching between lines instead of staying loyal, you can get deals that way exceeds any perks from being loyal.

For example, years ago I used to be loyal to Cunard and so am at their highest tier, but I booked a Holland America South American cruise instead of theirs for roughly the same fare. I have very limited status on Holland America, but the deal at the time included their “Have It All” package.

So, I got Wi-Fi, drinks, gratuities, dining and excursion credits, which not only are way above any of the limited perks I would get on Cunard but would have been add on costs of well over $2,000 if I’d gone on Cunard.
While some lines do offer a free cruise or nights for high status, you’re going to have to spend hundreds of nights on board and spend a fortune. But, by jumping between lines to find the best itinerary at the best price I know you will spend less and get more overall.

Overrated Cruise Tips #2: Excursions

Many fellow passengers, cruise writers, bloggers and vloggers encourage cruisers to use cruise line excursions, mostly as the line says the ship will wait if any of their excursions are delayed getting back before sailaway time.

While this is a plus, I do think using cruise line excursions is an overrated tip these days. Why?

First, cruise line excursions are usually the costliest way of exploring any port.

Cruise lines do not run their excursions, they contract them in most cases to third-party companies like Intercruises (https://www.intercruises.com/what-we-do/shore-excursions/ ) who then source and hire local providers to run them.

So, as well as the line marking the excursion cost up there may also be a middleman cost already marking them up.

This makes cruise line tours expensive. You can often be paying as much as twice as if you were doing the same tour by a local provider.

Second, most cruise lines offer a limited choice. They focus on a few key excursions they know will sell well as they need to fill busses, and they need to hit sales targets. So, if you have a more niche or specialist interest or want to do something a little bit different, you’re probably not going to find it on a cruise line excursion.

Third, most cruise line excursions are larger group sizes with full bus loads.

Fourth, they tend to be designed to tick off and do as much as possible in a port. So, they tend to be pretty rushed around things because they want people to be able to tick off lots of things that they saw or did. If you talk to a tour guide, you will see they have a very detailed schedule of where they need to be, and time is very tight.

Fifth, cruise line excursions keep you within the cruise bubble. You’re not experiencing and interacting much with the local population, nor usually dining locally, and seeing a more authentic side to a port.

So, I think using cruise line excursions is an overrated cruise tip. I suggest trying something different.

Look at using independent providers. They usually offer more diverse excursions, smaller groups and almost always are cheaper. Plus, most guarantee to get you back to the ship as they use local tour guides used to working with cruise passengers, and if for some reason they do not, they will make all arrangements and cover any cost to get to the ship at the next port.

One I recommend and use is called Shore Excursions Group. I like them as I can input my cruise line, the cruise ship and the dates, and that brings up all the tours by port. They only show tours that will work with the times my ship is scheduled to be in port, have that return to ship guarantee, and vet local tour providers constantly.

If you look at using them, you can get 5% off every tour using my link TipsForTravellers.com/ShoreExcursions and enter the code “TFT5” at check out. Link also in the notes of this. That’s TipsForTravellers.com/ShoreExcursions and the code is “TFT5”

If they don’t appeal other good ones include Viator and VentureAshore .

Overrated Cruise Tips #3: Phone

Because of the way things were, most writers, bloggers and vloggers – including me – would strongly stress the importance of switching your mobile phone off or onto “Airplane mode” when on a cruise to avoid costly roaming charges.

If it connects to the ship satellite phone services, and your phone starts downloading emails, updating apps and so on, or you make or receive a call, the costs are absolutely astronomical. Like $6 a minute upwards.

Until now, your only option was to buy rather costly cruise line Wi-Fi to stay connected.

These days this tip is fast heading to being an overrated one, as there are fast emerging options and packages from some mobile phone providers and eSim companies that work when cruising.

For example, AT&T users in the United States can add a cruise package, which allows 1 gigabyte of data, talk and unlimited text on 175 cruise ships at the time of recording. This worked for US AT&T users on that Explora Journeys trip I mentioned at the start of this.

More providers are starting to offer this but check the exact offer and capability carefully. For example, I looked at some other providers, like T-Mobile, which show that theoretically you could connect, but on some ships, it was still $6 a minute but on others included in the cruise package.

There is another option available to everyone and is what I tested out and used on that Explora Journeys trip, which is a cruise package eSim. I used one from GigSky.

GigSky is an e-SIM, so I didn’t have to change the Sim in my phone. It can be used on, at time of recording, 220 cruise ships, and they then connect to Starlink or Satellite at Sea services.

The advantage of this is it’s perfect for people who don’t want to be connected all the time, so avoids buying a costly Wi-Fi package. Ideal for cruisers that want to occasionally check email, do a bit of online browsing, and the occasional WhatsApp or FaceTime call home.

So, for example, 3 gigabytes data for that Explora Journey trip cost me US $60, and I could do web browsing, email, voice calls and even downloaded some Netflix shows to watch. I did not use all the data, so if trying I suggest buy a smaller package as easy to add on.

If you try any of these out, do still remember to check carefully and see if you need to put your phone into Airplane Mode, with GigSky I had to switch off my regular phone provider off, which was simple to do, so that did not connect to ship services.

You can find out more about GigSky that I used using the link TipsForTravellers.com/GigSky,

Overrated Cruise Tips #4: Packages

Another thing that I see many writers, bloggers, and vloggers recommend as a tip is buying packages to save money.

Things like those all-inclusive packages, such as Norwegian’s “More At Sea”, Celebrity “Always Included”, Holland America “Have it All”, and Princess Plus, or on lines without bundled packages then drinks, Wi-Fi, Speciality Dining, and Photo packages.

But I think this tip is overrated too. Why?

Do you really believe that cruise lines are going to offer packages so we save money? Of course not! They have created and sell packages because it means that we are going to spend more money on board – not less.

Onboard spending is key to cruise lines profits, especially for value cruise lines. They have low fares to get people on board and then it’s sell, sell, sell. They want us to buy and spend on board, and they’ve clearly found that packages are a successful way of driving up the amount of money we spend on board.

To confirm this, I do see in the reports that the cruise lines make every quarter to Wall Street, all reporting how the amount that we spend per head on board is going up and up.

Those reports also show that most passengers spend between another 50% and 100% of the fare paid once on board. So, these packages are a significant part of that spend, and I believe for most passengers buying things more ad hoc is likely to cost less.

So, while I think the tip to buy packages is overrated for that reason, I do concede that it’s not overrated as a tip in the following two situations.

First, if like I do sometimes, I just want the convenience of buying a package. Knowing I’ve paid for everything before I get on the ship can make the trip more enjoyable sometimes. I don’t have to think about, nor track, what I’m spending.

Second, they work when I have spent time to calculate if will save me money based on my cruise habits.

For many cruises, I will look at each of the packages and calculate if they are a saving.

For example, premium and streaming Wi-Fi is important to me because I always work on board and need to upload and download video files, and I like to download or stream TV shows to keep up with them.

So, in most cases the all-inclusive packages do not work at all as they don’t include premium streaming Wi-Fi. So, it’s silly to buy a package which includes Wi-Fi when I’m going to have to pay for what I really need.

When it comes to drinks package, while I don’t drink alcohol, I do drink speciality coffees, sodas, and alcohol-free beers so I compare buying ad hoc to what a package would cost using easy-to-use online drinks package calculators like those on Cruzely.com and CruiseMummy.co.uk sites. I have put links in the notes.

Again, I find many of those all-inclusive packages don’t work for me because they are including a big drinks package.

But for alcohol drinkers, the drinks packages are based on and priced at including up to 15 drinks a day. So, consider if you are really going to drink that much every day, or would ad hoc work out much cheaper.

So, my tip is work out if the packages are really saving you money do not assume they are a great deal

In my weekly Cruise Q&A I answer questions about all things cruising. Some have straightforward answers. Others – like how cruise gratuities really work, how much you need to gamble to get a free cruise, or are luxury cruise ships are getting too big – can be more complicated. But I answer them all.

In this new series I am calling “Your Cruise Questions Answered”, I will post some of the questions asked after the live. This if the first and in this I am including some of the questions I was asked in the latest live I ran from on board Regent Seven Seas Splendor, starting with some overviews about the ship.

How Am I Finding Regent Seven Seas Splendor On This Cruise?

This cruise has been going extremely well. It is a repositioning cruise from Lisbon across the Atlantic via the Azores and Canada before ending in New York.

One unusual thing for me is that I am experiencing this voyage more like a normal passenger than I usually do. I had originally booked the cruise partly because I had not sailed on Splendor.

However, I subsequently sailed on her after cancelling another Regent trip, so I had already filmed virtually all of the ship. That has taken away much of the pressure I normally have to spend my days filming everything.

The ship is completely full, but generally it does not feel crowded. The one exception has occasionally been La Veranda, the buffet, on sea days.

I’ve found the service very good and the food excellent across the board. Compass Rose, the main dining room, is so good that I don’t feel you need to rely on the specialty restaurants. I have also been enjoying Pacific Rim and Prime 7.

One change I particularly like since my previous Regent cruise is the introduction of more casual evening dining. O

ne of my criticisms of ultra-luxury cruising has been the lack of a genuinely casual dinner option. If you didn’t want a lengthy restaurant meal, room service was sometimes virtually the only alternative. Regent now opens the Pool Grill in the evening, with pizzas and other casual food. I think that is a very welcome addition.

What Sea-Day Activities Does Regent Seven Seas Offer?

Regent’s daily programme is relatively light, particularly if you’ve come from a mainstream or premium cruise line where there can be an activity every 15 minutes.

On this sailing we have two guest speakers, usually with one or two talks during the day. There is trivia, bingo, afternoon tea and some games or activities organised by the entertainment team.

One thing I think Regent is missing is destination-focused enrichment. I would love to see proper port experts who could talk about places such as Newfoundland, their history, what to see and how to explore them independently. Considering Regent’s emphasis on destinations, I think that is a significant gap.

Overall, though, you shouldn’t book Regent expecting a packed daily programme. There are things to do, but the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

Would Six Weeks On Regent Seven Seas Splendor Be Too Long?

Splendor is a great ship and I would happily spend a long time on board, but there is one important consideration: entertainment.

This is a small luxury ship, so you are not going to have the huge range of entertainment and activities found on a large resort ship. If you need to be constantly entertained, six weeks could feel long.

On the other hand, there is a surprisingly good choice of dining for a ship of this size, with the specialty restaurants, Compass Rose, Sette Mari and the other options.

If you are happy entertaining yourself, enjoy quieter sea days and like the Regent style of cruising, I think a long voyage on Splendor could work extremely well.

But before booking six weeks, I would make sure you are comfortable with the relatively low-key entertainment and activity programme. That, rather than the ship itself, would be my main watch-out.

How Good Is The Wi-Fi On Regent Seven Seas?

Regent includes Wi-Fi, but the standard package does not include the level of streaming access I need.

I upload videos while travelling and also like to stream programmes, so on this Splendor cruise I upgraded to the streaming package. I’ve found the streaming service good, although it is expensive.

For this two-week cruise my upgraded package cost around $600. For most passengers the included internet may be perfectly adequate. I only pay for the upgrade because of the amount of uploading and streaming I need to do for my work.

Would It Have Made More Sense For Silversea Rather Than Celebrity To Enter The River Cruise Market?

I can understand why Royal Caribbean Group chose Celebrity for its move into river cruising.

They are talking about doing something different and bringing some of the newer and more innovative Celebrity Edge-style thinking onto the rivers.

However, having looked at the fares, I do wonder whether Silversea might have been a more logical fit.

I was very keen to try Celebrity River Cruises and looked at booking for 2028, including way out of season in March. But the prices were incredibly high. The per-day cost I was seeing was significantly higher than what I am paying for some Regent Seven Seas and Silversea ultra-luxury ocean cruises.

River cruising is expensive anyway, and I have always struggled somewhat with its value for money compared with ocean cruising. I know they are very different experiences and it is not always fair to compare them directly, but inevitably I do.

With Celebrity River Cruises seemingly being priced at an ultra-luxury level, Silversea starts to feel as though it might have been a more natural brand.

There is, though, enormous interest in Celebrity entering river cruising, and that pent-up demand may help explain the pricing. There has also been considerable disruption to European river cruising because of water levels, with some guests having cruises turned into combinations of ships, hotels and buses.

That may result in people shifting their plans into 2027 and 2028, adding even more demand.

For now, despite initially being very keen, the prices have made me step back from booking Celebrity River Cruises.

Where Should I Cruise In January Or February For Warm Weather Other Than The Caribbean?

If you are prepared to travel some distance, Australia and New Zealand would be high on my list. January and February are right in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere summer and there are plenty of interesting itineraries combining Australia and New Zealand.

South Africa is another possibility, although cruise schedules there can be more dependent on ships repositioning between regions.

South America can work too, but you need to pay close attention to the itinerary. Around Rio, the Amazon and the northern parts of South America it can be very warm, as can itineraries running from the Panama Canal towards Lima.

Once you get much further south towards Patagonia and Ushuaia, however, conditions can be considerably cooler and more variable.

What Is The Best Time Of Year And Cruise Line For Seeing The Northern Lights?

For Norway, I would look particularly at around October. As you move into autumn, you have the longer hours of darkness needed to maximise your chances of seeing the Northern Lights.

I would particularly look at Hurtigruten, and there are also UK-focused lines such as Saga and Fred. Olsen offering Northern Lights itineraries. Some operators even offer Northern Lights guarantees on selected voyages.

Of course, the Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon, so nobody can simply switch them on for you. But choosing an itinerary specifically designed around them and travelling when the nights are sufficiently dark improves your chances.

Are Cruise Gratuities Really Extra Money For The Crew Or Are They Used To Pay Their Salaries?

This is one of those cruise topics that can quickly become controversial.

The first thing to notice is that many cruise lines no longer even call these charges “gratuities”. You’ll see terms such as “crew appreciation” or “service charge”.

My understanding, based on how the system has been explained to me and crew payslips I have seen, is that on many lines the money forms part of the crew member’s expected overall compensation.

To use completely illustrative numbers, imagine a crew member expects to receive 100. Perhaps 90 comes from their base salary and 10 from their share of the service-charge pool. That is why removing the automatic service charge and handing cash directly to one person is not necessarily the generous solution people sometimes assume it is.

You are rewarding the front-facing crew member while potentially reducing the pool that also rewards people behind the scenes.

My approach is therefore to leave the automatic service charge in place and, if somebody has given exceptional service, give them something extra directly.

You should also check who is included in the pool.

Bar staff often operate under a separate system because a service charge is automatically added to drinks or drinks packages. Spa staff may be treated differently because cruise spas are often run by outside contractors. Kids’ club staff can sometimes be excluded, and on some lines suite butlers are not included.

Norwegian, for example, specifically advises Haven guests that the butlers are not covered by the general service charge.

Ultimately, I would prefer cruise lines simply to include these costs in the advertised fare. But one reason they don’t is that it makes their headline fares look more expensive than competitors who add the service charge later.

What Repositioning Cruise Would Be Good For A Student On A Gap Year Travelling With Their Parents?

I would look particularly at Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Both have large ships with an enormous range of things going on, so a younger traveller should have plenty to do while the parents also have a wide choice of entertainment, bars and activities.

The timing of repositioning cruises also potentially works well, with many taking place around March and April or September through November.

One tip would be not to focus on the newest ship. When a brand-new ship is repositioning from the shipyard or making one of its first major voyages, demand can be extremely high.

Instead, look two or three ships back from the newest vessel in the fleet. That is where I would expect to find better repositioning value.

If A Norwegian Fjords Itinerary Lists A Port And Scenic Cruising On The Same Day, Do I Have To Choose Between Them?

No, on a conventional Norwegian Fjords cruise you generally get both.

Once you are sailing through the fjords, the sailing itself becomes part of the sightseeing. You may wake early and watch the ship sailing into a spectacular fjord before reaching the day’s port. After leaving, you can then have hours of scenic cruising as the ship makes its way back through the fjord.

During summer, with extremely long daylight hours, you may even have scenic cruising very late into the evening or early in the morning.

Hurtigruten and Havila are slightly different because their ships can call at several ports in one day, and some excursions involve getting off at one port and meeting the ship again later.

But on a conventional cruise with Cunard, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian and similar lines, you don’t normally have to choose between visiting the port and enjoying the scenic cruising.

How Much Do You Have To Gamble In A Cruise Casino To Receive Free Cruise Offers?

There isn’t one simple spending figure that guarantees you a complimentary cabin.

One of the most important things to understand is that the casino is interested in your total play and theoretical loss, not simply how much cash you initially put into a machine.

Imagine two people both arrive with a $500 gambling budget.

The first puts $500 through a slot machine, loses it and stops. The second starts with the same $500 but keeps playing whenever they win. Through wins, bonuses and recycling that money through the machine, they might eventually put $2,000 through it despite starting with exactly the same $500 budget.

From the casino’s perspective, those are very different players.

Frequency matters too. Someone who plays regularly throughout the cruise may be more attractive to the casino than somebody who has one short session.

The cruise line knows the statistical house advantage and can calculate a theoretical value for your play. This is also why you must make sure your play is being tracked. On slot machines, always have your cruise card inserted. If you are playing table games, make sure the casino is recording your play.

On Celebrity and Princess I’ve seen information at the casino host desk showing the number of points required for various rewards, which can make the system easier to understand.

Once you get into the casino-offer system and continue playing on subsequent cruises, you can start receiving a regular stream of offers.

But I would never recommend gambling specifically to earn a “free” cruise. Decide on an entertainment budget you can afford to lose. If a future cruise offer comes from that, treat it as a bonus.

Is It Easy To Book Independent Excursions In French Polynesia?

Not always.

In some French Polynesian ports you don’t step off the ship to find dozens of independent excursion vendors waiting for you. We have independently rented e-bikes, including through Avis, and that’s been a good way of exploring.

But if there is something you particularly want to do, I would pre-book rather than assume you’ll find plenty of options once you arrive.

What Should Someone With Limited Mobility Do In French Polynesia?

French Polynesia is fantastic for snorkelling and beaches, so I would make those a major focus.

You don’t necessarily need to do strenuous activities to experience the islands. On some islands there are local open-sided buses that will take you around for relatively little money and can be a fun way to see more of the destination. Bora Bora, for example, is somewhere you can explore this way without needing to cycle or hike.

There are also ATV-style excursions that can get you to some of the spectacular viewpoints if that level of activity is suitable for you.

One thing to bear in mind is that there aren’t always large numbers of independent excursion operators waiting when you step off the ship, so I would pre-book anything that is particularly important to you.

Which Small-Ship Luxury Or Ultra-Luxury Lines Should I Consider For Alaska?

Oceania is one possibility. I haven’t sailed with Oceania in Alaska myself, but I know people who have and enjoyed it.

Windstar could also be interesting because of its strong destination focus. In the ultra-luxury category, I would look at Silversea, which tends to be strong on destination immersion.

If you want something more adventurous, HX Expeditions is another option I would investigate. The trade-off is that an expedition-style Alaska itinerary may not focus on the traditional ports such as Skagway in the way a conventional Alaska cruise does.

Azamara is another possibility, although feedback I’ve heard recently has been somewhat mixed. The most important question is therefore whether you want a conventional Alaska itinerary on a small luxury ship or a more expedition-style experience.

How Do I Deal With Passengers Who Keep Trying To Talk About Politics?

I don’t engage. If somebody expresses a political opinion, I generally don’t respond to it and won’t get drawn into a debate.

Cruising brings together people with very different political and religious views, and I don’t see any benefit in getting into arguments about either.

I’ve had very few political discussions during all my cruises. On one occasion I explained the mechanics of the UK political system to some North American passengers who were interested in how it differed from theirs, but that wasn’t really a political debate.

If someone keeps pushing a political conversation that I don’t want to have, I simply don’t participate and, if necessary, remove myself from the conversation.

Can The Cruise Industry Keep Growing Or Is There a Limit on How Many New Ships Can Be Built?

The industry’s view is clearly that there is still substantial room for growth because only a relatively small proportion of the population has ever cruised.

Shipyards are heavily booked, which is also one reason we’re seeing cruise lines invest substantial amounts in existing ships rather than relying entirely on new ones.

But I do think there is potentially a limiting factor: destinations. We are seeing increasing pressure from destinations concerned about the number or size of cruise ships visiting them.

There have been restrictions and debates in places including Greenland, Barcelona, Iceland and French Polynesia. That is also one reason cruise lines are investing heavily in their own private destinations.

Another interesting trend is that after years of building bigger and bigger ships, some cruise lines are again talking about smaller vessels. Smaller ships can potentially open up destinations that the largest ships cannot visit.

So I think the industry still sees considerable growth ahead, but where all those ships can go may increasingly become the challenge.

What Airline Do I Prefer And Which Class Do I Fly?

I focus heavily on the Oneworld alliance because I want to maximise my Avios and status benefits.

Living in the UK, British Airways is normally my starting point because Heathrow is convenient for me and BA flies directly to many of the destinations I need.

I will also look at other Oneworld airlines such as Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific. For long-haul flights I try to fly business class, and I use Avios as much as possible.

Because I plan my cruises years ahead, I know when I am going to need particular flights. When reward flights are released, I try to book them immediately.

I also use a British Airways American Express card to generate Avios from my everyday spending and to earn companion vouchers.

There are exceptions. For example, when I needed to fly to Papeete and the Oneworld options didn’t work well, I booked United because it had a much more convenient schedule. But wherever practical, I concentrate my flying within Oneworld.

Is Specialty Dining Worth Paying For If You Have Access To Luminae On Celebrity?

If I was sailing in The Retreat on Celebrity and therefore had access to Luminae, I would mostly stick with Luminae.

I have eaten there on both Solstice-class and Edge-class ships and thought the food was very good. I have gone to Celebrity’s specialty restaurants while staying in The Retreat, but that was largely because I wanted to experience and cover them for the channel.

If I had paid the substantial premium to stay in The Retreat, I personally wouldn’t feel the need to spend even more money on specialty dining. There may be a particular restaurant or style of food you want to try, such as sushi, which makes it worthwhile. But otherwise Luminae already offers a very good dining experience.

I hope you find this “Your Cruise Questions Answered” helpful. You can ask a question on one of my future livestreams which are usually on a Sunday on YouTube and Facebook at 9am PT/ Noon ET/ 5pm UK

Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

Over the last few days thanks to two patrons (Jeffrey and Richard) who separately initiated two of these, I was reminded about a simple and beneficial cruise tip that I should remind you about.

This is using the cruise line “Refer A Friend Program”.

Several cruise lines reward both an existing guest who recommends the line and a new-to-the-line cruiser who names them as the referrer.

For example by Jeffrey naming me as a referral to Silversea I have got $500 off a future booking on Silversea , and so did he off his booking. And thanks to Richard both of us get 5% off Crystal bookings .

Thanks to the Silversea program, I have already taken $1,000 off a 2027 booking thanks to two others naming me as a referral in the past.

The lines that seem to be running these refer-a-friend programs include:

• Crystal: A new-to-Crystal guest gets 5% off their cruise fare, while the Crystal Society member who referred them receives a credit for the same amount. https://www.crystalcruises.com/offer/us-refer-a-friend

• Silversea: Venetian Society members can refer someone who has never sailed Silversea and both receive $500 per suite in savings. A member can refer up to 10 new-to-Silversea friends per calendar year, with up to four referral savings — $2,000 — applied to one booking. https://www.silversea.com/best-luxury-cruise-deals/referral-offer.html

• Ponant: Both parties receive around $600 per stateroom each. https://uk.ponant.com/refer-a-friend

• Regent Seven Seas: The Regent Ambassador Programme gives the existing Seven Seas Society member $250 savings and the new-to-Regent guest $250 savings. https://www.rssc.com/ambassador

• Seabourn: Both the existing Seabourn Club member and the first-time Seabourn guest receive $250 shipboard credit per suite.

• Holland America: Referrer gets a $50 Future Cruise Credit and the referred friend gets a $50 onboard credit. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-deals/referral-program

• Ambassador Cruise Line: Both guests can receive up to £150 onboard credit per cabin.

• AmaWaterways River Cruises: Both you and your referral earn $200 per stateroom savings. https://www.amawaterways.com/programs/referral

• Uniworld River Cruises: Referred friends and family save $100 per person on their first cruise, and you earn $100 per person toward your next cruise. https://www.uniworld.com/us/referral-program

So before booking a cruise line for the first time check if they have a program, then ask friends, family — or whoever persuaded you to try the line — whether they are a past guest.

Usually all you need is their loyalty program number for your travel agent to use when booking, or if booking direct to give to the line.

Check the current terms before doing it, as referral amounts, eligibility and limits can change. For example, for most you cannot apply any referral credits until the person who you referred has paid their final balance or on some departed the sailing.

Also, if you do refer someone check how you redeem. For example, I am able to go online into my Silversea account where all the referrals show up and I can allocate the various referral credits to existing bookings before my final payment is due.

But for others have to call the line (or get my agent to).

Hope this reminder helps and you use it.

There are other T&Cs like you cannot canvass for people to suggest or request they use you as a referrer.........but as your friend I am happy to send you this tip and reminder....

Have you ever done this? And if is with which line?

Gary

Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

This Sunday 30 August, I’ll be hosting my Live Cruise Q&A from on board Regent Seven Seas Splendor docked in St John’s Canada. Assuming Wi-Fi cooperates!

So I hope you’ll join me on Sunday 30 August at the usual time:

🕘 9am PT
🕛 Noon ET
🕔 5pm UK

As always, bring along your cruise questions and I’ll do my best to answer as many as possible in the hour.

🔴 Set a Reminder, Join the Live Cruise Q&A, or watch the replay here:https://youtube.com/live/gXhomIWhJIo

See you on Sunday I hope!

Gary ⚓️

After closely following several people that live on cruise ships and analysing the different options and ways they do it, I discovered many remarkable things like not only how they make it work, and importantly what it really costs, but I also the uncovered there is an unexpected dark side of living on cruise ships that you need to know about. More on that later.

Live on cruise ships: The Options

Before getting into the actual costs to live on cruise ships , I found there are five options to live full or part-time on cruise ships without being a crew member. Each with very different costs and pros and cons.

Residential Cruise Ships

You could buy a cabin on a line with residential cruise ships. Surprisingly, there are double the number of these from when I last reviewed this!

But you need plenty of money and must be sure you want to make a long-term commitment to living at sea. These are the lines that offer these.

World Residences at Sea

https://aboardtheworld.com

The World Residences at Sea ship, MS The World, has been in service for 23 years making it the longest operating residential ship.

It’s upmarket, and the 165 cabins range from $2.5 million Studios to $15 million 3-bedroom Suites, with annual fees between $113,000 to $1 million.

Villa Vie Residences

https://villavieresidences.com

Probably one of the best known currently is a recent entrant: Villa Vie Residences, which is currently on a 3-year around the world trip.

The 32-year-old Villa Vie Odyssey was previously Fred Olsen’s Braemar, holds up to 650 guests, offering full ownership, timeshare, or a pay-as-you-go where you can book segments.

It ranges from $130,000 Inside Cabins to buy with $48,000 per year fees up to $440,000 Suites with $132,000 per year in fees.

There are two lines which are still to launch.

Storylines

https://www.storylines.com

Storylines, whose first ship is MS Narrative, is much delayed and keeps pushing back launch dates.

Their website now says it’s 2028. It has 647 apartments from $1.1 million Inside cabins to $8 million 3-Bedroom Suites.

And from what I can see, there’s at least $55,000 a year per person maintenance fee.

Clydebuilt

https://www.clydebuilt.com

There is another one which many are sceptical about, called Clydebuilt.

It’s a Scottish startup who say they are going to build a luxury residential ship in Scotland called Dark Island with 236 luxury suites from one to three bedrooms.

It’s not clear if they have funding and lists no prices for the cabins yet.

As these are way out of most people’s budget, what is the next option that may be a bit more realistic, and not require that long-term commitment?

World and Grand Voyages

You can go on cruise line World or Grand Voyages, which last anything from two to six months, and combine them to fill the year.

Looking at examples to give you a sense of what it would cost, the Cunard Queen Anne 170-night / 4-month World Voyage next year in an Inside Cabin for two would be around $300 a night, that’s $37,000 / £18,700 pounds.

This price is consistent across other lines as the MSC Cruises 132-night World Voyage next year is $340 per night at $45,000 / £34,700.

If you did three of these four-month voyages to fill a year, that’s about $135,000 / £104,000 for the cruise before onboard costs like gratuities, drinks and so on that will add several thousands.

Annual Pass

The third option is by buying a part-time living on a cruise ship pass.

Virgin Voyages are the only cruise line I’m aware of that offer these.

They are costly because instead of being in an Inside Cabin, it is for a Balcony Cabins. Next year’s pass costs $199,000 / £154,000 and means you can sail on any voyage on any of their ships at any time for a year.

Enrichment Teacher

A third but not very easy to do is what a friend of mine does enabling him and his partner to spend at least 10 months a year living on board cruise ships. He is an artist and runs art and craft classes on board ships.

He is not paid for it but gets a cabin but must pay most of the other costs.

This past year he ran classes on a world cruise for four months, then was a month-long “Artist In Residence” on another line, followed by a 75-night South America Grand Voyage on yet another line and so on.

But that is a very unusual way and hard to find way to live on ships, so what about something everyone could do? And something that costs less than the residential ships and combining world voyages together option.

Live on cruise ships: The Doing It Yourself Option

I closely followed and studied how five sets of people have been living at sea, and while there are many common things they do that you need to know about, they broadly fall into two approaches determined by a common – but critical – decision they all made before doing it.

Before they worked out HOW to live at sea, they asked this question: Is my aim to simply live on a cruise ship at lowest cost and so where I go is less critical, or is my aim to see as much of the world while living on a cruise ship as inexpensively as possible?

In the “I want to live on a cruise ship with where it goes being less important camp”, I followed and analysed the well-known (and much reported in the cruising world), Mario Salcedo “Super Mario”, who at time of recording was soaring past his 1,000th cruise on Royal Caribbean, which he has been living on for years.

But even more interesting, I followed Kevin of the “30 And A Wake Up” YouTube Channel ( https://www.youtube.com/@30AndAWakeUp ) and Lynelle of the “From Poverty To Paradise” YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@PovertyToParadise ) as they have done what Mario is doing but for a third his cost.

More on how they do that to come shortly.

In the “I want to live on a ship but see more of the world” camp, I followed and analysed Rob and Allie of “Grounded Life Cruises” ( https://www.youtube.com/@GroundedLifeCruises ) and Fraser of “Fraser At Sea” (https://www.youtube.com/@FraserAtSea).

I will get to the exact costs of these approaches but to understand how they achieved them, you need to know what they all do to get to the lowest possible costs.

Inside Cabins

First, they cruised in inside cabins, as they are the cheapest, costing as much as half as cruising in a balcony cabin.

That comes with challenges that I cover when talking about the dark side of living on ships.

Also, they mostly booked using “Guaranteed Fares” which means they did not choose the cabin, again coming with some issues like location, noise and so on.

Caribbean

All agreed to get lowest cost it is best to spend all or most of the time cruising in the Caribbean out of Florida.

It is the busiest cruising region, by some margin, so there is lots of competition, multiple departures and much cheaper than every other region. Repositioning cruises are the other one all included, including to and from Europe as well as from Florida to Alaska.

These longer cruises are usually much cheaper per day than other cruises.

So, for example Super Mario says 85% of his time is spent in the Caribbean and 15% on repositioning cruises, and that is how he keeps his annual costs within his budget.

While both Kevin of “30 Years And Awake Up” and Rob and Allie of “Grounded Life Cruises” say they used them to keep annual costs low but add more variety to their cruising.

Fraser At Sea, as he wanted to see more of the world had the most variety, by cruising in Europe out of season in winter to get low prices there and then used transatlantic to get to Florida to then sail in the Caribbean for less as Europe prices increased going into summer.

Limit Cruise Lines

Most stuck to one cruise line for their living at sea.

One reason was to build up loyalty to unlock perks on that line to push down costs.

For example, Super Mario only cruises on Royal Caribbean to get high status which means he pays a much lower solo supplement (150% not 200%), gets Wi-Fi to stay connected and work, and receives daily drinks vouchers.

However, there is a very different reason that Kevin of “30 And A Wake Up” stuck to Princess, and Lynelle of the “From Poverty To Paradise” sticks mostly to Carnival.

Both do that as before starting in their living on ships, they went on a cruise on their line of choice and played on the slots to hit the threshold to start getting free Inside Cabin cruise offers.

They did that as they saw they could dramatically cut the cost of living on cruise ships. Free casino cruises only require them to pay taxes and port fees.

Lynelle of Poverty to Paradise says she booked 60 of these free cruises across a year, while Kevin filled his year with free casino offer cruises but went for longer cruises.

Kevin said he found once he started getting offers, he could book up to three cruises each time for each one, and they kept coming as long as he played a bit on each cruise.

Another big plus is with Carnival and Princess casino offers, they both received on-board credit with every booking that further offset on-board costs like gratuities.

As an aside, if you want to consider using this approach the cruise lines to focus on are Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean, and I have links to articles on my blog about how playing the casino works in the description of this.

• Need To Know Before Playing Cruise Ship Casino: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/cruise-ship-casino-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-play/
  How To Gamble On Cruise Ships To Unlock Free Cruises: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/how-to-gamble-on-a-cruise-to-unlock-perks/

While Fraser At Sea did not stick to one line, he did try to use lines that offered status matching of loyalty where possible.

Not many do, with MSC Cruises matching even hotel and airline loyalty levels, and at times Virgin Voyages run loyalty matching programs.

Jumping Ships

There was one thing that everyone did, even when sticking to one line, and that was to keep jumping and changing between ships. Why?

All said that first, to get the best and lowest price in any week as fares do vary based on demand on different ships but also, as I talk in more depth in the dark side of living on cruise ships, to add much needed variety.

Outgoings Low

All stressed the need to have a ruthless focus on keeping outgoings low, and how this requires a different mindset when cruising for fun on a vacation.
While there are no escaping taxes, port taxes, and gratuities, it means not having drinks packages, going on excursions, specialty dining, and for some not even buying Wi-Fi packages and relying on connecting when in ports or buying ad-hoc when really needed.

Also, they stressed not forgetting when budgeting for the time living on ships costs like mobile phone, toiletries, and insurance. Plus, any costs you cannot avoid at home.

Share Holding

A good way to cut costs that only Kevin from 30 and Wake Up seemed to use, was owning shares in the corporation who owns the line you are on. In his case, as it was Princess that meant Carnival Corporation.

By having 100 shares he could get extra on-board credit for every cruise which ranged from $50 for cruises under 6 days to $250 for those over 14 days which again helped cover things like gratuities or other on-board purchases like drinks.

However, check the terms if going on casino comped cruises as when I looked it suggested for some lines that added on-board credit would not be given.

Income

I also noted that every one of them had an income stream they could generate while on board to help fund it.

Interestingly, all but Mario (who says he works 5 hours a day on investment business), turned talking about their living on ships, the ships, cabins and ports into their income stream.

Kevin used his existing “30 And A Wake Up” channel, Rob and Allie their “Grounded Life Cruises” and Fraser his “Fraser At Sea” channel, while Lynelle actually created “From Poverty To Paradise” to create content about her living on ships.

In fact, just as I made this Lynelle released a video saying that 9 months after starting the channel, her YouTube income was now covering her entire year’s budget to live on ships, meaning she no longer needed to use her savings to fund it.

But what did a year living on ships costs all these people?

The Costs

Not everybody has been comfortable sharing exactly how much they have spent across a year, but some have shared detailed spreadsheets and cost trackers, and this is what they show.

Super Mario regularly shares his costs, which average $275 a night as a solo traveller on Royal Caribbean in an inside cabin. That is around $8,300 per month, $100,000 a year.

So, while close to the base fare of those world cruises I mentioned earlier, his costs are including things like gratuities, drinks, and Wi-Fi that those world cruise fares did not.

As mentioned, they are mostly covered by his loyalty program status

However, both Kevin from “30 and Wake Up” and Lynelle from “Poverty to Paradise” who shared detailed costs from every month on board, are doing it for almost a third of that by getting free cruises through casino offers.

Both show they are out of pocket between $2,000 to $2,500 per month living on ships, so no more than $30,000.

Of course, this approach is more stressful and less certain than the approach Mario uses, which is more akin to what most of us would likely be looking at.

From what I can calculate, everyone not using the casino route average at least $300 a night, but as you have seen it takes a lot of work and effort.

Living on cruise ships I could see from following everyone is not always as exciting nor enjoyable as it appears looking from the outside or when we dream about it.

All talk about a dark side, unexpected consequences and challenges they had not expected. You can find out about them here in my article “The Dark Side of Living on Cruise Ships: By Those Who’ve Done it!”

Just as I was recently embarking on my 6th Cunard Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossing, I received a question from a follower asking if Cunard was suitable for American cruisers these days. It got me thinking about the many questions I get about Cunard, as they are getting more complicated to answer because Cunard has recently changed in a couple of ways while remaining stubbornly stuck in the past on others.

So, I thought it's time to answer not only that question, but other questions about Cunard and share some warning signs about changes coming that many are not going to like.

Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge. Although I've spent 270 nights on Cunard ships, now, other than the Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic, I am much less enthusiastic about the line for reasons you're about to hear about.

Is Cunard A Luxury Line?

Most people ask if Cunard is a luxury cruise line.

This is a misconception driven by their marketing. Cunard's heritage makes it feel grander than it is, and they show white-glove service, butlers, fancy food, glamorous people in glamorous outfits and talk about highbrow festivals at sea focused on fashion, theatre, dance, and literature, and they show the experience suite guests get.

I never forget the shock I got stepping on my very first Cunard voyage, Queen Elizabeth 2, back in 2004, realising it was not the luxury line the advertising suggested.

Cunard is aimed at and competes for passengers in what the industry calls the “premium” category, which includes lines like Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, and now Virgin.

They have the same sized ships, carrying between 2,000 and 3,000 passengers, and the same cabin grades from inside to suites with comparable fares to those other premium lines.

The service levels and the crew-to-passenger ratio matches them too. As does the range and quality of food, unless in a suite.

They have broadly the same daily program as premium ships, with one area they do excel at which I will talk about shortly.

Cunard also has all the cost add-ons, upcharges, and push for you to spend more as with the other premium lines.

Cunard fares do not include drinks, gratuities, Wi-Fi, and Specialty Dining. There are upcharges for items like lobster and steaks on the menu. Most cabin grades pay for room service, and there's many revenue-generating pushes, like shopping promotions, photographs, drink tasting events, bingo, and so on.

It is very much a premium ship experience, aimed at everybody, from people seeking value inside cabins through to those wanting a suite on a larger ship experience.

There’s also a development I think you need to be aware of. As it could mean that in addition to recent cutbacks and changes, more could be coming.

The President, senior leadership and teams managing the more mainstream P&O Cruises have been merged into combined Cunard and P&O Team. P&O Cruises is the UK line known for cutbacks and increasingly offering value cruising for families,.

We already know Queen Mary 2 is coming out of the 2027 revamp with more cabins and increased passenger capacity.

So, we should be watching for what and how these changes in how Cunard is run impact the ships and experience.

I mentioned the Grills is used in the advertising as their flagship. But what exactly is the Grills? And is Cunard as class and status driven as most think it is?

Is Cunard Status and Class-driven?

Most people assume Cunard is very class driven, and there are big differences between passenger grades.

This is mostly a misconception.

There are some differences, and some limited exclusive areas, but nowhere near as many segregated areas as some of Cunard's direct competition, like Celebrity with The Retreat, or even some mainstream mass-market lines like MSC with its Yacht Club, or Norwegian with the Haven.

Cunard does have segmented dining rooms tied to the cabin category you book. Britannia for Inside, Oceanview and Balcony cabins, Britannia Club for Britannia Club Balcony Cabins, Princess Grill for Mini-suites, and Queens Grill for Suites.

However, every passenger, regardless of their cabin category, has full access to all the public spaces on board like the Golden Lion Pub, Chart Room, Commodore lounge, Carinthia Lounge, Nightclub, library, Casino, Queen's Room for afternoon tea and dancing, pool decks with hot tubs, and even the Royal Court Theatre has no reserved seating for suite guests, unlike on Celebrity, Norwegian, MSC and others.

All Grills passengers do get, beyond their dining room is a small lounge and a deck with loungers — no pool, no hot tub, no bar, no dining up there — unlike Celebrity's Retreat, where their suite guests get a large, dedicated lounge and large deck with drinks, pool, bar and dining.

Where the Grills genuinely stand out is in food. If you're in Princess or Queens Grill, the dining is, without question, better than anything in Britannia — and I'd argue better than most cruise lines in the world, luxury lines included.

With open seating for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Grills’ passengers have a dedicated table, three waiters looking after them, and a huge menu, plus a list of off-menu items like Dover Sole and Chateaubriand they can order.

In Queens Grill, you can even order anything you fancy — want a roast chicken dinner or a curry that isn't on the menu that night? They'll make it for you. Plus, unlimited caviar every single night in Queens Grill.

Many dishes are prepared tableside too — Dover sole, crêpes suzette, a whole theatrical dining experience.

And of course, book the Grills and you get a bigger cabin, and in Queens Grill, a butler — but that's true across many of their premium category competitors.

And other premium lines also have separate dining for their top cabins — Celebrity has Blu and Luminae, Holland America has Club Orange, Princess has Club Dining or the Sanctuary Restaurant. So, Cunard isn't more class-driven than its competitors — arguably it's less so when it comes to unique closed-off spaces.

I mentioned at the beginning of this that I’d been asked if Cunard is more of a British line for British travellers these days with many Britishisms, traditions and rules. Here’s the answer.

Is Cunard a British line for British travellers?

While Cunard plays up its British roots and leans into it in some areas to differentiate itself, it is a global brand owned by Carnival Corporation and markets to and caters for international travellers.

This is most evident on a Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic which will have many Americans, Canadians, Germans, French, Dutch, Australians, of course British cruisers.

Sailings out of the UK, and their Mediterranean fly-cruises, do skew heavily British.

So, the passenger mix varies hugely by ship, itinerary, season and departure point.

And despite the British image, the onboard currency is US dollars, not UK sterling, and Cunard has major sales operations in the US, Germany, France, Australia and beyond.

It's easy to book internationally, unlike very UK-focused lines like Saga, P&O Cruises, Ambassador, Marella and Fred Olsen, which are much harder for international passengers to book.

The crew is also diverse and international. While the Captain and several of the Senior Crew are usually, but not always, British, most of the crew are like any other line, full of Filipinos, South Africans, and Eastern Europeans.

They do lean into Britishness where it makes sense. Like having the Golden Lion Pub, Afternoon Tea is a major daily event, and popular English dishes like fish and chips, bangers and mash, and curries are on the menu.

The Daily Program and the language are British spelling, and Trivia tends to have a British focus.

The Guest Entertainers and Speakers will be a mixture of nationalities, often based on where the ship is sailing from and to.

For example, on the Crossing I just competed we had some American speakers like we had Seth Gopin talking about New York Skyscrapers and Ken Walsh a White House Correspondent talking about topics like Air Force One, but I’ve also had UK ex-Concorde pilots and UK Prison Wardens, and Chris Frame the Australia Maritime Historian and Author is a frequent speaker too.

The Celebrity Guest Speaker on each trip though is normally from the UK. On that Crossing it was Sir Tony Robinson, known for shows like “Blackadder” and “Time Team”. I’ve also been on with Celia Imrie, a well-known UK actress, Will Carling, a famous UK rugby player, and Michael Howard a Conservative Party Leader.

The next question I get asked a lot is if Cunard is only really for elderly and very traditional cruisers?

Is Cunard Only for Elderly, Traditional Cruisers?

Several people on that Transatlantic I mentioned did remark they were surprised at how much older the demographic was than other mainstream and premium lines they had been on.

Cunard does tend to skew towards an older demographic, especially on longer trips like World Voyages. But I think that is also driven by it being a very traditional line with a classic and more enrichment focused program.

I have already mentioned they have speakers on board, and enrichment talks is their major focus of entertainment with 4 or 5 speakers on a trip. It is by far the most expansive and best program on any line

But also, Cunard offers cruisers that like traditional cruising more than many lines.

They have ballroom dancing every night in the Queens Room with an orchestra, making it pretty much the only major line that still has proper ballrooms and ballroom dancing.

There is a massive library on every ship.

The program is classic, leaning into things like trivia, bingo, afternoon tea, craft and painting classes, dance classes, dance exercise classes, and passenger choirs and sing-a-longs.

However, the mix depends on where and when you're going.

During school holidays, more families are cruising on Cunard. For example, I have been on a Christmas cruise twice out of New York to the Caribbean with over 400 kids on board.

Summer Transatlantic Crossings have more of a mix of multi-generational families, and more cruisers in their 40s and 50s.

And on their short 3- to 5-nighters out of Southampton, they attract an increasing number of the younger party crowd.

Many, especially LGBT travellers, ask me if this older and traditional passenger profile makes it stuffy and close-minded on board. Not from what I have seen.

Cunard attracts a large gay traveller base, with very busy daily LGBT meetups, and same sex couples dancing at the ballroom nights.

But, of course, one of the biggest questions is always about just how formal is Cunard?

Is Cunard Very Formal?

Cunard through its history, reputation and advertising is seen as being very formal, with Tuxedo Black Tie and Ballgowns required much of the time.

The reality is very different these days.

Daytime is entirely casual — shorts, T-shirts, baseball caps, whatever you like.

Most nights after 6pm it's smart casual to go to your dining room. This means men can wear chinos, smart jeans with a collared or polo shirt, and ladies can wear smart dresses, skirts with blouses, or stylish trousers. The only real no-go items are T-shirts, shorts, ripped jeans, and sportswear.

Cunard does still hold Gala evenings, but there are far fewer of these than there used to be — at most two per seven-nights.

On those nights, to go to the dining room men are (in their words on their site) “invited” to wear dinner jackets, tuxedos, or suits with a tie, and women evening gowns, ball gowns, cocktail dresses, or a smart trouser suit. On board the wording in the daily program suggests it is required rather than optional to go to the dining rooms.

So, if you'd rather not dress up at all on any night and prefer to stick to T-shirt, shorts, or ripped jeans, you can dine in the King's Court Buffet and the pop-up Speciality Dining venues they have in there.

Afterwards you can enjoy most of the public venues. These include the Golden Lion Pub, Carinthia Lounge, King’s Court Theatre to see the show, gamble in casino, and go to the night club. Only the Queens Room dancing, and a bars like The Chart Room and Commodore Club are considered off limits if not following the Dress Code.

But talking about the Cunard experience, I often get asked if it us the same across the fleet?

Is The Cunard Fleet Consistent?

The Cunard fleet is not consistent.

It has one unique one-of-a-kind ship, Queen Mary 2 which is the only true cruise liner in the world. Then it has three ships repurposing ship designs from the Carnival Corporation.

Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth are Vista-class ships, sister-style to ships you'll find in Holland America and Carnival fleets. These have a "classic Cunard" Art Deco style interior décor, and itineraries leaning into Norway, the Mediterranean, British Isles, World Cruises and Grand Voyages.

Queen Anne is a stretched Pinnacle-class ship originally designed for Holland America, and has a more contemporary feel, less rich Art Deco decor, clearly designed to pull in a newer kind of Cunard cruiser. This ship now mostly sails ex-Southampton routes including World and Grand Voyages annually.

All four ships have versions of the same classic Cunard venues including the Queen's Room, Golden Lion Pub, Chart Room, Library, Commodore Club, Royal Court Theatre, and the Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess and Queens Grill restaurants. Though often in different locations, laid out differently, and each feels different ship to ship.

If you want the truly unique, iconic experience, it's Queen Mary 2, no contest.

If you want the classic Cunard, feel with more diverse itineraries go for Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth. If you want the newest, more modern interpretation of the brand, that's Queen Anne.

And to find out more about Queen Anne, this newest interpretation of Cunard, join me over in this article where I talk about how it's different, what works and what does not work and why.

Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

As fellow cruise and ship lovers (and maybe even fellow total ship geeks among you like me?), I believe many of you would have been as excited as I was out on deck sailing into Ponta Delgada in the Azores today, the first port on my 14-night Regent Seven Seas Splendor crossing to New York.

As sharing the port with us were not the usual cruise ships, but two rather remarkable and VERY unusual ships.

The first was the extraordinary-looking Monge (A601)of the French Navy. You cannot miss it because of the enormous satellite dishes and radar equipment covering the ship.

Monge is a missile tracking ship, which includes tracking ballistic missiles, satellites and other objects through the atmosphere and space. It supports France’s ballistic missile testing programme. The Atlantic around the Azores is an important area for some of this work, so Ponta Delgada it seems is not an entirely unusual place to find her.

But arguably even more spectacular was our other neighbour, the Amerigo Vespucci.

This magnificent three-masted sailing ship was launched in 1931 and is the oldest active vessel in the Italian Navy. She is used to train cadets from the Italian Naval Academy and, at around 101 metres long with 26 sails, is an impressive sight.

She has also earned the nickname “the most beautiful ship in the world”, and having seen her sitting in the harbour today, I can understand why.

She is currently on her 2026 training campaign and has been returning across the Atlantic after visiting ports including Baltimore, New York, Boston, Québec City and Montréal. From here she heads to Cádiz and then back towards Italy.

So, while Ponta Delgada was the first port of my Regent Splendor crossing, I got an unexpected bonus before I’d even started exploring the town!

I know many of you are as ship-obsessed as I am, so I thought you’d enjoy seeing these two unusual neighbours too.

Which would you most like to get aboard and explore — Monge or Amerigo Vespucci?

As much as I loved the sailing ship seeing the mysterious interior of that missile tracking ship feels more exotic to me!

Let me know

Gary

Jo Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

If you have any cruises booked I wanted to remind you that you can get 5% off any excursions you book through Shore Excursions Group at any time by using the code "TFT5" at check out where it asks if you have a discount code.

To visit the site: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/shoreexcursions

The reason for reminding you is I just noticed they are running a Summer Sale with added discounts running until 31 August. You can get the Tips For Travellers 5% saving on top of the sale price. So, a good time to lock in some excursions.

I had a look, for example, for my Norwegian Aqua trip I depart on 8 September and many of those are on sale. So, going to book with the sale price and discount.

Hope this helps.

Gary

NB: The link is an affiliate link

When we spend more on anything, a flight, a hotel, a car, we expect more. More options, more features, more everything. So, when travellers decide to upgrade from resort lines like Royal Caribbean, premium lines like Princess, or even small ship luxury lines like Oceania and splash out on a much more expensive ultra-luxury cruise, it’s natural they assume it is going to be all about more, much more.

But many then quickly discover it isn’t, which is why so many first-time ultra-luxury cruisers I meet are disappointed.

Welcome aboard. I’m Gary Bembridge, and I’ve cruised on every category of line including on ultra-luxury lines 13 times. And on every one of those, I’ve always met people expecting more and left wondering what all that extra money bought them.

So let me unpack why that happens and help you discover whether you will love or be disappointed by ultra-luxury cruising.

It’s Not About More

The first place where expectations collide with reality is when people step on board and realise that more money doesn’t translate into more physical things, more features, more perks, or stuff that match the increased cost of the fare.

All other cruise categories, be they resort or premium ships, are about ships having stand-out features, things that you will notice and are unique to that line.

Royal Caribbean has 6 themed districts, like Central Park, and attractions like Flow Riders, zip lines. Holland America has the Music Walk with different focused live music venues like Billboard on Board, Rolling Stone Rock Room and BB King’s Blues Club, and Princess ships have a big grand atrium with constant activities, restaurants and entertainment venues radiating around it.

But when you step on board an ultra-luxury ship, you find that is not the case – with two main surprises striking people.

First, they don’t get that spectacle they get on other category lines. What they find on board is less. It’s quieter, less showy, and not as feature led as the other categories. It tends to be quite subdued, with a more an upmarket boutique style to it. There’s no grand atriums and big signature features. The decor is discrete and subdued. It’s about cosy lounges and intimate bars. There aren’t big dramatic flourishes.

What you step on board is quiet and calm.

The other thing new to ultra-luxury cruisers discover is the venues aren’t crowded. They can always get a seat in a lounge and by the pool. There are more quiet spots. They can get off the ship fast in port as there are no lines and crowds pushing to get off. They can get more attention and help quicker at bars and guest services because there’s no lines.

But of course, there’s much less choice than there are on the other categories of cruise lines as there are fewer venues.

For example, on my most recent ultra-luxury cruise on Silversea Silver Nova they only had seven dining options, two Main Dining Rooms (Atlantide and SALT Kitchen), a buffet (La Terrazza), a pool grill which also acted as the pizzeria, and three specialty restaurants, Kaiseki Asian, Silver Note, and La Dame French Restaurant.

However, the trips I did before that was on Sun Princess which had 30 dining venues, and Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas had 23.

So, in all those other categories, you have so much more but on ultra-luxury you have so much less.

Entertainment of course is way more minimal. You don’t have those big production shows with special effects and a large cast of singers and dancers. You have a quieter, simpler shows.

For example, on that Silversea Silver Nova, I had four singers and four dancers performing themed shows around different musical themes, and the show band and a couple of soloists played sets dotted around the ship.

It was a much lighter program of events with a couple of speakers, trivia, bingo, dance class and so on, run by a much smaller team. On Silver Nova there was around 10 events a day, but on Sun Princess there was up to 80 activities each day.

So unlike other cruise categories, ultra-luxury is not designed to entertain you, it’s designed to give you space to unwind, to relax, and to meet and chat with others.

So, this leads people, once they realise it’s not about big features, nor about events and activities, to wonder where does the money go? And here’s where they start questioning things.

Where The Money Goes

First, they realise they have cabins that are way smaller for the same money than they could get on the other categories. So, if they’ve been cruising in a suite on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, or like I had on Sun Princess, once they step on board ultra-luxury for roughly the same amount of money, they going to find a much smaller cabin.

But they will find richer decor, classier soft furnishings. But it is a smaller space.

Also, on most ultra-luxury lines, other than Silversea and Crystal, which have a butler, they’re just going to have a cabin steward as in the other cruise line categories.

So, then people wonder, is all the difference in dining? Is this where they’re going to see where their money is going to?

I meet so many who expect big dramatic change and shift in the dining experience. Some think there will be Michelin-level food, lots of dining theatre, and sophisticated dishes.

However, that’s not really the case. Of course, they see that dining on ultra-luxury ships is well done, with large menus compared to other categories, but many feel it is rather similar dishes and not dramatically better considering the difference in the fare.

Personally, I find it elegant and elevated, but it’s still classic dining. Well-presented and visibly and taste wise higher quality ingredients. But it does not have a big wow factor many expect.

I saw that first-hand when I went ultra-luxury with my partner who had experienced Cunard Queens Grill dining and expected that level and approach on an ultra-luxury line.

Cunard Queen’s Grill is probably the ultimate in cruise ship dining. It has a refined menu along with the ability to order off menu, all made in a dedicated kitchen for the relatively small numbers in that category on their ships.

You have a dedicated table that is yours for every meal, along with three waiters to cater for your every need who get to know your every like and preference. Many dishes are prepared table side by one of the Maître Ds.

But on ultra-luxury lines you don’t have a dedicated table, you usually have one waiter who may or may not have served you before so does not know your likes and preferences, so this is as with other categories of lines.

It is not as elevated on the experience and service side as people expect. Certainly, my partner was thrown and underwhelmed by that.

Another area people often realise is that while ultra-luxury lines make a lot of the fact that they’re all-inclusive, it doesn’t necessarily mean everything is included.

While ultra-luxury line fares do include way more than other category lines, like drinks, gratuities, basic Wi-Fi, specialty dining, and fitness classes. Most have extra charges.

For example, on all ultra-luxury lines except for Regent, excursions are an extra cost, so is streaming level Wi-Fi, more sophisticated wines, and even on some like Silversea some of the speciality dining is an extra charge.

Also, importantly, what people realise is when you do visit a port on an ultra-luxury line, you’re likely to do pretty much the same things there and the excursions are usually the same as on the other categories, because the things to do in a port are things do in the port.

However, one upside I found is smaller group sizes.

What many though do find and appreciate is service is more personalised.

On the other categories of lines, crew are trained to be highly efficient, and to deal with people and get things done as quickly as possible due to the numbers.

However, I find that on ultra-luxury it’s not about doing things fast, it’s about spending time to get to know me, get to know what I want, and to recognise me by name. I find on all ultra-luxury ships I have been on, soon everyone across the ship knows my preferences and name.

Is it Better?

Is cruising ultra-luxury dramatically better overall though? Well, for many people going for the first time they tell me it wasn’t as dramatically different or better than they expected. Why?

The big realisation I had when I went on an ultra-luxury line for the first time, and what I have appreciated on the 12 I have been on since, is that it’s not about getting more, it’s not about more activities, more features, it’s about getting less. And that’s by design.

There are fewer people, less crowds, less hustle and bustle, no need to queue for things, and more relaxing, quiet, and being pampered and attended to.

Of course, there are other upsides to ultra-luxury like on itineraries because the ships are smaller, and so in most regions they call on smaller ports that bigger ships cannot visit.

They call on more remote or inaccessible ports that need tenders to get on land, like when I went to the Greek Islands on Seabourn visiting ports other big ship cruise categories cannot visit.

They dock in the centre of town where big ships can’t, like when I went to Shanghai on Crystal and we sailed right into the heart of the city, past lines like Norwegian and Cunard having to dock far out in the container port.

But what I’ve found, is people I’ve met on board ultra-luxury who really enjoy it are those who are looking for less. They’re not looking for the spectacle, big ship choices, or to be entertained all the time. They’re looking for more personalised attention, and probably a calmer, quieter cruise environment.

The people that I found have not enjoyed it are those expecting more, and being able to account for added perks and “stuff” to add up to the amount of extra fare that they’re paying, or those whose idea of a great cruise is one with lots of energy, buzz, lots of choice, and to be entertained all the time.

Greetings Tips For Travellers

Today I boarded the first of two (what are called) “side-by-side” cruises .

The first is a 14-night repositioning cruise on Regent Splendor from Lisbon to New York, and a few days after arriving there I will be going on a 5-night Norwegian Aqua cruise to Bermuda.

RSSC Splendor 14-Night Repositioning Lisbon to New York

As you can see from the route, it has quite a few ports and I will get to properly explore some that were on the 2024 Group Cruise route that I did not explore as was busy focused on plans for the group. I am also excited to go to Newport for the first time. As a big fan of “The Gilded Age” TV series seeing and touring some of the mansions from that will be a highlight.

On this trip I am going in a “Serenity Suite” and in the cabin right next door to the one I was in last time on this ship. This is the “short” video tour I did of that cabin: https://youtube.com/shorts/kovH4msJaIM

These are the cabins the grade above the entry level cabin (Deluxe Balcony) and I really like these. The bathroom is rather special!

New York

I will be in the “Big Apple” for two nights before my next cruise, and have booked to see two shows that are not on in London’s West End. The revival of the “Rocky Horror Show”, though the cast has changed since I booked so not seeing the lead I had though I would be, and the new “The Lost Boys” musical which won 4 Tony Awards recently.

On my return to New York after the next cruise I am there for one night and booked to see “Schmigadoon” which is a spin off from the Apple+ TV series about a magical town where every day is a musical and the only bridge out of town leads nowhere, which a couple accidentally stumble enter and are trying to escape.

Norwegian Aqua 5-night New York to Bermuda return

The next cruise will be a 5-night on one of Norwegian Cruise Line Prima Class ships: Aqua. The first to have the large waterslide instead of the go-kart track. This is part of a plan to update my resort ship and Norwegian content.

Let me know in the comments what you would like me to update and talk about in my on-cruise Substack only updates I will post on these trips!

Gary

Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

Here is your latest early release and permanently ad free video.

This is part of what I say in the description of the video:

Celebrity Cruises has changed — and depending on the kind of cruiser you are, you may think those changes are exciting or feel the Celebrity you once knew is disappearing.

In this video, I look at ho…

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Greetings Tips For Travellers Crew

This SATURDAY 22 August, I’ll be hosting my Live Cruise Q&A rather than on Sunday. And it will be coming to you from Lisbon where I will be to board my next cruise adventure.

So I hope you’ll join me for this which, although be on a different day to usual, will be at the usual time:

🕘 9am PT
🕛 Noon ET
🕔 5pm UK

As always, bring along your cruise questions and I’ll do my best to answer as many as possible in the hour.

🔴 Set a Reminder, Join the Live Cruise Q&A, or watch the replay here:https://youtube.com/live/i2-XZJ2Khe0

A huge thank you to everyone who has joined, watched, asked questions and supported the lives over years.

See you on Saturday I hope!

Gary ⚓️

Imagine booking your dream cruise on one of the 4 most popular lines… only to realise within hours of boarding it’s not for you – so many things are wrong. I don’t want that to happen to anyone, that’s why I’m going to compare these four, while they’re the biggest cruise lines in the world, all seem so similar, all promise fun, loads of on board venues, and great prices… but in reality, they’re very different. As you will discover.

I’m going to break down exactly what each does best, what they don’t do so well, and who they’re really for — so you can avoid an expensive mistake.

But before that let me explain what they all do have in common.

What Do They Have In Common?

The world’s four biggest lines based on passengers carried are Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, and Carnival.

Think of these four as the “resort” lines of the cruise world. Like land resorts, the ships are a destination themselves.

They are large carrying thousands of passengers, have dozens of venues, dining options range from casual burgers to fancy specialty restaurants, there’s Broadway and West End-level shows, an endless range of activities for wide range of interests, and a high-energy atmosphere.

They also have the lowest starting fares in cruising — sometimes from as low as $55 per person, per night in low season.

But here’s where the similarities end. Let me dive into their differences starting with what they are each best known for.

Best Known For (Good & Bad)?

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is best known for having the biggest and most innovative ships in cruising today. Their mega ships are packed with surf simulators, zip lines, ice rinks, and have up to 6 different themed neighbourhoods.

Their biggest negative is some find their ships a bit overwhelming, noisy and too busy .

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian is best known for pioneering “freestyle cruising, with no fixed dining times or dress codes, tons of dining choices, strong entertainment, and the “Pride of America”, the only ship sailing Hawaii year-round.

They’re also seen as good for solos due to their Solo Studio cabins area and luxury seekers due to their suites-only The Haven area.

Their biggest negative is many feel they are constantly “nickel-and-dimed” on board, with extra charges for many things.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is best known for providing a more European experience compared to the other three American one, their very competitive pricing with Kids travelling for free, and for the “Yacht club” their good value premium, ship-within- ship area.

Their biggest negatives are a reputation for poor customer service, inconsistent dining that does not always cater well for North American tastes, and all announcements and programs in six languages.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival is best known for having what they call “The Fun Ships” which are affordable, lively, casual, with a focus on a party vibe and crowd-pleasing on deck activities.

Their biggest negative is a reputation for rowdy and bad behaviour on board, reinforced by new rules and bans occasionally introduced to tackle it.

With what they’re best known for in mind, let’s dive into more detail on their differences, starting with the fleet and itineraries, and then moving on to fares, cabins, dining, entertainment and who they are best for and why.

Fleet Size & Itinerary Differences?

Knowing the fleet and itinerary differences is key, as it may immediately narrow down which of these four lines are best suited to you based on where they can take you.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean has the largest fleet with, at the time of recording, 28 ships carrying from 2,000 to 7,600 passengers.

They offer the widest global footprint, including the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada/ New England and South America, as well as offering several private destinations including Perfect Day at CocoCay, Labadee and Costa Maya.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian has the smallest fleet of the four, with 19 ships spread across six different classes but more on order.

They do though offer the second widest range of regions to cruise including Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. They also have private islands including Harvest Cay and Great Stirrup Cay.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises has a large fleet of 24 ships and growing fast with bigger ships like the new MSC World America, and MSC World Asia catering for up to 6,700 passengers.

They do sail several regions, but are very focused on the Mediterranean, and are building their routes in the Caribbean, Northern Europe, Middle East, South America, and Africa. They too have a private island: Ocean Cay.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival has the second-biggest fleet with 27 ships and their ships are getting bigger and bigger with Carnival Jubilee carrying over 6,600 passengers.

They are mostly focused on the United States with many home ports and many short Caribbean, Bahamas, and Mexico itineraries. But they do sail Alaska, Australia, and some European routes, but have the smallest global footprint of all the lines.

Let me talk a little bit about pricing differences next.

Fare Differences?

All offer affordable fares across most grades, and Inside Cabins can sometimes start from as low as $55 per person per night out of season. But here are some notable differences.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean fares tend to be higher than Carnival and MSC Cruises, especially for their newer ships where demand is always high, and I see their starting prices are usually closer to $90 per person. Their larger suite fares match those of ultra- luxury lines like Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line pricing is similar to Royal Caribbean, and The Haven also often costs the same as a suite on those ultra luxury lines too.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is usually on the lower end of pricing in this category, often the lowest in Europe and very competitive in the Caribbean, helped by their Kids Cruise Free offer.

The Yacht club is, as mentioned, the most affordable ship-within-ship across all categories, often just between $300 and $600 per night.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival, broadly speaking, will often have the lowest average fares especially in the Caribbean, and MSC and them tend to be the lower priced compared to the other two.

What about cabins? Are there any big differences?

Cabin Differences?

All four offer a wide range from budget friendly Inside Cabins to High-end Suites, but each line has their own signature twists.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean, partly because of the scale of their newer ship classes, has the widest range and types of cabins. They have some of the largest and most expensive suites on any line like the Multi-storey Ultimate Family Suites, Star Class butler suites, but also have innovative virtual balcony Inside Cabins, and cabins at every grade that can hold at least 6 guests to cater for families.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian also has a wide range and family cabins but their Solo Studios with private lounge, and The Haven luxury enclave with pool, lounge, and concierge are seen as their most stand out features.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises with their big focus on the family market has many multiple occupancy cabins at all grades, but their most notable cabin feature is the Yacht Club (luxury ship-within-a-ship) at the industry’s best prices for this, with butler, private restaurant, and pool.

Unlike all other line ship-within-ships, they are the only ones that have Inside Cabins as well as suites in it.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival again with focus on family has many options for multiple occupancy, generally fewer suite options, but has the reputation for generally slightly larger standard cabins than average.

Next, I explore if there are big differences in dining you need to know about

Dining Differences?

While all four on the surface appear to have a broadly similar approach to dining, there are some key differences.

All have main dining rooms, a buffet, casual venues, and specialty restaurants, but there are nuances in style, choice and quality.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean in my view is the most solid all-rounder. Standouts here include the Windjammer Buffet, El Loco Fresh, Johnny Rockets Burgers, Chop’s Grill, Izumi, Jamie’s Italian, and the themed Wonderland.

Norwegian

Norwegian offers the most flexibility and is more casual. Standouts here include: O’Sheehan’s, The Local, and the new Indulge Food Hall which is a great flexible addition. Their Specialty restaurants like Cagney’s, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, and my favourite, the Food Republic are consistently good

MSC Cruises

MSC stands out from the other with their European-inspired cuisine, with good pasta and pizza from their Italian roots.
But as mentioned they get the harshest reviews about quality and consistency all of the four, mostly from North American travellers.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival stands out most for their American Comfort food focus, with regular Carnival cruisers loving venues like Guy’s Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina. Their main dining room and buffet menus usually have less variety than Royal Caribbean and Norwegian but its solid, probably reflecting their more value-based fares.

What about entertainment and activities? Where do they differ?

Entertainment & Activities Differences?

There are bigger differences in entertainment & activities among these four than many cruisers appreciate.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is the leader of the pack for entertainment. They have huge entertainment teams, over 250 on my last Symphony of the Seas trip serving up full Broadway productions, Ice Skating Shows, Aqua Theatre shows and activities like Waveriders, Zip Lines, Climbing Walls and skydiving simulators.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian has historically been very strong in big theatre shows, with some Broadway shows, like Beetlejuice I saw on Viva though they have started to cut back here with more in-house shows. They have a big live music focus, glitzy game shows, and late-night comedy and music.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is probably the weakest of the four running shorter song and dance reviews to get around the 6-language approach, which also limits ability to run some traditional cruise favourites like trivia. They do have big themed nightly parties on the atrium along with other high energy performances there too earlier in the evenings.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival has a more laid-back approach to entertainment with more focus on fun events to fit their “Fun Ships” promise, with Comedy clubs, deck parties, karaoke, pool games, and smaller-scale theatre production shows than some of the others.

So, bearing all this in mind, who are they aimed at and who is each best for and why?

Best For Differences?

As you will see they are best for quite different people.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is for cruisers who want a floating theme park with lots of big-scale entertainment and things to do, making them best for families with kids of all ages, multi-generational groups, and active action-seeking couples and friend groups.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise line is for cruisers who love flexibility, casual dress codes and busy music-focused nightlife making them best for independent-minded travellers, night owls and because of those dedicated areas, solos and luxury suite lovers who still want all the choices and entertainment a bigger ship offers.

MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is for cruisers wanting a European experience, a more cosmopolitan and international crowd, and all on a budget, making them best for conscious travellers, especially families, and those wanting more luxury but at a more affordable price.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival is for cruisers who want a lively high-energy, fun party atmosphere that is casual and affordable, making them best for budget conscious and sociable couples, friend groups and families, especially Americans as that is their key focus. They’re also great for those looking for short inexpensive breaks as they have many of these.

If you’ve decided that these resort value lines aren’t for you, why don’t you join me over in this article where I dive into premium cruise lines, including Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, and Virgin? See you over there.

Greetings Tips For Travellers Followers!

One of the things I enjoy about this and other platforms like this is getting your suggestions and ideas about ships, cruise lines and places you think I should experience and cover.

And one of those followers on Patreon suggestions turned into an actual trip!

I’ve booked a two-night stay aboard the historic SS Rotterdam in Rotterdam Harbour this October.

A Patron suggested that I should go and experience, explore and review this famous former ocean liner, and the more I looked into it, the more I thought: yes, I absolutely should!

So, on 5 October, I’ll be heading to London St Pancras and taking the direct Eurostar train to Rotterdam Central Station which takes 3 hours and 16 minutes.

🚆 Back On Eurostar – But This Time Not To Work!

I’m particularly looking forward to the Eurostar journey because it will bring memories from my life before Tips For Travellers.

For over two years, I used to commute most weeks between London and Paris on Eurostar when I was Global Vice President for RoC Skincare.

Although I was based in London, RoC’s global marketing team, Research & Development and manufacturing operations were based in and around Paris, so I spent a lot of time travelling backwards and forwards on Eurostar to work with the teams there.

It became a routine part of my working week – heading to St Pancras, getting on Eurostar, arriving in the centre of Paris and then doing it all again in reverse a few days later.

So it will feel rather strange getting on Eurostar again, but this time heading to Rotterdam rather than Paris – and for something considerably more enjoyable than another round of meetings!

I’m also interested to see just how easy the whole London-to-Rotterdam journey is by train, particularly as it avoids airports and flying altogether.

I did brush up on the trip as Captain Patrons Bob and Holly of Innocents Abroad did the Rotterdam to London trip and made a video about the trip:

But, of course, the real reason for the trip is waiting for me in Rotterdam Harbour…

🚢 Two Nights On SS Rotterdam

Rather than just visiting SS Rotterdam for a few hours, I’ve booked to stay on board for two nights.

And I’ve managed to book something that should make the experience even more interesting: one of the ship’s former officers’ cabins.

Executive Room SS Rotterdam. Photo from https://ssrotterdam.com/room/ssr-executive-room/

Executive Room SS Rotterdam. Photo from https://ssrotterdam.com/room/ssr-executive-room/

SS Rotterdam entered service in 1959 (the year I was born!) as the flagship of Holland America Line and was designed largely for the transatlantic crossing service.

After an extraordinarily long career, including years sailing as Rotterdam and later Rembrandt, she eventually returned to her namesake city and today is permanently moored in Rotterdam as a hotel, visitor attraction, restaurant and event venue.

I’m fascinated to see just how much of the original ship and its ocean-liner character survives today.

🔎 I’m Going To Explore As Much Of The Ship As I Can

While I’m staying aboard, I plan to take the ship tours and really get under the skin of SS Rotterdam.

I want to see the historic public rooms, decks and behind-the-scenes areas that are accessible, find out how much has changed since she was sailing, and discover what it is actually like to sleep aboard a classic ocean liner more than 65 years after she entered service.

I’m also intrigued to see what staying in one of those former officers’ cabins is like!

⚓️ And There’s More Maritime History Planned

As I’ll have two nights in Rotterdam, I’m also going to make the most of being in a city with such an extraordinary maritime heritage.

High on my list is a visit to the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, with its collection covering centuries of shipping, seafaring and the story of one of the world’s great ports.

So this is shaping up to be a very ship-heavy couple of days – which, as you can probably imagine, suits me perfectly!

🙏 This Trip Came From You

Most importantly, this trip came about because of a suggestion from one of you here on Patreon.

That’s one of the reasons I value all the comments, questions and suggestions you leave for me, as they give me ideas for things I should investigate, ships I should try, and topics I should cover.

So thank you for suggesting SS Rotterdam.

And now I’d like your help planning what I do when I get there.

If you’ve visited or stayed aboard SS Rotterdam, what do you think I absolutely must see, photograph, film or investigate?

And is there anything else in Rotterdam – maritime-related or otherwise – that you think I should try to fit into my two-night stay?

Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for helping inspire another Tips For Travellers adventure!

Gary

In recent years, I’ve cruised on all five of the major small ship luxury lines, not just once, but multiple times on each. And whilst doing that I discovered so many things that most people misunderstand or do not appreciate about them. For while these lines are all lumped together by the industry into a category called “small ship luxury”, they deliver such different experiences.

Welcome aboard, I’m Gary Bembridge, and I’m putting them head-to-head, sharing my genuinely surprising findings about where each one shines, where they fall short, and who I think should – and absolutely should not – cruise on each of them and why.

But before picking the differences apart, I need to talk about what things they do share and why the industry lumps them together.

What is Small Ship Luxury?

The “Small ship luxury” category sits between what the industry calls “Premium Lines” and “Ultra-luxury Lines”

“Premium” being lines such as Princess, Holland America, Celebrity and Virgin Voyages with big ships carrying between two to four thousand guests and lots of add-ons to their fares.

“Ultra-luxury” including lines like Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal and Regent Seven Seas, with their smaller all-suite ships, very high crew-to-passenger ratios and the most comprehensive inclusions in their fares.

Even their pricing sits between those two worlds. On Premium Lines a balcony cabin costs from around US$300 per person per night, on these small ship luxury lines you’re usually starting $600, and then when you jump up to the ultra-luxury end, you’re looking at least $1,000 per person per night.

On thing I found is that all share is they are absolutely a step up from premium and a step down from ultra-luxury if you have been on those.

I also found and feel they’re aimed at cruisers who want to escape the bustle of big ships and move into a calmer, more adult, boutique-hotel-style experience with more interesting itineraries that the bigger premium ships are limited to.

As most of the ships carry around a thousand guests, although some are far smaller, it provides that quiet but also means they can get into smaller ports, dock in city centres that big ships can’t, like Marseille or Shanghai, and they tend to offer more overnights.

Food and service is better than premium, the vibe is more grown-up, with two of the five being adults-only, but there are a couple of things that catch people out when they first upgrade from premium lines.

For example, dress codes are far more relaxed, often no gala nights at all, jeans and smart trainers are fine in the evening on most, and entertainment is not a strength. I found on all small production teams doing low-tech themed shows, plus trivia and quizzes, but the real focus is on enrichment, talks, craft classes, digital training, bridge classes, and libraries.

Where they differ from ultra-luxury is that most carry many more passengers than those lines, so they’re noticeably busier, the service is less personalised than on ultra-luxury, there’s also a wider range of cabin types including inside and Oceanview, and fewer inclusions.

But, if that is what’s the same, let’s look at the differences by line, starting with Oceania Cruises which is part of the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings group

Oceania Cruises

Oceania is best known for and has built the line around food. They have even trademarked the phrase “The Finest Cuisine at Sea” and they back that up with the most dining choice in this category.

On their bigger ships, in addition to a Main Dining Room, Buffet and Pool Grill Casual Dining that all their competition offer, they have four speciality restaurants: Red Ginger (Asian), Polo Grill (Steakhouse), Toscana (Italian) and Jacques, named after their long-standing culinary partner Jacques Pépin, whose dishes also appear on the menus in the Main Dining Room.

Oceania is also recently an adult-only line starting from 2026 and is also well-known for their enrichment program focus with Guest Speakers, a Culinary Center running cooking classes, an Artist Loft where an Artist in Residence runs craft classes, digital training and bridge classes.

Also worth noting is their fare is called “Your World Included” which has quite a lot of inclusions and more than premium lines like gratuities, non-streaming Starlink Wi-Fi, specialty dining, group fitness classes, and sodas, specialty coffees and teas. You can then choose between shore excursion credit, or complimentary wine and beer during lunch and dinner hours.

Weaknesses?

I found the areas of weakness for Oceania are the following.

First, be careful which ship you choose as the facilities, cabins and experience differs. In practice they have three different types of ships.

The older R-class ships like Insignia, Sirena, Regatta and Nautica carry about 670, have less choice, smaller cabins and frankly tiny bathrooms. Then you’ve got the O-Class Marina and Riviera at around 1,250 guests, and the newer Vista and Allura class ships which are way more modern. There’s also a new and bigger Sonata class coming from 2027 carrying 1,350.

Second, living up to that “Finest Cuisine at Sea” promise is hard. Based on my experience, Oceania does have the best food in the category, and it is a noticeable step up from Premium Lines, but I also understand why people are sometimes underwhelmed because that marketing sets the bar extremely high.

Third, there is still a fair bit of upselling encouraging buying a drinks package, spa, drink tasting events, and shopping.

Fourth, their port immersion and destination briefing is very weak and disappointingly almost non-existent compared to some others in this category.

Best For?

Based on my experience trying all these lines, Oceania is best for cruisers who care about food, and I feel is the best of all for cruisers looking to step up from premium as it is closest to that experience just more calm and less busy. But if you’re coming from premium choose one of the larger ships, not the R-class!

Let’s explore one of the biggest players in this category. With more ships that any of the others, that is Viking

Viking Ocean

Viking Ocean is best known for being adult-only, culture and enrichment heavy and utterly consistent across their entire fleet, unlike Oceania and most of the others. All 15 Viking ships look the same outside, have the same layout and have the same Scandinavian décor inside. Once you’ve been on one you know exactly what the others will feel – and look – like.

Most of their ships carry 930, although some new ones are not just under 1,000. And they make a big point that they have no casino.

Viking is also known for and sees itself as the “thinking person’s cruise line”. There’s a resident historian on board who will be an expert on the region and ports, guest speakers, cooking classes in The Kitchen Table, and craft sessions.

Their fares usually bundle flights and transfer s, and they have many inclusions in the fare with one shore excursion in most ports being what makes them stand out versus the other lines in this category.

But fares also include gratuities, non-streaming Wi-Fi, beer, wine and soft drinks at lunch and dinner, dining in their two speciality restaurants (Manfredi’s Italian and The Chef’s Table), specialty coffees and teas, and access to the popular Nordic Spa.

Weaknesses?

I found the areas of weakness for Viking are the following.

First, I found and get the same comment all the time: “Gary, the ship was lovely – but it was too quiet.” That’s Viking doing what it was designed to do, it’s laid back, quite cerebral and the bars don’t usually get a late-night crowd looking to party. By ten in the evening, it can feel like most have retired to bed.

Second, bookings for both those two speciality restaurants and all excursions are released based on cabin grade, so on my last trip in an entry-level cabin I couldn’t get a decent dining time and the best excursions were sold out.

Third, I found on all trips that the included excursions were often just standard low-cost walking tours or panoramic bus drives and can miss the most iconic sights when they involve more costs , and so on that last trip in Alaska I had to buy paid-for excursions in almost all ports anyway to see the most-do things.

Fourth, their very long payment terms in some countries, like the USA where full fare is required up to a year in advance is off-putting. And they almost never have solo deals either.

Best For?

I believe Viking is best for couples who want calm, familiar, adult cruising where pretty much everything is organised for them, and the strong focus is on learning in depth about the places visited. If you want buzz, nightlife or variety, it will feel flat.

Time to talk about the new kid on the Small Ship Luxury block, the line owned by the Aponte family behind MSC Cruises. Explora Journeys.

Explora Journeys

Explora Journeys is best known for being the sexy new entrant, offering purpose-built ships with European luxury boutique hotel at sea look and vibes.

Their 922-guest ships are modern, with lots of outdoor deck space, multiple pools and hot tubs dotted around, and stylish boutique hotel-like lounges, bars and restaurants. They have only balcony cabins, again very modern.

They are also known for being the only line in this category that is actively courting families. It’s the only one with Kids Clubs, which doubled in size from Explora II onwards, and they offer discounted Kids fares, and have a maximum occupancy of almost 400 more than the 922 at double occupancy, as many suites sleep up to four.

This catches many people out on sailing as many expect small ship luxury to be almost entirely adult. There is one adults-only plunge pool area, but the rest is very family friendly.

They are also known for having a much larger European passenger mix than the others, and although English is the main language they make much of their support of multiple European languages on board.

They are also known for being the most all-inclusive in this category, closer to ultra-luxury, with unlimited fine beverages, thermal spa access, some speciality dining, Wi-Fi, and gratuities included.

Explora wants to be known for dining and have wide choice. Unlike the others, they have no Main Dining Room and have the Mediterranean Yacht Club and Fil Rouge (French inspired) instead. The speciality restaurants are the included Sakura (Asian), Marble & Co (Steakhouse) and the added charge Anthology (Italian) and Chef’s Kitchen. In my experience the food is mixed but generally very good, and they have the hands down best buffet in the category in the Emporium Marketplace, which is closer to a Food Hall concept.

Weaknesses?

Because it’s new, some of the soft product is still being refined and the offer is still forming, I found variable service and mixed attention to detail.

Entertainment is weak, and the theatre is more a cabaret than theatre venue.

With a small fleet that will grow over the coming years, the itinerary choice is limited.

And for those seeking an adult environment, they need cruise avoiding school and key holiday periods, especially in the Mediterranean.

But if modern design, space, more inclusions, premium hotel feel matter to you, Explora stands out. And if you are looking for a small ship family friendly or multi-generational luxury cruising option, they are best in the category for this.

But what if something truly small and more adventurous appeals to you? Then this next line based on my experience could be the better choice. The privately owned Windstar.

Windstar Cruises

Windstar is best known for offering the truest yacht experience in this category, as it has the smallest cruise ships in the category (ex-Seabourn 312-passenger ships and two 224-passenger new builds). It is also the only one with sailing ships that carry between 148 and 342.

Thanks to their fleet, they’re also known for having interesting, port intensive itineraries calling into ports the others cannot, and for their year-round French Polynesia sailings. They’ve been sailing there for almost 40 years, longer than any other line.

They are known for a very laid back and casual vibe .

Weaknesses?

While Windstar’s strength is that feeling of being on a yacht rather than a cruise ship, their weakness is that except for the two new builds, the ships are older, and so have few true balcony cabins, many cabins feel more premium than luxury. Also, the small ship means dining choice is limited to Amphora (Main Dining Room), the Veranda buffet for breakfast and dinner which becomes and Candles (steak and seafood grill) at night. Food is fine but does not stand out versus the others, though they do have a partnership with the James Beard Foundation

Another weakness versus the others, is that although fares are broadly the same , inclusions are the least of any in the category. Soft drinks and specialty coffees are included, but gratuities, Wi-Fi, alcohol and excursions are not.

Best For?

Windstar is best for people who dislike crowds and big or even moderate sized ship energy, who want to visit more unusual and less visited ports, like a casual cruising environment, don’t care about shows or flashy facilities, and want to try sailing ships and some of the smallest cruise ships sailing today.

But what about Azamara? Another of the small ship luxury lines?

Azamara

Azamara, which was bought from Royal Caribbean by Sycamore Partners is best known for and positions itself as the best of these lines for destination immersion and intensive region itineraries. They focus on longer days in port with late departures and more overnights than the other lines.

They are also known for two signature events their regulars love: the AzAmazing evenings and White Nights. These are run once each on a cruise.

The AzAmazing evenings offer a local cultural immersion event just for their guests, which on my trips has included a local operatic performance in Italy and a special food and drink market in France. The White Nights is a deck buffet with stations hosted and served by the ship’s Senior Crew.

They are also well known for having a consistent, but ageing fleet, of four identical R-class ships carrying around 700 guests. This which lets them dock right in city centres and narrow waterways so while big ships are moored in working ports in places like Marseilles, I sailed right into the centre on Azamara Quest on my last trip with them.

Their ships also have the widest range of cabin types, from inside to suites, making them the most affordable entry options into small ship luxury.

Many seeking a more value small ship luxury experience also see as a plus their fare inclusions as it includes gratuities and a basic drinks selection (meaning you don’t necessarily need to buy a better drinks package), although Wi-Fi, premium drinks and the two specialty dining venues cost extra (except for suite guests).

Weaknesses?

While the strength of Azamara is that people love and are unlikely to complain about the ports and longer stays, they do sometimes have issues or complaints about their ships.

These are older vessels, cabins and bathrooms and especially showers are very small, entertainment and facilities are modest, and the food, while good, isn’t up at the level of Oceania or Explora.

Best For?

Azamara is best for travellers who want maximum time ashore and are happy to treat the ship as their transportation more rather than a major attraction. If you want glamour, big suites and lots of entertainment, it will disappoint.

But if none of these small ship luxury lines appeal to you based on this, why not read this article where I compare the ultra-luxury lines.