Ten small-ship adventures to book right now

Forget mega-buffets, casinos and cabaret shows. If empty Caribbean beaches and remote Croatian nature parks are more your thing, Anna Selby has the perfect cruise for you

2022-06-18 -

With Covid numbers down but not out, the idea of joining thousands of passengers on one of those massive behemoths so beloved of mainstream cruisers can seem unpalatable. There is, however, another way to hit the high seas: smallship cruising is on the up – and not just as a way of avoiding the crowds.

If the word “cruise” conjures a floating gin palace (all casinos and floorshows), a small ship offers a very different experience. When you are on a vessel with under 300 passengers (and some have far, far fewer), you can expect the crew to know your name, the entertainment is more likely to be a lecture than a cabaret and your destinations are calmer and quieter – those big ships just can’t get into tiny ports.

Best of all, small ships have more freedom to seize the moment. When I visited Iceland with Noble Caledonia, for instance, we were in Eyjafjordur when five humpback whales were spotted. The inflatable Zodiacs were lowered and the entire ship jumped on board (including the chef and the captain) and spent an hour with the whales while they breached, spouted water and flipped their tails. Whales can’t be guaranteed, of course, but small-ship cruising always has its own unique charms, as this selection shows.

ICELAND

Noble Caledonia’s circumnavigation of Iceland on board its 188-passenger ship, Sea Spirit, is a treat for bird lovers – look out for puffins, fulmars, guillemots and gannets – and geology aficionados, who will be treated to volcanoes, bubbling mud, lava fields, hot mineral springs, calving glaciers and shooting geysers. Once you leave the sophisticated city of

Reykjavik, it is a different land, all brightly painted wooden houses and a hauntingly empty landscape of mountains, fjords and islands – some of them, such as Vigor, home to just a single family who harvest the down from puffin nests. The family invites passengers for tea and rhubarb tart, and will also give you a free stick to hold above your head to deter dive-bombing Arctic terns.

Other excursions are just as unusual. There is, for instance, an amphibious vehicle to take you into the massive glacial lagoon of Jokulsarlon, where sculpted icebergs carved from the glacier drift slowly out to sea and seals play on the floe. At Namarskand, the earth hisses, rumbles and groans as steam rises from geothermal lakes – our planet at its most primitive, explosive and violent.

Noble Caledonia (020 7752 0000; noble-caledonia.co.uk) offers a 15-night circumnavigation of Iceland with the Faroe Islands cruise from £7,895pp including economy flights. Departs

May 10 2023

ITALY

Conventional cruise ships may no longer be welcome in Italy’s most beguiling city, but you can still take a Venice cruise. Built in 1960, the Bella Vita was originally a sand barge, but is now a floating boutique hotel with fine gastronomy, an open bar and a wide top deck on which the 20 passengers can relax. And this is a very relaxing trip.

The first day is a long circular cruise around the city’s most famous landmarks, mooring up outside the Naval Museum, a few minutes’ walk from St Mark’s. Next day you are off in the opposite direction to the Arsenale, the tail of fish-shaped Venice where people buy fruit and veg from a couple of canal-side gondolas, and to see the shady gardens of Casanova’s favourite convent.

Later, you will head out into the lagoon past tiny islands and the next day to Chioggia, visiting a 17th-century country house for dinner, where Lord Byron seduced the very young wife of its very old owner. The next day, you will go to Ferrara, an exquisite walled city and then on to Mantua, reached through a delta of lakes, wetlands and masses of huge lily pads with bright pink flowers. Mantua is the perfect early Renaissance city-state, with its Ducal Palace where the first ever opera was performed and a 13-year-old Mozart gave an early performance.

European Waterways (01753 598555; gobarging.com) offers a six-night cruise on Bella Vita costing from £3,390pp (excluding flights), with departures on September 4, 11 and

25 and October 9 2022

CARIBBEAN

The Caribbean is surely the ideal place for escaping the British winter, and you can sail there in some style with SeaDream Yacht Club – a family-owned company with two yachts, each run by an attentive crew of 95 on a mission to pre-empt your every need (and with a maximum of 112 passengers, they are very good at it indeed). Its Barbados round trip visits Grenada, St Lucia and Tobago, but also the uninhabited islands in the marine reserve of Tobago Cays; Union Island, the southernmost of the Grenadines, nicknamed the “Tahiti of the West Indies” because of its volcanic silhouette; and the azure waters of Mayreau’s Saltwhistle Bay.

This is definitely boutique yachting, with fine wining and dining, usually al fresco so guests can enjoy 360-degree views. There is a Thai spa on board, plus an inclusive open bar, and all 56 staterooms have ocean views. It is all very laid-back, and on-island activities are pretty relaxed, too – barbecues on empty beaches, snorkelling, beachcombing, all kinds of watersports or just swimming with the locals (that would be the turtles).

SeaDream Yacht Club (001 800 707 4911; seadream.com) offers an eightday round-trip cruise from

Bridgetown, Barbados (excluding flights) from £3,662 per person.

Departs January 5 2023

HEBRIDES

Hebridean Princess has just 50 guests and prides itself on its house-party atmosphere. It feels more like a private yacht than a cruise ship (and as it has been chartered twice by HM the Queen, you can expect to be treated royally). As you might guess from the name, it specialises in off-the-beaten-track adventures around the Scottish coast and islands. Sailing from Oban, Hebridean Princess can access the most remote of islands, lochs and bays and provides bicycles for exploring them. (There is fishing gear to use on board, too, or you can take it on a private fishing trip that the crew will be happy to organise.)

Their Autumn Surprise cruise is a great way to explore the Western Isles – though you won’t necessarily know which ones as the captain picks a favourite destination on a daily basis. What you do know is that you will visit a selection of the wildly beautiful Hebridean islands – Lewis, Harris, Tiree, Jura, Mull Coll, Rum and Muck are all possibilities.

Hebridean (01756 704704; hebridean. co.uk) offers a seven-night Autumn Surprise cruise out of Oban from £4,880pp. Departs October 4 2022

FRENCH POLYNESIA

This country is about the same size as Europe – the difference being that it consists mostly of water. Across its tiny scattered islands – a mixture of volcanic peaks and coral reefs – the heady smell of frangipani and gardenia drifts on a tropical breeze. The islands themselves are magical: Raiatea is sacred as the birthplace of Polynesians; Bora Bora’s turquoise lagoon shimmers against a backdrop of jagged mountains; Moorea is more dramatic still with its volcanic saw-tooth silhouette; Taha’a produces the world’s finest vanilla and the local pearl farms produce the most flawless black pearls (actually an array of silvers, greys, pinks, greens and blues).

On board Windstar’s four-masted sailing ship Wind Spirit (with just 148 passengers), snorkelling and swimming are top activities – though if you prefer to luxuriate in indolence, there is gourmet dining, a spa and a hot tub to enjoy while the tropical sun is wafted to a perfect temperature by the trade winds. Windstar (0808 178 2233; windstar cruises.com) offers a seven-night round trip from Papeete in Tahiti from £21,330pp, excluding flights. Departs November 3 2022

GALAPAGOS

The Galapagos Islands are a special destination, and the only way to visit them is on a small ship (there is a legal limit of 100 passengers). Hurtigruten’s Santa Cruz has room for just 90 and there is a big focus on the environment – the ship aims to be carbon neutral and your fare also makes a contribution to the protection of Ecuador’s biodiverse forests. The wildlife is, of course, astonishing – giant tortoises, albatrosses on the wing, bluefooted boobies, lava lizards, sea lions and marine iguanas – but you also get the chance to go snorkelling or kayaking from pristine coral beaches, visit mangroves or explore reefs from a glass-bottomed boat. Before the cruise, there is a land adventure, too, visiting Lima, Cusco, Quito and Machu Picchu over five days.

Hurtigruten (020 3808 4030; hurtigruten.com) has Machu Picchu and Galapagos cruises departing Dover on October 9 and 23, November 6 and 20 and December 4 and 18 2022, with prices starting at £7,595pp

CYCLADES

There is nothing the tall sailing ship the Star Flyer likes better than to put on a show. I recall leaving Patmos in the evening – the wind had picked up, lights twinkled around the harbour and the crew responded in kind, turning on the ship’s mast lights. The anchor chain was drawn back in, clanging, with bells signalling its shortening length. And, as the ship pulled majestically away from port – cue music – the sails started to rise, slowly, by manpower. The music was heroic – Vangelis from the Columbus film 1492: Conquest of Paradise – and curiously the effect wasn’t corny, but magnificent. There was even cheering from the shore.

Clipper ships are surprisingly fast (this one can reach 17 knots on a good day) and there are more creature comforts for Star Flyer’s 166 passengers (swimming pools, comfortable beds, a talented chef) than there were in Captain Onedin’s day. My seven days cruising around the Northern Cyclades visited the Turkish coast and Greek islands and went back in time to ancient Ephesus, with Venetian fortresses, Barbarossa’s pirate lair, the marketplace where St Paul narrowly escaped a lynching, the cave where St John wrote the Book of Revelation along the way. Islands pass by, silhouettes receding into the distance as the ropes creak and the wind buffets the sails – surely, the most romantic way to travel.

Star Clippers (0845 200 6145; starclippers.co.uk) offers a seven-night round trip out of Athens from £2,199pp, including return flights from London and transfers. Departs October 8 2022 and June 10 2023

FIJI

Blue Lagoon Cruises has been an institution in the Fijian islands since 1950, specialising in intimate cruises ( just 34 cabins) and visiting some of the most beautiful of the country’s 300 islands. Of these, the Yasawas are arguably the most exquisite and remote, with dazzling coral reefs and perfect white beaches. Migrating whales pass by and sea turtles swim in the lagoons. If you yearn for a Robinson Crusoe moment, there are plenty of uninhabited desert islands.

When you are not snorkelling, excursions are extremely local – such as a visit to a village chief with the traditional gift of yaqona, also know as kava, the powdered root of a pepper plant and Fiji’s national drink. It is mixed with water in a wooden bowl and a complicated ceremony follows (not to mention a numbing of the tongue and lips – kava is a mild narcotic). On the last day, there is a lovo on Blue Lagoon’s very own Yasawa island, Nanuya Lailai. This is a kind of underground barbecue where the food is wrapped in pandanus leaves and cooked on volcanic stones covered in sand. It takes hours, but while you wait there is time to swim, snorkel, lounge in a hammock or take a stroll down yet another perfect white beach.

Blue Lagoon Cruises (00 679 999 5512; bluelagooncruises.com) offers sevennight voyages to the Yasawas, departing every Monday from December 2022 to March 2023, with prices from £1,519 ( flights not included). There is a 25 per cent discount for bookings made more than six months in advance

PATAGONIA

If you want a cruise to get away from it all, there are few places emptier than Patagonia. During my whole time on the Stella Australis, I saw only one other ship – and that was off Cape Horn, heading for Antarctica. Chilean Tierra del Fuego is uninhabited and its sounds and fjords are a protected area. To ensure they retain their pristine state, only passengers on Chilean ships are allowed to disembark. So, other than your fellow passengers (of which there are only around 200), you won’t see a soul.

But you will see some of the most extraordinary sights the world has to offer – mountains and glaciers, whales and dolphins, colonies of penguins and the solitary wandering albatross soaring on the bird world’s most massive wings. The air is pure, the silence is palpable and the light has such clarity that you get to experience real life in high definition. This is an area so pristine it has been declared by Unesco a world biosphere reserve.

Cruceros Australis (00 34 9349 70484; australis.com) has four-day cruises ( flights not included) from £1,927 per person, sailing between Punta Arenas, Chile, and Ushuaia, Argentina. Departing October 3, 11, 19 and 23

CROATIA

For its island-hopping cruise in Dalmatia, Noble Caledonia has chartered the Croatian vessel Queen Eleganza – one of the most petite cruise ships around with just 36 guests looked after by a knowledgeable Croatian crew (particularly good for local advice when you go ashore). The Italian Adriatic coast is well known but the Croatian Adriatic is just as lovely and far less visited. This itinerary includes the Lastovo archipelago, one of Croatia’s most remote nature parks; the islands of Vis, Hvar and Korcula; Ilovik, known as “the island of flowers”; and picturesque Rab. There are visits to historic villages and towns, great local cuisine and lots of opportunities to swim from the ship in secluded bays.

Noble Caledonia (020 7752 0000; noble-caledonia.co.uk) offers the nine-night Island Hopping in Dalmatia cruise from £2,995pp, including economy flights.

Departing on October 2 2022,

May 14 and June 7 2023

If you yearn for a Robinson Crusoe moment, there are plenty of desert islands