Athens
Madeleine
The one to call for group travel — reunions, milestones, friends going together. A small ship suits a group better than a big one.
A ship carrying 600 people goes places a ship carrying 4,000 simply cannot.
That’s the practical difference, and it decides the whole trip. Small ships tie up at the pier while larger ones anchor offshore and tender passengers in. They sail up narrow waterways into the middle of a city. They call at ports that don’t have the infrastructure for a megaship — which is usually the reason those ports are still worth visiting.
The other difference is what’s included. On the lines we book most, fares cover dining, beverages, gratuities, Wi-Fi, and often shore excursions. You board and stop reaching for a card, which changes how the week feels more than people expect.
Who we book most
Three lines worth knowing
Different personalities, all of them small. We’ll match the ship to how you actually like to travel.
Silversea
All-suite, all-inclusive
Butler service at every suite level, up to ten dining options, and unlimited champagne and wine. Their expedition ships reach Antarctica and the Galápagos with a full expedition team aboard. Two of our hosted journeys sail with them.
Regent Seven Seas
The most inclusive fare at sea
All-suite, all-balcony ships where shore excursions are included rather than sold — which removes the running tally most cruises come with. Seven Seas Explorer is the flagship, and it earns the attention.
Azamara
Longer in port, overnight stays
Around 700 guests, and more time ashore than any other line we book — including overnights, so you get a city at night rather than between nine and five. Country-intensive itineraries for people who want depth over breadth.
Why a small ship
What you actually get
Ports the big ships can’t reach
Narrow harbors, shallow channels, and small islands. The places that stayed themselves because a megaship was never going to fit.
You dock, not tender
Tying up at the pier rather than queuing for a tender gives you back hours across a week — and makes going back aboard for lunch actually practical.
More time ashore
Longer port days and overnight stays. Dinner in town and a walk afterward, rather than being back onboard by five.
Genuinely all-inclusive
Dining, beverages, gratuities, and Wi-Fi are in the fare on these lines — and on some, shore excursions too.
Suites, not cabins
All-suite ships with butler service at every level. On a small ship the room matters more, because you’re in it more.
Never crowded
Six hundred people rather than four thousand. No queues at dinner, no scramble for a deck chair, and a crew who learn your name by day two.
Who you’ll work with
Pick the office nearest you.
All four of our advisors book small ship voyages. Which one you work with is usually just a question of which office you’d rather walk into.
Dunwoody
Leslie
She started out selling Caribbean and Mediterranean sailings in 1990, and has been booking ships ever since. Ask her about Bermuda.
Dunwoody
Steve
Left a career as a chiropractor for a year-long trip around the world, and came back to help other people take theirs.
Tuscaloosa
Stella
She builds trips around local life rather than the tourist checklist — which is exactly what longer port days are for.
Or come with us
We host a few of these ourselves
A few times a year one of our advisors picks a small ship voyage, holds space aboard, and sails with the group. Two of the current three are with Silversea.
Ready when you are.
Tell us where you’d like to sail — or just the time of year — and we’ll take it from there.
