Destination
Ocean Cruises
Ocean cruising on small ships offers an exceptional way to explore the world’s most iconic and remote destinations—without the crowds and limitations of large cruise vessels. From Mediterranean harbors to Arctic fjords, and from transoceanic crossings to tropical archipelagos, small ship ocean cruises provide the perfect blend of refinement, adventure, and cultural depth.\n\nAt Small Ship Travel, we specialize in carefully curated ocean cruises aboard small ships, with many accommodating fewer than 300. This smaller size allows for access to off-the-beaten-path ports, more personalized service, and a more immersive travel experience—whether you're seeking island-hopping in the Caribbean, coastal explorations of Europe, or epic journeys to the ends of the Earth.
Small ship ocean cruising offers unmatched freedom, flexibility, and connection to place. Unlike mega-ships, small ocean vessels can anchor in hidden harbors, scenic bays, and city centers, making every stop a more intimate and authentic experience.
You’ll enjoy:
Whether you're crossing the Atlantic, cruising the coast of Croatia, or exploring the volcanic islands of the South Pacific, small ship ocean cruising delivers depth, comfort, and authenticity with every nautical mile.
Ocean cruising is available year-round, with itineraries following the seasons and climate patterns of each region:
At Small Ship Travel, we curate only the best ocean cruise experiences for discerning travelers. We know the ships, the routes, and the difference between a good itinerary and an extraordinary one. Whether you're seeking coastal elegance, cultural immersion, or expeditionary adventure, we guide you to the ideal voyage for your style and interests.
Through our trusted cruise partnerships, we offer exclusive benefits designed to enhance your journey. These include shipboard credits, cabin upgrades, private shore excursions, and custom travel extensions. You'll also gain access to early-booking promotions and limited-availability sailings that are often difficult to find elsewhere. From your first conversation with us to post-cruise follow-up, our team provides personalized service every step of the way.
Reach out to our travel concierges today to create your perfect journey.
Get in the mood for cruising by reading our travel guides, recommendations and cruise reviews.
We don't recommend ships we haven't sailed. This is our policy and our practice. What follows is a selection of our team's personal voyage log — the ships we've been aboard recently, what we found when we got there, and what the experience means for the recommendations we make.
Romance in travel isn't a category. It's a quality. It's not produced by a sunset dinner package or a rose-petal turndown. It comes from being somewhere extraordinary with someone you love, in conditions that remove the noise of daily life and replace it with beauty and time. Small ships do this better than almost any other form of travel.
A hotel barge carries 6 to 20 guests. It moves at walking pace along canals so narrow that branches brush the hull. The chef bought the cheese from the producer's farm that morning. The wines are from the vineyard you visited after lunch. At 5 PM the barge ties up for the night in a village with a restaurant that has been open since 1952. This is the most intimate, most food-centered, and most genuinely French form of travel available.
For four centuries, the Northwest Passage — the sea route through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans — was the object of the most determined and most deadly quest in the history of exploration. Ships were lost. Men died. The Passage defeated everyone who attempted it until Roald Amundsen succeeded in 1903, taking three years to complete what expedition ships now do in three weeks.
Cabin selection on a small ship is more consequential than on a large ship for a simple reason: you'll spend more time in it. When a ship carries 92 guests rather than 4,000, the common areas are more intimate, the cabin is more frequently a retreat, and the proportional difference in quality between cabin categories is more pronounced.
The Galapagos Islands are the only place on Earth where a marine iguana will walk across your feet without breaking stride, where a blue-footed booby will perform its mating dance three feet from your camera, and where a sea lion pup will follow you along the beach out of pure curiosity. This is not wildlife viewing. This is wildlife coexistence.