4.6/5 Excellent
Excellent
1,132
Great
449
Average
98
Disappointing
26
Terrible
8
Small Ship & Expedition Cruises Tour & Trip Ratings
Tour Reviews
Trusted Customer
Jun 2024
We spent a lot of time on the bus, which is understandable considering the distance we had to travel. I wish I had considered that before I signed on. There was mo t...
Jeanne Penfold
Jun 2024
It was fantastic. A good variety of spectacular sights & experiences in each country.
Charlotte Hines
Jun 2024
The itinerary was perfect, loved seeing all the stops with John’s lighthearted pre-explanation of where we were going and what we would see. I would have liked to sp...
Richard Michels
May 2024
Tour Guide (Nicky) was the best! We covered alot of ...
Todd Sprinkle
May 2024
It was too hurried. Not enough time to savor the moments.
Trusted Customer
May 2024
Tour guide was excellent! Very knowledgeable and well-organized. Ambitious to tour 5 countries in 9 days, but doable. Optional experiences very enjoyable. Why ar...
Trusted Customer
May 2024
You said three taxis to the airport to pick us up. We took one from the airport to the hotel on the return trip. You said three taxis to take us back to the airport ...
Trusted Customer
May 2024
Viking walking tour in Waterford was a very pleasant entertaining experience. T...
Trusted Customer
May 2024
It was too many countries to visit in short amount of time, there were lots of time on the coach/ ferries to get from point A to point B. Also there were no plans or...
Trusted Customer
May 2024
There were many (too many?) self tours/exploring for short periods of time. I feel like we missed lots of details because we were on our own. Hotels ranged from gre...
Leslie Oldenkamp
May 2024
The itinerary was vague. When I inquired about it, I was told that each travel director set up exact itineraries. Our tour was an 8 hour bus ride everyday, where we ...
Danny De Yo
May 2024
Delete the horse ranch visit and give more time for London...
Jacqueline Luca
May 2024
Everything was wonderful including our tour director Stephen. Highly recommend!
Trusted Customer
May 2024
Superb tour. Our tour director was outstanding-- informative, and always thinking on her feet to deal with problems, like construction and traffic jams, so that ever...
Trusted Customer
May 2024
For older people it is rapid paced, and they may want to abstain from a few of the evening activities, just to give themselves some time off. Otherwise, it was an ex...
Lori Yarborough
May 2024
We saw so many amazing places! Our guide, Paul, was ...
Trusted Customer
May 2024
This was outlet first tour ever. We had a few preconceived conceptions through our research but it was all the much better than we expected. By purchasing the high...
Editor’s Take
Most trip reviews tend to focus on some or all of these 5 key areas, not all of which may be relevant to you: the tour guide, travel company, service level, country or countries traveled in, and the trip itinerary.
Remember, just because you see a 1 star review doesn’t necessarily mean that person disliked the country.
When researching your small-ship cruise destination and operator, read as many reviews as you can, but keep in mind that some of the reviews may not impact your own satisfaction. Given that small ships can access more remote destinations and offer more specific interest-driven activities, it is more important to get a good match than with the ocean-going mega-ships that can seem so similar.
Travelers who did not take the time to educate themselves fully on the small-ship trip they took may leave less favorable reviews. To make a good match and find the right small-ship cruise for you, pay attention to the number of guests, ratio of staff to guest, destinations visited, how much time is spent in each port, whether the itinerary is flexible, how you get ashore for excursions, what wildlife you can hope to see, what experts are onboard with you, what the best time of year for your destination is, etc.
If you want a professional take on small-ship cruising, see the Travelstride Small Ship Cruising Guide »
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