Small Ship Adventure Cruise Blog

Blog on small ship cruise adventures for discerning travelers & travel reviews.

American Queen

American Cruise Lines Purchases Former American Queen Voyages Ships

American Cruise Lines has purchased the successfully bid for the classic paddlewheeler American Queen and three other riverboats that sailed for the former American Queen Voyages (AQV).

Skiff filled with guests cheering in front of a glacier in Alaska

UnCruise Adventures Alaska Savings on 2024 Adventures

Sailing with UnCruise Adventures to Alaska offers a unique and immersive experience that differs from traditional large cruise ships. UnCruise Adventures offers the following “whale-sized” savings to Alaska in 2024.

American Countess

American Queen Voyages Shuts Down Operations

River cruise line American Queen Voyages has shut down, canceling all future cruises and instructing future guests to apply for refunds.

Ocean Voyager

American Queen Cruises Exists the Great Lakes

American Queen Voyages (AQV), part of Hornblower Group, announced that it will not return to the Great Lakes in 2024 and plans to sell its Ocean Navigator and Ocean Voyager vessels.

A Galapagos Tortoise

Everything I Expected Galapagos Cruising To Be Was Wrong

Gary Bembridge from the Tips for Travellers video blog (vlog) recently posted about a cruise he took on Silverseas Silver Origin to the Galapagos Islands. He found that despite his research and preparations, his Galapagos Silver Origin cruise was very different to his expectations.

Alaska's Glaciers

Climate change and the impact on Alaska Glaciers

Google Earth’s newest feature, Timelapse, is highlighting the impact that climate change is having on Alaska’s Glaciers.

Skiff guests with face masks due to COVID-19 safety measures

COVID-19 Protocols for Small Ship Cruises

As the small ship cruise lines ramp up to begin sailing again, travelers must be educated about the various COVID-19 protocols that must be followed to ensure save travel for all.

Small ship in an Alaskan port

Small Ships the Only Way to Experience Alaska in 2021

Canada has dealt a significant blow to the 2021 Alaska cruise season by extending its cruise ban. This ban excludes American-flagged ships with smaller capacity. Therefore, American-flagged cruise lines such as Alaskan Dream Cruises, American Cruise Lines, Lindblad Expeditions and UnCruise Adventures will be sailing Alaskan waters in 2021.

The author, at age 20, in Alaska during his first summer working on a ship

I Saw the World on Cruise Ships

High school didn’t serve up much adventure, so Devin Murphy signed up to do grunt work on expedition ships that sailed to Alaska, Iceland, Antarctica, and other far-flung places. Turned out to be a pretty great idea.

The hull of LindblaNational Geographic Resolution

Lindblad Expedition’s second polar vessel

The hull of Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Resolution has arrived at Norway’s Ulstein Verft shipyard, triggering the start of outfitting work on the polar expedition cruise vessel.

Wilderness Legacy and its passengers participating in a Polar Plunge

Wilderness Legacy announced as renamed S.S. Legacy

The leading small boat adventure company, UnCruise Adventures, recently revealed that it has renamed the 86-passenger S.S. Legacy to be the Wilderness Legacy. The multi-deck ‘whale whisperer’ will now join its green hulled sister vessels.

Blount ship in New York harbor passing the Statue of Liberty

Blount Small Ship Adventures Ceases Operations

Family-owned small ship cruise operator Blount Small Ship Adventures has ceased operations. The cruise line, founded in 1966 by Luther Blount as the American Canadian Line and headquartered in Warren, Rhode Island, had hoped to restart operations in 2021.

Mola designs from Panama

Traditions and Ancient Customs of Columbia and Panama

Discover ancient customs adapted to modern life in Central America. Discover an indigenous paradise in Panama’s Guna Yala. Venture to the village of Tuchín to meet the indigenous Zenú people in Columbia.

Macaw

The Endemic Wildlife of Colombia and Panama

With a plethora of species of birds and mammals, Colombia’s rainforests and Panama’s national park in the Canal Zone offer a diverse selection of wildlife to experience.

Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan

Welcome to Mackinac Island

Vacationers adore the unique American destination Mackinac Island. Its devotees long for the time they can return to their beloved island retreat and truly disconnect from workaday cares. Clip-clop rhythms of horse hooves soothe the soul, with not a car in sight. The rich aroma of Mackinac’s signature treat – its famous fudge – permeates charming shops. The view from America’s longest front porch at the Grand Hotel stretches for miles. This peaceful port draws visitors back year after year.

ADC-Humpback Whales bubblenet feeding

Premier Wildlife Viewing with Alaskan Dream Cruises

As pioneers of Alaska cruising, and after 50 years of operation, Alaska Dream Cruises has developed an unrivaled knowledge of the region’s most abundant wildlife areas.

Fireworks

American Queen Steamboat Company offers Star Spangled Cruises in 2021

While we can’t travel today, we can look forward to the future when we can. On this day, when we celebrate our country’s independence, we can begin to ponder what we might do next year to celebrate. With all the pent-up desire to travel, what better way to celebrate America’s birthday than on an American Fourth of July river cruise?

Galapagos Tortoise

Recently released giant tortoises settle back on their island

Fifteen recently released Española tortoises are settling back in their natural habitat after they spent decades in a breeding program to save their species from extinction.

Kayaking from the Wilderness Adventurer

UnCruise Adventures Confirms 2020 Summer Sailings

The American owned, U.S. flagged small-boat adventure company, UnCruise Adventures has confirmed that its 2020 Alaska sailings will commence August 1st.

Approaching a lock on the Panama Canal

Panama Canal with Lindblad Expeditions

Experience the canal’s staggering scope and surprising wildness over two days. The Panama Canal changed global commerce and stands as one of the greatest feats of engineering in human history. National Geographic Quest is the perfect platform to transit it.

Chicago lighthouse with skyline in background

Great Lakes cruise season postponed until 2021

The 2020 Great Lakes cruise season has been officially postponed until 2021, due largely to preventative measures taken by both American and Canadian ports restricting cruise ship docking to halt the spread of COVID-19.

National Geographic Sea Bird, Isla San Pedro Martir, Biospere Reserve, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gulf of California, Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico

Small ship cruising in a post-COVID-19 world

Like many industries, the entire cruise industry has been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While cruises that hold more than 250 passengers and crew are suspended due to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandate, this does not apply to many small ship cruise lines, with many ships carrying 120 or fewer passengers.

National Geographic Orion is greeted by penguins in Antarctica

How-to guide to a safe & rewarding Antarctica experience

There are many, many reasons to want to visit Antarctica: the dashing history of the Heroic Age of exploration; the penguins; the majestic bergs and glaciers; the breathtaking mountains surging 9,000 feet straight up from the sea; the ability to see for hundreds of miles through dust-free air; or the profound absence of anything man-made.

Two monks facing Angkor Wat, Cambodian

Exploring Vietnam and Cambodia with Lindblad Expeditions

Rivers are the heart and soul of countries and cultures, a pulsating lifeline. And no river teems with more life than the mighty Mekong, which winds its way through the lush lowlands of Cambodia and Vietnam. Lindblad’s dual-natured, in-depth land and river exploration takes us from the heart of Cambodia’s 9th-century Khmer empire, at Angkor, to Vietnam’s most storied city, Saigon. They’ll largely travel along the Mekong—with our riverboat, Jahan, providing an all-five-senses-engaged front-row seat.

Pacaya Samiria National Reserve

Amazon’s Pacaya–Samiria Reserve

The Pacaya–Samiria National Reserve is a pristine swath of jungle stretching more than five million acres, and harboring some of the Amazon’s most diverse flora and fauna.