Small ships are more like quaint towns, with easier navigation and more personalized service. Large ships offer a wide range of eateries, bars and entertainment. The right ship comes down to the ...

Travel + Leisure Readers' 5 Favorite Small-ship Ocean Cruise Lines of 2024. A spirit of exploration was a key factor of small ships for readers in our annual "World’s Best Awards" survey for 2024.

Small-ship cruise lines emphasize the beauty and unique service of their vessels as destinations themselves, highlighting the intimate and personalized experiences they offer compared to larger ships.

A small ship’s physical size enables docking or anchoring in tight, shallow waterways, often resulting in a prime starting point to explore, not unlike with river and barge cruises.

In fact, I preferred how quickly the small ship started to feel like home. I got to know some of the crew, and we spent time with other passengers we saw repeatedly throughout the trip.