There are many who bemoan the passing of the Adonia from the P&O fleet, but, the ship is still around. Many small ships are still around with that old fashioned class and style that cruising is known for. In fact, the Adonia is a R-Class ship, or Renaissance Class ship that is now called the Azamara Journey. Azamara have three of them, the Pacific Princess stands alone with Royal Caribbean, but the others are with the Luxury Cruise operator OCEANIA CRUISES. This is a cruise line that tries to do a little more, and be a little more special. So, if you did a budget cruise and got the taste and want to try luxury, then this is an option. It is a great option because they have a number of small ships. We spotted the Sirena berthed in Corfu last week, and we had a moment, remembering being around the piano in the lounge bar.

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Sure the larger ships have piano bars, but it is very different to a small piano bar, a traditional piano bar. Adam Allinson tries very hard to emulate that in Britannia’s huge lounge, but there are many of us with memories of standing around the piano and hearing people joke and sing.

That is not the only reason to consider a luxury small ship. Here, Oceania boasts guest totals of 684 on their smaller ships, with 400 staff, giving staff to guest ratio of 1.71. That is amazing attention and service. And these smaller ships can get into shallower islands and bays, visiting ports that cannot be on a large ships list of destinations.

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