Top 25 Niche Cruise Line Companies Underway
Top 25 Niche Cruise Line Companies Underway
The small ship cruise line industry is a vibrant business sector offering intimate, luxurious and unique travel experiences to a variety of global destinations. Companies operating in this industry, such as Saga.co.uk, Windstar Cruises, and P&O Cruises, provide an array of services including all-inclusive cruises, themed holidays, solo traveler cruises, and a wide choice of accommodations and dining options. These smaller cruise lines are popular for their personalized service, high-quality amenities, and immersive journeys that often include tailored shore excursions for exploring local culture and cuisines. The industry is experiencing a positive trend towards sustainable and eco-friendly sailing practices as well as incorporating digital technology for enhanced customer service.
Top 25 Small Ship Cruise Line Companies
1. Saga plc.
- Website: saga.co.uk
- Headquarters: Kent, Kent, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1951
- Headcount: 1001-5000
Saga.co.uk is a company offering all inclusive cruises, treatments, and coronavirus cruises from the UK. They provide small ship cruises, solo holidays, and a reassurance promise. They also offer various insurance options such as travel insurance, health insurance, and motorhome breakdown cover.
2. Windstar Cruises
- Website: windstarcruises.com
- Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States
- Founded: 1986
- Headcount: 1001-5000
Windstar Cruises offers extraordinary cruise experiences to various destinations around the globe. With their intimate yachts accommodating between 148 to 342 guests, they provide a luxurious and immersive journey. They offer a range of services and enrichment programs, including culinary excellence, local immersion, and shore excursions. Windstar Cruises is known for their personalized and unique cruise tours, combining the best of land and sea.
3. P&O Cruises
- Website: pocruises.com
- Headquarters: Southampton, So15 1St, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1837
- Headcount: 5001-10000
P&O Cruises is a company that offers cruises to various destinations. They provide accommodation, dining options, entertainment, and amenities onboard their ships. Customers can enjoy a range of holiday types, including themed cruises, world cruises, and cruises for solo travelers. P&O Cruises is known for its family-friendly and adult-only ships, which cater to different types of customers. The company operates its own ships and offers a variety of services, including customer support and booking management.
4. UnCruise Adventures Small Ship Cruising
- Website: uncruise.com
- Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States
- Founded: 1996
- Headcount: 51-200
UnCruise is an adventure cruise company offering small boat expeditions for travelers of all ages. With a focus on exploration and leaving the charted course, UnCruise operates from Juneau, Alaska and Seattle, Washington. They offer a wide range of destinations including Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Columbia & Snake Rivers, and more. The company is known for its commitment to fun, innovation, and personalized experiences.
5. Coral Expeditions
- Website: coralexpeditions.com
- Headquarters: Bungalow, Qld, Australia
- Founded: 1983
- Headcount: 51-200
Coral Expeditions is a pioneering cruise line in Australia that offers unique expedition cruises to remote parts of the world. With a focus on expert guidance, warm hospitality, and small group exploration, the company takes travelers to the Kimberley, Tasmania, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific. They provide rich cultural experiences, breathtaking natural landscapes, and opportunities for snorkeling and scuba diving.
6. Business & Leisure Travel
- Website: blt.com.au
- Headquarters: Cairns North, Qld, Australia
- Founded: 1986
- Headcount: 11-50
BLT is an English cruise line that operates with a fleet of small and comfortable ships. With a history dating back to 1848, they offer traditional and premium cruises to various destinations. Their fleet includes classic ships like Black Watch, Braemar, Balmoral, and The Brabant River boat. Experience luxury and explore the world with BLT.
7. Hebridean Island Cruises Ltd
- Website: hebridean.co.uk
- Headquarters: Skipton, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1989
- Headcount: 11-50
Hebridean Island Cruises offers unforgettable luxury cruise experiences in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. With the smallest and finest luxury cruise ships, they provide exceptional service and attention to detail. Their all-inclusive tariff covers meals, drinks, shore visits, and more. The company is committed to creating lasting friendships and ensuring the best care for their guests.
8. Panache Cruises
- Website: panachecruises.com
- Headquarters: Bolton, Bolton, United Kingdom
- Founded: 2020
- Headcount: 11-50
Panache Cruises is a specialist in elite ocean, river, expedition, and yacht-style cruising. With decades of experience in luxury cruising, they offer tailored holiday experiences that cater to the exacting requirements of their customers. Their customer trust account ensures that their clients' money is always 100% safe. They provide nothing-is-too-much-trouble service and prioritize attention to detail in order to deliver real luxury.
9. Azamara
- Website: azamara.co.uk
- Headquarters: London, Greater London, United Kingdom
- Headcount: 51-200
Azamara is a luxury cruise line that offers small-ship travel to various destinations worldwide, with an emphasis on immersive experiences.
10. Cruise Specialists
- Website: cruisespecialists.com
- Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States
- Founded: 1987
- Headcount: 51-200
Cruise Specialists offers luxury cruises to various destinations worldwide. They provide a wide array of departure options for 2023 and 2024, including Mediterranean marvels, Asia, South America, Alaska, and the Caribbean. Customers can choose from all-inclusive resorts, river cruises, solo cruising, train journeys, specialty cruises, and small ship cruises.
11. Travel of America
- Website: travelofamerica.com
- Headquarters: Covina, California, United States
- Founded: 1967
- Headcount: 11-50
Travel of America is a company that offers travel planning services, vacation packages, and assistance with booking cruises. They provide special email offers, digital magazines, and loyalty programs to help travelers make the most out of their trips.
12. World Voyager Vacations
- Website: worldvoyagervacations.com
- Headquarters: Puyallup, Washington, United States
- Headcount: 51-200
World Voyager Vacations is a travel agency offering cruise and land vacation packages to various destinations around the world.
13. Your Cruise Booking
- Website: yourcruisebooking.com
- Headcount: 11-50
Yourcruisebooking.com offers excellent customer service for booking cruise holidays, including small ship experiences and tailor-made itineraries. Their dedicated experts search for the perfect product, destination and itinerary to suit your requirements, providing an experience like no other.
14. Premier River Cruises
- Website: premierrivercruises.com
- Headquarters: Marina Del Rey, California, United States
- Headcount: 11-50
Premier River Cruises offers river and small ship cruises to various destinations worldwide. They have a wide range of cruise lines, itineraries, and exclusive programs to cater to the customer's needs and preferences.
15. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
- Website: fredolsencruises.com
- Headquarters: Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1988
- Headcount: 1001-5000
Fred. Olsen Cruises is a cruise holiday company offering a diverse selection of cruises to various destinations. With comfortable accommodation, stylish restaurants, and plenty of open-deck space, guests can enjoy scenic cruising and explore cultural highlights. The company offers imaginative and unusual itineraries, sailing to Norwegian Fjords, Scandinavia, France, Spain, UK, and more. They cater to solo travelers and provide last minute cruise deals. With smaller-sized ships, they ensure a warm and friendly atmosphere for a memorable cruise experience.
16. The Cruise Web, Inc.
- Website: cruiseweb.com
- Headquarters: Tysons, Virginia, United States
- Founded: 1994
- Headcount: 51-200
CruiseWeb.com offers a wide range of cruise options and deals for customers seeking a memorable vacation at sea.
17. CMI Leisure Management Inc.
- Website: cmi-leisure.com
- Headquarters: Miami, Florida, United States
- Headcount: 11-50
CMI Leisure Management is a company providing hotel and hospitality services, culinary services, logistics consulting, and other guest services to the cruise industry. They offer a range of services for cruise ships, including employment opportunities, shipboard services, and corporate applications.
18. The Cruise Line
- Website: cruiseline.co.uk
- Headquarters: West Sussex, West Sussex, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1993
- Headcount: 11-50
cruiseline.co.uk is a luxury cruise specialist offering the very highest tier of service, product offerings, and appointment within the cruise sector. They provide excellent choice in luxury cruising pursuits, representing select cruise lines with their own strengths and approaches.
19. Riviera Travel
- Website: rivieratravel.co.uk
- Headquarters: Burton On Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1984
- Headcount: 201-500
- Latest funding type: Acquired
Riviera Travel offers carefully created holidays to all travelers, with a focus on European river cruises and guided tours. They also provide solo travel options and group holiday arrangements. The company is bonded by ABTA, ATOL, and IATA for customer safety and security.
20. easyCruise
- Website: easycruise.com
- Headquarters: Athens, Attica, Greece
- Headcount: 51-200
easyCruise offers private yacht cruise experience with carefully selected itineraries worldwide. It is part of the easy® family of brands which includes easyCar®, easyJet®, and easyHotel®.
21. Travelindex Group
- Website: travelindex.com
- Headquarters: Victoria, Beau Vallon, Seychelles
- Founded: 2006
- Headcount: 11-50
Travelindex is a consultancy and advisory service provider with an emphasis on loyalty and affinity programs, as well as budget cruise lines, hospitality and hotel management schools, fairs, blogs, and reviews.
22. Bonita Travels
- Website: bonitatravels.com
- Headquarters: Harrisburg, North Carolina, United States
- Headcount: 11-50
BONITA TRAVELS is a travel agency based in Harrisburg, North Carolina that specializes in providing travel deals, packages, and cruise arrangements for individuals and groups.
23. Agile Travel Group dba Cruiseable
- Website: cruiseable.com
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
- Founded: 2013
- Headcount: 11-50
Cruiseable.com is an online platform that offers a wide range of cruise vacation options around the world for travelers seeking a blissful all-in-one vacation.
24. Variety Cruises
- Website: varietycruises.com
- Headquarters: Athens, Attiki, Greece
- Founded: 1949
- Headcount: 201-500
Variety Cruises is a leading small ship cruise company that offers unique and immersive travel experiences. With a focus on enriching the natural and cultural environment of destinations, they strive to provide sustainable and responsible tourism. They offer a variety of cruises to destinations such as Greece, Seychelles, Tahiti, Cape Verde, West Africa, Costa Rica & Panama, Egypt, Jordan, and Italy & Malta.
25. Sail Croatia
- Website: sail-croatia.com
- Headquarters: Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom
- Founded: 2003
- Headcount: 51-200
Sail Croatia offers luxury small ship cruises along the Dalmatian coastline with mindful activities for body and soul. They provide various itineraries and ship types to suit different budgets and travel styles.
Want to find more small ship cruise line companies?
If you want to find more companies that provide intimate, personalized, and luxurious cruising experiences you can do so with Inven. This list was built with Inven and there are hundreds of companies like these globally.
With Inven you'll also get to know the company's:
- Ownership: Which of these are private equity backed? Which are family-owned?
- Contact data: Who are the owners and CEO's? What are their emails and phone numbers?
- Financials: How do these companies perform financially? What are their revenues and profit margins?
...and a lot more!
