Ways to cruise
Three to seven hundred guests, all-suite, butlers and a dining room that remembers how you take your coffee. The classic luxury cruise, done properly.
Free initial consultation · Personally planned · No obligation
Silversea, Seabourn and Ponant are what most people picture when they say luxury cruise: quiet, beautifully run ships with suites rather than cabins, where the fare includes nearly everything and the staff outnumber the guests' expectations. The ports are often the smaller ones, and a day ashore is rarely a scrum.
These are our first choice for grandparents travelling with adult children, for couples, and for anyone whose idea of a good evening is a long dinner and an early night. We would think hard before putting a party with young children aboard, and we would say so.
Is this your kind of ship?
Tell us who's travelling. We'll say whether small ships is the right way to cruise for your party, and if it isn't, what is.
Ask a Cruise SpecialistGrandparents, couples and adult families: calm, polished, ports the big ships cannot reach. Limited provision for younger children.
Parties with under-tens who need a proper children's programme, or anyone who wants a lively evening.
Cruise lines
Honest ratings on every line page, including who each one isn't for.
Butler-served suites, serious destinations, and one of the strongest expedition fleets afloat.
Small, sociable, quietly luxurious ships, with a sister expedition fleet.
French small ships and a true polar icebreaker, with a children's programme in the summer holidays.
Luxury doesn't mean every ship suits every traveller. We'll tell you if we think a cruise isn't a good fit, even if that means recommending something else.
Where we'd sail
The easiest great cruise there is: short flights, famous ports, and a ship for every kind of family.
No long flight, dramatic scenery from your terrace, and a season made for grandparents.
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn and Helsinki in a week, with culture the whole way.
Kyoto, Hiroshima and the Inland Sea without the trains, hotels and luggage.
Venice, Dubrovnik and Kotor in a week, on ships small enough for the old harbours.
Cruise ideas
Planning figures per person, not quotes. Final price depends on sailing date, suite and availability.
Silversea's brightest ship through Croatia, Montenegro and the Ionian, with a butler in every suite.
No flight, a small sociable ship, and scenery from the veranda from breakfast to midnight.
How it works
No obligation. No pressure. Just a conversation about what would work for your party.
Two to five minutes online, or a call. Who's travelling, roughly when, and what matters most.
A cruise specialist talks it through: the party, the occasion, the budget, and anything that worries you.
Not forty options. Two or three we'd actually recommend, with the reasons, and the ones we'd avoid for you.
Cruise, suites, flights, hotels before and after, transfers, excursions, dining and any celebration on board.
Nothing is booked until you're happy with the plan and the price.
Documents, confirmations, requests to the ship, and one person to call before and during the voyage.
Good to know
Roughly 200 to 750 guests, all-suite or nearly so, with high staff ratios. Small enough that you recognise faces by day two.
Usually the best choice: calm, easy to navigate, excellent service and a thoughtful pace ashore. The right cabin near a lift matters more than the category.
Some run a modest programme in school holidays; most do not. If children are part of the party we will tell you which ships genuinely work and which only tolerate them.
Why Blackbury
Hundreds of sailings, a handful worth your party's time. We do the narrowing down.
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Not all luxury cruises are alike. We know the difference between the lines and find the ship that actually suits your party, travel style and budget.
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Flights, suites, hotels before and after, transfers, excursions, dining and special requests, handled together as one plan.
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One specialist owns your trip from the first conversation to the day you get home. You are never passed around a call centre.
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Travelling with three generations? We plan around different ages, interests, energy levels and mobility needs.
Cruise guides and inspiration
Our own planning notes on the lines in this style.
Which ships work when the party spans seventy years, what to look for in a children's programme, and the itineraries we would start with.
Crowds, buffets, seasickness, feeling trapped, dressing for dinner, children underfoot and the price. What is true of a 3,000-guest ship is mostly untrue of a 300-guest one. Here is what we tell first-time guests.
The configurations that work for parties of four to twelve, why connecting suites matter more than cabin grade, and what to do when they are gone.
Other ways to cruise
Couples and small parties who want a private-club feel, small harbours and the least 'cruise' of any cruise. Few children's facilities.
Three generations at once: real children's spaces, more restaurants, connecting suites and room to disappear. Still all-suite and quiet by design.
First-timers and anyone who dislikes open sea: a new town every morning, no tenders, and the whole boat small enough to feel like a house party.
Antarctica, the Arctic and the far north with a luxury ship under you: zodiacs and naturalists by day, a proper dinner by night. Best for active grandparents and older teenagers.
Don't spend thirty hours comparing forty ships, cabins, dates, flights and hotels. Give us five minutes and we'll narrow it down to what is worth considering.