What other people say about us
– reviews & opinions

Chris B Dikmen - www.cruisereport.com

"The most formidable entertainment on Hebridean is the itinerary. Unquestionably, this small cruise line has some of the most aggressive and impressive itineraries of any cruise line in the world. Your days are spent in port, discovering new cultures and ancient civilizations and your evenings are spent in the Skye Lounge mingling with new friends, discussing what you experienced that day. What better entertainment could you ask for?

Hebridean International Cruises know its passengers and knows how to please them. Perhaps this is at least one reason they have earned a 5 star award from the Scottish Tourist Board.

Hebridean is an expensive vacation, even for the Brits; however, this cruise line comes about as close to being all-inclusive as you can get.

The folks we talked to during our cruise had nothing but glowing things to say about the company, the ship and the crew. Not one single negative comment the entire week, Not one!"

 

Royston Ellis - www.smarttravelasia.com

"……Thus I learned that cruising on the best-known liner in the world is no guarantee of quality or value for money. Compare that experience with my cruise on Hebridean Spirit, which I had left a week before in Colombo…..

With only 70 passengers (instead of 1,791 on QE2) there were no queues, no ship's photographers, no snooty stewards, and genuine champagne at no extra cost.

Hebridean Spirit is Scotland's own cruise ship and is one of those that spends the northern winter months in tropical waters. For the 2005 - 2006 season she has changed her usual pattern of criss-crossing the Indian Ocean from Dubai to Colombo and the Seychelles and back, because 90 per cent of her passengers are repeaters and want a different itinerary. With only 47 suites, each one densely luxurious, and top-notch meals, all drinks, tips and shore excursions included in the fare, she is the epitome of value for money, quality cruising. "

 

Jeremy Ferguson - Globe and Mail, Canada

"What defines this tiny, perfect cruise ship? Let's start with what it isn't: It isn't nine meals a day, casinos, discos, Vegas-style extravaganzas, dinner for 700, ship paparazzi, obscene wine bills and shore tours designed to get you into the shops. No, this is pampering without glitz and exploration without hard sell. Welcome to cruise paradise.

…As for the ship's cuisine, itinerant foodies need not fret over the kitchen's English brigade. The Spirit knows its food. Ingredients are top-of-the-line, from wild Scottish salmon to prime Black Angus beef. Lobsters are flown in live from Ireland. Fresh fish is purchased along the way. The global wine list vaults from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to French Burgundy. For champagne lovers, the house bubbly is a crisp Lassalle."

 

Linda Garrison - cruises.about.com

"As in the beginning of our trip, Hebridean did a wonderful job of ending our cruise. The cruise line had started out with a welcome aboard champagne breakfast at the airport in London, and ended on the right note also. Instead of just dropping us at the airport on our last day, we got to tour Knossos with the guides, followed by a light lunch at an outdoor cafe in Iraklion……It had been a marvellous all-inclusive vacation ………Everything on the ships was first class, and the Greek tour guides who joined the ship in Corfu and accompanied us on the entire cruise were knowledgeable and entertaining……If you love all-inclusive small ship cruising to interesting ports with interesting people, the Hebridean Spirit might just be for you."

 

Mary Gostelow - WOW - What Others Want, Canada

"Hebridean Spirit is what deluxe all-inclusive cruising should be all about - and so often is not. The 80-maximum passengers stay in cabins with polished woodwork similar to the interior of a Rolls (the 1991-vintage ship has deliberately been given timeless class) Most cruises are week-long and the gregarious British Officers really do mix with passengers. Terrific food….."

 

Sir John Ure - www.telegraph.co.uk/travel

"…Despite tumbling on a row of villa-huts, grandly signposted as "Champs-Elysées", we saw more birds than people: fairy tern were laying their eggs on the branches of trees without bothering to make a nest, confident that in this environment normal precautions were unnecessary. On our return to the beach, we found that the island's one hotel had sent a chef to roast a suckling pig on the sand to sustain the invaders… The island of Desroches was a full night's sail farther south. Fortunately for two of our fellow passengers, it has a light aircraft service from Mahé. The two were in the process of acquiring some real estate in Monte Carlo and urgent lawyer's documents had to be sent out for signature. So while the crew of Hebridean Spirit waded ashore with silver entrée dishes containing our lobster luncheon, a rusty tractor was seen approaching from the direction of the airstrip with a glamorous 25-year old Parisienne lawyer sitting atop…The imperturbable solicitor had just time for a sip of champagne and a couple of tiger prawns before mounting the tractor for the start of her homeward journey via Mahé, Luxor and Paris to Monte Carlo. "Yes", she confided as I helped her on to her rickety conveyance, "I think I just might dine out on this assignment in Paris next week."

 

Mundy Cruising

" From the ever-smiling Ghurka security officer to the down to earth friendly Captain, Hebridean Spirit has a team that they should be very proud of. The food was superb, the lack of formal entertainment a pleasant change and the whole experience one we shall never forget."

 

Esther Rantzen - www.thisistravel.co.uk

"…..While I understand the misgivings of cruise virgins, I urge them to overcome them. After all, where else can you see magnificent sunsets over the sea, or race dolphins, or drink gin in a whirlpool bath on deck, and explore the world but only unpack once? Most recently I went away on a lovely little ship, the Hebridean Spirit, for a week to Greece and Croatia. It prides itself on being "a country house at sea" and it provides gourmet meals and unique trips ahore……I've taken trips on the Hebridean Spirit to the Seychelles and the Maldives, Scandinavia and the Baltic; I'm already browsing through the next brochure. Yes, I confess - I'm addicted."

 

Sian Lloyd - www.ship-happens.com

"Until my forward-thinking fiancé, Lembit, talked me into it, I'd never considered taking a cruise before. I just didn't think it would be my kind of thing…….I was wrong. From the moment we arrived at Stansted Airport for our fast-track private charter flight, to the second we left the ship at the end of our cruise, this was a week to remember……Our liner, Hebridean Spirit, is run by Hebridean International Cruises , which - in addition to Scottish island hopping - offers luxurious seaborne holidays in other beautiful parts of the world……..each voyage is designed with great thought and research into the region….I love my food, and, in contrast to my time starving as a guest on the reality cookery show Hell's Kitchen, Hebridean Spirit was Heaven's Kitchen on water. We felt like millionaires on our own private yacht…. Hebridean Spirit is a voyage into opulence, of that there is no doubt."

 

Travel and Tourism News

When cruising on the Hebridean Spirit and Hebridean Princess, think elegant cocktail lounges, refined dining rooms, sumptuous bedrooms, soothing spa treatment rooms and decks from which some of the most stunning views available can be enjoyed. Not surprising then that Hebridean Spirit and Hebridean Princess are considered the ultimate in small, intimate and, of course, stylish cruise ships."

 

Jennifer Wilson - Daily Express

"…This is no ordinary cruise ship. Much smaller than the average liner, with a capacity of just 80 passengers, the boat's dimensions allowed us to moor on jetties in little ports and anchor in small, isolated coves surrounded by breathtaking mountain scenery. On board the atmosphere and styling were luxurious and typically English. With such a small number of passengers, I felt as if I was staying in a small but rather exclusive English hotel.. .. Later, under an ancient cypress tree, we were serenaded by eight moustachioed Croats dressed in blue cummerbunds and back suits, standing, arms-linked, in a circle while singing in harmony about wine and love. ….Our last port of call in Croatia was Dubrovnik, We watched from the deck as nuns from a convent on the cliffs rung the bells in their belfry and then came running out to wave large white handkerchiefs."

 

Ursula and Eldred Retief - Prowsedge

The Isle of Staffa was our home for a week,. We lived there ensconced in extravagant comfort, our every whim catered to. Our personal Isle of Staffa was, of course, our stateroom, on the Hebridean Princess, that queen of small cruise ships which was introducing us to the charms and delights of the Hebridean Islands. ….On the Shiant Isles a tiny causeway of shingles links the two main islands, We were taken there by ship's tender to stretch our legs, When we arrived some of the ship's crew were standing knee-deep in the sea, holding in place a platform to allow us to step ashore dry-foot. Sir Walter Raleigh could not have done it better. There is a fine attention to thoughtful detail on the Hebridean Princess….

Beware. The Hebridean Princess is bewitchingly comfortable. You might be tempted not to leave her as she reaches each island, but you'll be missing much of what is good about the Scottish Western isles, a 150 mile-long chain of beaches, culture, wildlife and adventure.

If you go for nothing else, not for the sheer joy of the Hebridean Princess, not for the walks or hikes on the islands, not for the islands' rich birdlife and wildlife, not for the turbulent history of the western isles - then go for the cuisine…

It was with great reluctance that we packed our bags and said goodbye to our own "Isle of Staffa". But like many of our travelling companions who had been on the Hebridean Princess several times, we'll be back."

 

The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.
G K Chesterton

I love to travel, But hate to arrive
Hernando Cortez