Cruises are booming again - after Corona. Apparently unaffected by discussions about the environmental impact of large pleasure ships, unimpressed by the accusation that the mass landing of passengers brings port cities to the brink of collapse on many days, detached from academic disdain that cruisers generally only travel the world superficially and do not seek any contact outside of their art world. We know that these are nonsensical accusations if they are formulated in such a blanket manner. But of course there is a grain of real problem in every accusation. Of course there is a difference in the type of ship I am traveling on. A guest who chooses an expedition ship is curious about the foreign world that he can visit in a relatively comfortable way. Anyone who chooses the Icon of the Seas with its 10,000 people sailing through the waves probably doesn't care at all where these waves crash. The ship itself is the destination, the big amusement park on the water. And in between there are so many pretty, international ship mothers with their daughters that every holiday wish can be realized. In Germany, two names dominate the cruise market: AIDA, the inventors of the modern, casual cruise, and the TUI Mein Schiff fleet. And if you value a German environment, then - apart from the luxury high-price segment of Hapag Lloyd (with the two best ships in the world: Europa and Europa 2) - you really only have Phoenix or Nicko Cruises to choose from. Phoenix is ​​rock solid, a little very classic and conservative, but of course has great media recognition through the ARD long-running series "Crazy about the Sea" or the ZDF dream ship. So that leaves Nicko. With just one ship: the Vasco da Gama. You can imagine that it is a challenge not to go under in such a market environment. From today's perspective, a small ship with a length of 219 m and theoretically 1000 guests on board with over 500 crew members. On average, there are even fewer than 1000 guests who set off on a trip - which, given the size of the crew, means an almost luxury ratio of 2:1. Another small drawback: the Vasco da Gama is now over 30 years old. Is that still competitive? Today, when new ships are outdoing each other with design and frills? Yes, the Vasco da Gama is competitive. Despite or because of its turbulent past, it has been lucky enough to age with dignity and with many modernization measures. The shipping company behind Nicko (Mystic Cruises from Portugal) was able to auction off the largely state-of-the-art modernized Vasco during the Corona pandemic for a super bargain price of around 10 million euros. A fraction of what TUI was charged for the "Mein Schiff 7" by Meyer Werft: about 60 times as much. Against this background and without the oppressive debt burden, there is a lot of room for creativity in how one wants to position one's ship. Nicko, knowing full well that it is difficult to win when it comes to showcasing the hardware or the variety of on-board offerings, positions the Vasco da Gama as small, fine, down-to-earth, casual and attractively priced. And it offers what the two big ships in the industry hardly make possible anymore: a colorful, constantly changing kaleidoscope of different routes - up to an intensive, long-lasting world trip. Above all, however, Nicko calls for the slowness of being to be put back at the center of a trip. In modern terms: slow cruising. You sail a little slower, have more overnight stays in ports, longer daily layovers, perhaps also in smaller ports, and extensive shore leave options. In terms of on-board entertainment, there is the courage to leave a gap with a significantly reduced daily program (compared to competitors). And now you are naturally asking yourself: is all of this really worth striving for and exactly what vacationers are looking for in their hearts? Or is this just the marketing department letting off steam after the assignment "We don't have that much to offer. Make a virtue out of necessity" ;-) I naturally asked myself that too - and that's why I went on a slow-cruising Nicko trip. Spoiler: I was totally positively surprised. Information about the Vasco da Gama: https://www.nicko-cruises.de/vasco-da...