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U.S. News has ranked more than 150 cruise ships. Find the best cruise for your vacation.
Cruise Line Rankings
U.S. News has made it easier to find the cruise that's right for you with our Best Cruise Lines rankings, which identify the best cruise lines for a variety of traveler types in a range of regions.
Best Cruise Lines for the Money
- # 1 Virgin Voyages
- # 2 Celebrity Cruises
- # 3 Princess Cruises
Best Cruise Lines for Families
- # 1 Disney Cruise Line
- # 2 Royal Caribbean International
- # 3 Carnival Cruise Line
Best Cruise Lines for Couples
- # 1 Viking Ocean Cruises
- # 2 Seabourn Cruise Line
- # 3 Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Best Cruise Lines in the Caribbean
- # 3 Virgin Voyages
Best Cruise Lines in the Mediterranean
- # 3 Celebrity Cruises
Best Luxury Cruise Lines
Cruising 101.
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The 6 Best Cruise Insurance Plans for 2023
The 12 Best All-Inclusive Cruises for 2023 and 2024
16 Top Adults-Only Cruises for 2024
The 12 Best Mississippi River Cruises for 2023-2024
Rankings & reviews, cruise ships by region.
Mediterranean
Cruise Ships by Traveler Type
Cruise Ships by Budget
Cruise Ships by Brand
- Carnival Cruise Line
- Celebrity Cruises
- Costa Cruises
- Cunard Line
- Disney Cruise Line
- Holland America Line
- MSC Cruises
- Norwegian Cruise Line
- Oceania Cruises
- Princess Cruises
- Regent Seven Seas Cruises
- Royal Caribbean International
- Seabourn Cruise Line
- Silversea Cruises
- Viking Ocean Cruises
- Virgin Voyages
Cruise Ships by Departure Port
- Fort Lauderdale
- Jacksonville
- Los Angeles
- New Orleans
- Port Canaveral
- San Francisco
- Southampton
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The best cruise lines in the world: 2023 Readers' Choice Awards
By Condé Nast Traveller
The survey for the 2024 Readers' Choice Awards is open, vote now for your favourite places, hotels, airports, cruise lines, travel fixers and more.
Cruises are booming right now, buoyed partly by the popularity of domestic seacations that hauled in first-time sailors. So much so that Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 34,000-mile world trip for 2024 sold out in just over two hours, while the adults-only Virgin Voyages, which aims to throw cruise stereotypes overboard, rose to first place in Large Ships. And we’ve brought back last year's new category showcasing the expedition cruises – small, often sustainable vessels with a shoal of scientific experts onboard – that follow in the wake of adventurers such as Sir Ernest Shackleton.
These are the best cruise lines in the world, according to the 2023 Readers' Choice Awards .
The best cruise lines in the world 2023
Mega ships (More than 4,000 passengers)
4. MSC Cruises. Score 83.42 3. Carnival Cruise Line. Score 85.35 2. Royal Caribbean International. Score 86.69 1. Norwegian Cruise Line. Score 86.72.
Large ships (2,500 to 4,000 passengers)
10. MSC Cruises. Score 83.77 9. Royal Caribbean International. Score 84.31 8. Norwegian Cruise Line. Score 86.41 7. Holland America Line. Score 87.79 6. Costa Cruises. Score 87.95 5. Celebrity Cruises. Score 88.57 4. Princess Cruises. Score 89.42 3. Cunard. Score 89.55 2. Disney Cruise Line. Score 92.21 1. Virgin Voyages. Score 94.07
Medium ships (500 to 2,500 passengers)
15. Carnival Cruise Line. Score 80.56 14. P&O Cruises. Score 83.29 13. Princess Cruises. Score 84.84 12. Marella Cruises. Score 85.60 11. Hurtigruten. Score 86.23 10. Cunard. Score 86.33 9. Holland America Line. Score 86.42 8. Celebrity Cruises. Score 86.68 7. Azamara. Score 87.50 6. Silversea Cruises. Score 87.74 5. Oceania Cruises. Score 87.99 4. Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Score 91.07 3. Seabourn. Score 91.67 2. Disney Cruise Line. Score 92.92 1. Viking. Score 94.98
Small ships (Fewer than 500 passengers)
10. Variety Cruises. Score 86.75 9. SeaDream Yacht Club. Score 89.66 8. Silversea. Score 89.93 7. Seabourn. Score 91.34 6. Ponant. Score 91.45 5. Windstar Cruises. Score 91.87 4. Sea Cloud Cruises. Score 91.94 3. American Cruise Lines. Score 92.88 2. Paul Gauguin Cruises. Score 92.94 1. Emerald Cruises. Score 95.27
10. AmaWaterways. Score 93.09 9. Sanctuary Retreats. Score 93.14 8. Uniworld River Cruises. Score 93.24 7. Pandaw. Score 95.28 6. Grand Circle Cruise Line. Score 95.69 5. Les Bateaux Belmond. Score 95.90 4. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. Score 95.91 3. Tauck. Score 96.14 2. American Cruise Lines. Score 96.66 1. Viking. Score 97.32
Expedition ships
15. Alaskan Dream Cruises. Score 80.77 14. Lindblad Expeditions. Score 91.23 13. Silversea Cruises. Score 91.81 12. Hurtigruten. Score 91.87 11. Ponant. Score 92.25 10. Quark Expeditions. Score 93.15 9. Seabourn. Score 93.37 8. Metropolitan Touring. Score 94.71 7. Quasar Expeditions. Score 94.91 6. Celebrity Cruises. Score 95.38 5. Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours. Score 95.80 4. Ecoventura. Score 95.82 3. Aqua Expeditions. Score 95.97 2. UnCruise Adventures. Score 96.41 1. Viking. Score 96.52
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