Table Of Content
If you're booking a cruise for the first time, know that the seven lines are not necessarily interchangeable — even in cases where they offer similar pricing on similar itineraries. You may love one of these brands but not like another, depending on your tastes and preferences. If you are cruising for the first time, you will likely travel with one of the above brands — if only because they dominate the market for cruises among North Americans and, indeed, the world. As you can read in our ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean, this single brand alone accounts for nearly 20% of all cruises taken worldwide. Add in the next three biggest players — Carnival, MSC Cruises and Norwegian — and you're up to over 50% of the cruise business.
Best Cruise Lines FAQ
Carnival cruise discounts are quite easy to discover and financing options are available. Viking Cruises is a river and ocean cruise line that recently added expedition sailings and the Great Lakes trips to its repertoire. "T+L readers rave about the consistency of Viking's vessels and their Scandinavian design," cruise expert Fran Golden reported when Viking once again topped T+L's World's Best Awards last year. Viking came in at No. 1 in T+L's best mid-size ship category and river cruise category. Golden said the WBA Hall of Fame honoree's 50 river "longships" are "light-filled floating boutique hotels."
The Best Cruise Lines
Carnival vs Royal Caribbean: which is the best cruise stock to buy? - Invezz
Carnival vs Royal Caribbean: which is the best cruise stock to buy?.
Posted: Mon, 22 Apr 2024 06:33:24 GMT [source]
French luxury cruise line Ponant aims to make passengers feel as if they're traveling on their own private yachts. Guests enjoy Ladurée macarons, Veuve Clicquot Champagne, and luxurious Hermès bath products on board. Each of the company's ships features an onboard spa with massage cabins and either a Turkish bath or sauna. Ponant's luxurious small ships sail to remote destinations like Antarctica, incorporating once-in-a-lifetime experiences such as eclipse spotting from the edge of the earth.
Danube river cruises: an ultimate guide to cruising Budapest and beyond
Spa fans should go for Marella Explorer or Marella Explorer 2, both of which feature a superb spa by Champneys, the only seagoing venture for the wellness brand. Otherwise, expect high energy entertainment aimed at British tastes and a friendly vibe. Cruising is a popular vacation option for millions of travelers around the world in large part because of its convenience. Travelers stay in one room for the entire trip while the boat travels from port to port.
Parents can even book a romantic dinner while the kids have fun at one of the supervised youth clubs. There is no buffet; tips, wi-fi, and all food are included in the fare; and there is even a tattoo parlor on the ship. As well, the design of the ship is like a trendy Vegas hotel, complete with “RockStar Quarters” for suites that include your own record player.
Best cruise lines for couples: Viking Ocean Cruises
If you've never visited New Orleans, or it's been a while, take a Mississippi River cruise that sails round-trip from the Big Easy. They offer time before or after the cruise to enjoy the city's food, music and iconic architecture — plus the ease of a round-trip flight booking. Viking's seven-night New Orleans & Southern Charms itinerary focuses solely on ports in Louisiana and Mississippi, with an emphasis on historic architecture, Cajun culture and Civil War landmarks. Best for older travellersOver-50s specialist Saga operates two almost identical ships, the 987-passenger Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure. A private balcony for every cabin, beautiful interior design and entertainment geared to British tastes combine to create a high-end experience.
Note that expedition cruises are expensive, with pricing on par with traditional luxury cruises. Expedition ships are expensive to build on a per-berth basis and require a relatively high ratio of staff to passengers to operate compared with mass-market cruise ships. Compared with mass-market cruise ships, luxury cruise ships typically offer bigger cabins (often every cabin is a suite), more elegant dining and high levels of service. It's not uncommon for luxury ships to have nearly as many crew members as passengers.
River cruise tours often include a good deal of walking, whether it’s through charming towns, Christmas markets, castles and/or museums. AmaWaterways offers nearly identical tours, but with differing mobility requirements. Gratuities are not included for either the ship’s crew or the shoreside tour guides. Ama often has airfare specials and airport transfers included when you book airfare through the cruise line. Explorations Central aims to highlight local culture and history onboard via special talks, port guides and cultural demonstrations. Cunard’s ships, Queen Mary 2 in particular, returns passengers to traditional ocean liners with her elegant Art Deco design and white-gloved service on a ship where afternoon tea is a grand affair.
Back in the Big Apple on day seven, you'll have time to explore before saying farewell to your ship. The cruise, which is available in November and December 2024 and January, November and December 2025, ends with a full day of exploration back in New Orleans before one last night aboard the 386-passenger Viking Mississippi. In Tennessee's two famous music cities, you'll have a chance to visit Elvis Presley's Graceland, stroll blues club-lined Beale Street and check out the Grand Ole Opry. You'll also visit Paducah, Kentucky, and Dover and Clarksville in Tennessee, where experiences include whiskey and bourbon tasting, tours of landmark art murals and, of course, Civil War history.
In this lounge, you can enjoy complimentary refreshments throughout the day, order room service and meet fellow travelers. Cruising while single can get expensive since most cruise lines charge based on double occupancy. For single travelers, the best cruise line to travel on is Norwegian Cruise Lines. Food options include gourmet specialties, quick-serve bites and 24-hour room service, so you and your family can eat anytime you're hungry.
Think hard about the type of vacation experience you want, and read up on the lines and ships that seem the closest fit for your travel style. For the most part, these lines operate ships nearly as small and intimate as the luxury lines' ships. Oceania vessels carry around 700 to 1,250 passengers, for instance, while Viking ships carry 930 passengers.
So far we’ve discussed the large cruise lines that try to appeal to everyone. While anyone and everyone is welcome aboard, it definitely aims to appeal to those wanting a more luxurious and relaxing vacation. For instance, not everyone looks for a cruise line that serves afternoon tea like Princess does. Older ships on Royal Caribbean often have cheap fares, but you will usually pay a premium to sail on the newer, larger ships. Those large ships are much more than just bigger vessels to carry more passengers.
While drinks, tips and all dining venues are included in the cruise fare, excursions are not. As with most luxury lines, the Seabourn dress code is a notch up from the mainstream ships. The line has a strong presence of often four ships in the Mediterranean in summer and the Caribbean in winter. Seabourn luxury cruises are exceptional for offering some of the highest space for all guests in the industry while offering a private club atmosphere. Whether you want to sample a short three-night adventure or plan to jump straight into an expedition cruise, we’ve got important details that make the decision easier. Below is our guide to the 11 best cruise lines for first-time cruisers of all travel styles.
Music and entertainment are lively throughout the ship, often attracting a slightly younger crowd than some other cruise lines. In fact, the ages onboard any given sailing are likely to range from toddler to octogenarian. This fast-growing line has dominated the world of river cruising for North Americans for years, and in the last few years, it's become a significant player in upscale ocean cruising as well. Viking's 80 river ships operate on just about every major river in the world, and its 10 ocean ships (up from just one in 2015) can be found in a growing number of destinations, too.
Its six vessels carry just 148 to 342 passengers — fewer than fit on a single big-ship lifeboat — and are wonderfully intimate. If the idea of sailing on a big ship makes you cringe, small-ship specialist Windstar could be the answer. Itinerary-wise, Oceania is known for destination-intensive voyages that typically are 10 nights or more in length, with some globe-circling trips as long as 180 days. Tradition long has been a touchstone for this storied line, which dates to 1873 and is known for carefully crafted, globe-circling itineraries on midsize ships. Cunard fans love the line's relatively formal vibe (including nightly dress codes) and other nods to ocean liner tradition, including evenings with ballroom dancing. A storied line with roots that go back to the 1800s, this three-ship brand is perhaps best known for its 2,695-passenger flagship, Queen Mary 2.
Each cruise also hosts a signature White Nights party, a memorable gathering atop the pool deck where attendees get to revel under the stars. Virgin Voyages cruise line is a great option for travelers who want to enjoy a cruise vacation tailored exclusively for adults. Its ships offer a wide variety of specialty dining options, from a food-truck style market with a burger shop, taco shack and sushi bar. Royal Caribbean’s wide range of activities and amenities include a little something for everything, from waterslides and ziplines to dance classes to movie nights. The ships even offer babysitting services so grownups can have a night out at a restaurant, nightclub or show.
No comments:
Post a Comment