Best And Worst Cruise Lines RIGHT NOW According to Cruisers

Best And Worst Cruise Lines RIGHT NOW According to Cruisers

I’m constantly asked if I think that cruise lines are worse now than they used to be. After analysing how cruisers are rating them, the answer seems to be mostly yes.

I’ve poured over the online reviews and ratings of 25 of the biggest cruise lines aimed at English-speaking cruisers over the last nine months. A staggering 20 of them are being rated lower than ever before, with just two being rated higher.

I’m going reveal the current best and worst rated lines right now in each of the 5 categories the cruise industry uses: Mass Resort lines, Premium Lines, Small Ship Luxury Lines, Ultra-Luxury Lines and Local-focused Lines.

Let’s start with the category more passengers go cruising on than the others, the popular resort-style lines which includes Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Best & Worst Resort Cruise Lines

The highest rated by cruisers right now in this category, and just narrowly beating Carnival, is Royal Caribbean with a score of 3.2 out of 5.

Why are cruisers rating them the best?

Their reviews suggest it’s mostly to do with the shows and their entertainment options, including big theatre production shows, ice shows, water shows, a busy daily program that caters for all ages, and all the activity features on board like Flowriders, slides, games rooms, and zip lines.

Also, I can see the new mega ships are extremely popular, with Icon of the Seas helping boost recent reviews. But, even ships like Symphony of the Seas, and other huge resort ships are driving higher scores.

Though, the ratings and reviews are pulled down by cruisers on the older Royal Caribbean ships, which are felt to be increasingly dated and worn, and as Royal Caribbean leads their advertising with big, action-packed, glitzy ships, when people get on the older ships, they disappoint more than ever before.

Reviews and ratings are also dampened by the numbers and crowds on the ships. Especially as many ships now sail over double capacity with kids sharing parents’ cabins. This leads to many lines, in everything from the Windjammer buffet to the water slides.

The worst of the resort lines right now is MSC Cruises, with just 2.7 out of 5, and they have the most one- star ratings of all 25 lines I reviewed.

So, why do cruisers rate MSC so poorly?

While many say they find MSC Ships attractive, there are five things they consistently bring up.

First, the ships are overcrowded. MSC has kids travelling for free, and lots of shared family rooms. So, these ships can be extremely packed, and spaces are always busy – it can be hard to find places around the pools or in any venue.

Second, as a result, service is slow, and there is poor and dismissive customer service.

Third, entertainment is average, especially compared to the other lines in this category.

Fourth, the food is at best average, with many saying the buffet is disappointing and repetitive, And lastly, there’s a lot of upselling on board.

Which brings me to what people like most about them in the reviews. The low fares and kids travelling free. Those that like them feel they are the best value option of all lines.

If that was the best and worst of the resort-style lines, which lines are doing well and badly these days in the Premium category as the industry calls it?

 

Best & Worst Premium Cruise Lines

The premium category lines tend to have smaller ships than the resort lines, carrying from 2,000 to 3,500 passengers. Although they don’t have features like waterparks and slides, they do still have a wide range of cabins from inside to suites.

It mostly includes long-established lines that cater more for older couples with a traditional cruise program.

The lines in this category include Holland America, Princess, Cunard, Celebrity, but also Disney for families and Virgin Voyages for 18+ only.

Celebrity Cruises

The best-scoring line with 3.6 out of 5, and one of the few that saw a growth in its ratings, is Celebrity which is part of the Royal Caribbean Group, who also topped the resort category right now, as you just heard.

Unlike most lines, many cruisers talk about how Celebrity have improved their product. Better ships,  improved service and food.

What I’m seeing is their decision to launch the Edge class ships (Edge, Apex, Beyond, and Xcel) is driving their improved ratings and reviews.

These new, modern ships have the most positive reviews, even though the Infinite Balcony cabins divide opinions.

However, cruisers travelling in the older Solstice and Millennium class ships, feel those are being neglected, and are starting to look a bit dated and less well-maintained and are losing, excuse the pun, their edge.

The other dampening factor in the reviews is the impact of kids. The new ships are attracting younger cruisers with kids, and this is divisive.

Those used to cruising on Celebrity without kids are complaining about the disruption kids are causing. While those taking kids are complaining that there’s not enough for them to do and that the Kids’ Clubs are not good enough.

While new ships have driven Celebrity’s ratings and reviews upwards, the Premium Line that is getting the worst score these days had theirs driven down largely due to their new ship!

Cunard

The worst-scoring premium line right now is Cunard with a 3.1 out of 5.

Their scores and reviews have been dragged down since the launch of Queen Anne, largely as many existing Cunard travellers feel it is not Cunard enough, and dislike some features like the Queens Room, and the overall layout and design.

The flagship transatlantic Queen Mary 2 liner is still getting overall good ratings and reviews, although many reviewers feel Cunard is watering down the experience and it feels more mainstream than luxury these days.

I think Cunard created this issue themselves, as their advertising suggests a luxurious experience with White-glove service and glamour, but once on board, it is not quite like that and is broadly a similar experience to Princess or Holland America. Unless cruising in a Grills suite.

Talking of luxury, many cruisers in the premium category seem to have upgraded or tried smaller ships in the last few years, and I can see in the ratings and reviews of this next category what effect that is having on which lines do well and those that don’t.

Best & Worst Small Ship Luxury Cruise Lines

The lines in the small ship luxury category, like Azamara, Oceania, Viking and Saga, mostly operate ships between 700 and 1,200 passengers, although some, like Windstar, are much smaller.

Most have a wide range of cabin types starting from Inside and Oceanview, up to suites and make a big deal of being able to call into smaller ports than bigger ships. Or dock in city centres while bigger ships must dock in further away industrial ports.

There is a line that stands out by some margin in this category and it is the second highest-scoring of all 25 lines I reviewed with an impressive 4.6 out of 5. And that is Viking Ocean.

Being adult-only pushes up the reviews and ratings, attractive to some as more families are cruising premium lines. But the main reason for their high rating is their consistent quality. Plus, there’s no sense of them cutting back as cruisers accuse other lines of doing.

They have a very loyal audience that tends to be the over 60s and 70s, and seem to be more cautious travellers who frequently talk about how Viking takes care of all the details. They include transfers and so on.

I read many reviews and high ratings by first-timers too, who like the lack of on board upsell they got on premium lines because Viking has many more inclusions.

The limited negative reviews are by younger cruisers who felt it caters only for an older crowd with less relevant entertainment.

Oceania

The worst of the small ship luxury lines right now is Oceania, although still with a relatively good score of 3.7 out of 5.

Oceania gets marked down as existing cruisers felt the lofty promise in their marketing is no longer being delivered, and first-timers expected more for their money.

Oceania have created a rod for their own back because they advertise that they have the finest cuisine at sea.

But almost universally, recent reviewers say they don’t these days, and several other lines have caught up and even exceed them.

Another thing affecting reviews is their inconsistent fleet.

They have new modern ships like the Vista, which seem well liked, but also old, and increasingly dated R-class ships with tiny cabins and very small bathrooms. These pull the ratings and reviews down.

Oceania changed their fare inclusions and exclusions during the time I reviewed to something called “Simply More” and that was mostly unpopular.

At time of writing, they have announced yet another change to something called “Your World Included” that I suspect from reactions in cruise groups will cause more issues, as it strips out more inclusions.

Talking of inclusions, the next cruise category has the greatest level of these, although as you will see, those are having an unwelcome impact on the ratings of some lines.

Best & Worst Ultra-Luxury Cruise Lines

The Ultra-luxury category often styles themselves as offering “6-star service” with all-suite ships and inclusions like drinks, gratuities, Wi-Fi and speciality dining. Though some have more.

This category has seen new entrants like Explora Journeys, the resurrected Crystal Cruises, and Ritz Carlton Yachts join long-established Silversea, Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas.

Scores overall are high in this category, but the two highest scoring are new lines. Explora Journeys, launched by MSC, scores an incredible 4.8 out of 5 with the most five-star reviews of any of the 25 I studied. The second highest-scoring was Crystal with 4.4 out of 5.

Explora Journey ships carry 922 guests, and the reviews say things like “Explora’s a five-star floating masterpiece”.

Reviews consistently say the ships feel luxurious, cabins are plush, and people rave about the dining.

The only negative mentions relate to the evening entertainment being underwhelming.

Regent Seven Seas

The worst-performing line in this category is another in the Norwegian Cruise Group: Regent Seven Seas with 3.5 out of 5.

Regent offers more inclusions than some in the category, like flights, pre-stay hotel based on grade, transfers and multiple excursions in ports.

Though recently they have started offering a fare option with less inclusions, too.

There are two key issues I saw in the Regent reviews and ratings.

First, cruisers feel overall they don’t recently match the quality of the other luxury lines, and although many compare them to Seabourn and Silversea, I increasingly see reviewers compare Regent and the other Ultra-luxury lines to Explora and Crystal as the new elevated gold standard.

Second, the biggest impact on their reviews and ratings were directly related to their more all-inclusive experience.

I saw repeated complaints about flight routings and pre-stay hotels. I have to say I agree with that based on the Regent trips I’ve done. They haven’t had great pre-stay hotels, and they offered terrible flight routings.

Also, there are many complaints about choice and quality of the excursions, and the best ones being sold out and hard to get.

There is another category I want to talk about, local-focused cruise lines which are sold exclusively or mostly to residents of one country.

Best & Worst Regional Cruise Lines

The UK is the most noticeable of these, with many including P&O Cruises, Fred Olsen, Marella, Ambassador and SAGA.

The best scoring of these is Fred. Olsen with a score of 4 out of 5, where a fleet change is having a big impact.

They retired some ships and bought two old Holland America ships during the pandemic shutdown, relaunching them as the Borealis and the Bolette.

After some negative reviews early on about the condition of the ships, they seem to have worked on them and these days, reviewers like the ships, the food and service.

P&O Cruises

The worst scoring of the UK lines by a long way was P&O Cruises, which gets one of the lowest scores of the 25 lines I analysed with a low 2.6 out of 5.

P&O used to be a very traditional couples’ line that has transformed in the last few years. They’ve launched mega ships and value pricing into becoming a family-focused, fun-packed line, and to be in the UK what Carnival is to the United States.

The new ships are big and crowded, and past travellers talk about P&O as now being distinctly average, with a real sense of cutbacks in the product, food and service. This includes things like once-a-day cabin service.

They do have two adult-only ships, Aurora and Arcadia, but those reviews aren’t great either because they talk about the ships  looking old and dated.

In terms of the US, the regional line that does incredibly well is Margaritaville at Sea, with 4.1 out of 5 score. I was, to be honest, quite surprised at that.

But, they know their audience, and the audience loves the great value Bahamas short breaks.

If I haven’t mentioned one of your lines, it means that they’re in the middle, neither good nor bad right now. Let me know what you think of your usual line these days in the comments.