Which Cruise Line Is The VERY BEST By Region And Why?
Which Cruise Line Is The VERY BEST By Region And Why?
In every weekly live cruise Q&A livestream that I do on YouTube, I am asked by a cruiser what is the best cruise line they should use in specific regions of the world, so they can see and get the most from it. So, I decided to make this to share in one place. This is what I have found from my experiences to be the very best cruise lines to choose in each of the 8 most popular cruising regions. I have cruised all several times and, as you will see, many of the lines are not the obvious nor the biggest.
The Caribbean
All major cruise lines cruise the Caribbean, so you have an enormous choice, as well as a large choice of itineraries: Eastern, Western, Southern, and shorter Bahamas and Cruise Line Private Island cruises.
There are four different ways I think of what is best here.
First, if you’re looking for incredible value above anything else, the best line of all is usually MSC Cruises. They have very inexpensive fares, go to all the key ports that the others do, and kids sail for free.
But, if you’re looking for a good value sun and high-energy resort-style break with your family, promising lots of entertainment, many on-board attractions, a big choice of dining and bars, and great Kids’ Clubs, there’s several cruise lines to choose from, including Carnival and Norwegian. However, the best line in my view is Royal Caribbean. They even have the region in their name!
They have by far, in my view, the best private islands, like Perfect Day at CocoCay, and Labadee.
If you are looking for an adult-only experience, but still with a party vibe, Virgin Voyages is the way to go. They have great food and a busy, fun progamme.
Authentic Ports
However, if you find Virgin Voyages, with their less deep dive port itineraries and party vibe less appealing, and want a line with few kids, to visit more authentic ports, have the choice of more varied excursions, but still be relatively affordable then there are many options. Including Holland America, Princess and Cunard.
My choice is Holland America Line, partly because they have some of their newer ships operating these itineraries. Like the Rotterdam. There’s good music on board, they often call into Half Moon Cay, their private island. Which is in my view, one of the prettiest and more restful private islands. As they offer cabins from Inside to Suites, they cover most budgets too.
If you have the budget and want a small ship experience, more pampering and to visit smaller and more out-of-way islands than the busy ones all the lines I’ve mentioned to date go to. Then, consider lines including Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Silversea, Viking, Windstar, Azamara, and Oceania.
My pick is Windstar, as they have the smallest ships, including their sailing ship, and call on smaller out of the way places. They also have interesting routes often departing from within the Caribbean itself.
The Mediterranean
The next biggest cruising region is the Mediterranean, which CLIA says gets over 5.5 million cruise passengers a year.
There are three key routes. Western Mediterranean, which is the best itinerary for first timers, as you can see iconic cities like Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Monte Carlo in one 7-day trip.
Then there’s Eastern Mediterranean, which will often include the Greek Islands, and then Adriatic Itineraries sailing between Venice and Athens.
Like the Caribbean, all the lines operate those itineraries during the Mediterranean season, and so while the same approach and choice of lines apply, there are, two big caveats.
Small Ship
First, if your budget can stretch to it, go on a small ship line or the smallest ship the other lines have in their fleet. Why?
Many of the ports within the Mediterranean are working container ports, so smaller ships can often either go to more interesting ports that cannot take big ships or can dock more centrally.
For example, when I went to Marseille on Azamara Quest, a ship holding around 700, we were docked in the heart of Marseille. But, when I went on Norwegian Viva, a big ship, we were miles away in a large working port.
When I went on Seabourn and Azamara, we docked right in Monte Carlo, but on Norwegian Viva we had to go to nearby Nice.
When I went to the Greek Islands on Azamara and later Seabourn, we visited small islands not crowded by land-based tourists or hordes of mega ship passengers.
So, I would recommend if you possibly can, to look at lines like Azamara, Windstar, Oceania (but their smaller ships) and if your budget can go that far, Seabourn, Silversea or Viking.
The second caveat is that as there is so much history and culture in the region. To get more out of your cruise, I also suggest narrowing down even more and look at lines that have good enrichment programs when cruising the Mediterranean.
The best I have found in this region are Cunard, though not a small ship, Viking and to lesser degree Oceania.
I had always assumed Alaska was the third biggest cruise region, but it is not! So, I will get to them but first let me cover what is the third biggest region.
Rest Of Europe
That is, based on passenger numbers, the non-Mediterranean parts of Europe, with over 3 million passengers according to CLIA.
There are two key routes I want to talk about, UK/Ireland, and the Norwegian fjords.
As with the other regions, you should consider the lines with on-board experience you want. But, I do have some specific recommendations.
UK & Ireland
For the round UK and Ireland trip, for non-UK travellers, I recommend you consider Princess and Celebrity, as they base ships out of Southampton and have done so for many years. They do some great itineraries and offer a range of pricing, as they offer inside cabins through to suites. And will offer a familiar more US/International mix and program.
But if you do want a more UK-focused passenger mix and program, UK lines like Ambassador, P&O Cruises, Saga, Fred. Olsen and Cunard do the itineraries as well, although less frequently. Ambassador being the best value, and Fred. Olsen providing an affordable smaller ship classic option.
It is not as necessary to go on a small ship, as all largely call into the same places, but if you do want a deeper dive into Scotland then look at Windstar (as I have done), as they do call at smaller places as they can manage tendering more easily and do not swamp the smaller ports.
Norway
If you’re heading into the Norwegian fjords, my recommendation is consider moving past the well-known international lines, and focus on two local lines, Hurtigruten and Havila.
These are locally owned, do deep and intensive routes into the fjords and sail from Bergen far up north and back. You’re going to get an authentic Norwegian experience. Exploring the Fjords in the most extensive way.
If you don’t want to go with those lines, then many of the international lines go there, and my tip is having a shortlist of lines you like the on-board experience and pricing, as pretty much every line goes there in the season, but then look closely at the itinerary.
Often itineraries will be filled with larger cities and towns like Bergen, Stavanger, Kristianstad, and to a lesser degree Olden and Alesund. But, you want to make sure the route has smaller and out of the way places listed. My tips are you want as many places as possible that you’ve never heard of and likely end with the word “fjord” in them on the itinerary.
If you go mostly to the towns and cities I mentioned, you really need to spend more on excursions to get deeper into the fjords and into the mountains.
Unfortunately, that does mean the smaller ship lines like Windstar, Azamara, Viking, Fred. Olsen, Oceania and Saga tend to do well on that, but they may be out of your budget.
So, look at the smaller ships in the lines you look at and see if the routes are different. For example, I went on Cunard Queen Elizabeth not Queen Mary 2 to the Fjords, as it is smaller and had a more remote places itinerary.
Now time to look at the fourth biggest region. And that is still not Alaska yet!
Asia
The fourth-biggest cruising itinerary is Asia with according to CLIA, over 2.6 million passengers a year.
This is a huge territory, but I want to really zone in on Japan, as that’s a place I get asked about most often.
If you’re looking at cruising Japan, there are some great options. The most affordable being Holland America, Princess, and Celebrity.
Those three cruise lines base themselves in Tokyo through the season. They all run incredible itineraries, though I recommend you focus on the circumnavigations of Japan.
All are similar and worth considering. I do tend to lean towards Holland America or Celebrity of those two, as slightly smaller ships, and again offer good range of pricing from inside cabins through to suites.
One other consideration is you will need to do excursions to get the most out of Japan, and they are very costly. So, based on the cabin grade you usually cruise in, check if going on a line like Viking, Regent Seven Seas or Silversea that includes some or many excursions may be similar in price.
I found going on Regent Seven Seas Explorer was almost no premium once I compared inclusions with Holland America and had the advantage of a smaller ship experience.
Now to Alaska, the fifth most popular cruise region based on passenger numbers, with 1,7 million of them annually according the CLIA
Alaska
There are two key routes for Alaska cruises. The Inside Passage, which departs and return to and from Vancouver or Seattle, and call on cities like Ketchikan, Skagway, and Juneau.
Then there’s the one-way trips mostly between Seward or Whittier and Vancouver. As a first timer, the Inside Passage is the usual choice.
Like in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, most lines cruise in Alaska during the relatively short season. So, you could go there on the line that best meets you desired on-board experience, with even Virgin Voyages now heading there.
Glacier Bay
But for me, when it comes to choosing a cruise line for Alaska, there is one key consideration that trumps everything and reduces the choice to just 6 lines. Why? Because I strongly recommend you go on a line that goes into Glacier Bay, certainly if it’s your first trip.
Glacier Bay is magnificent and has a massive restriction, as the Park Authorities only allow two cruise ships in per day, and quotas on how often a line can go in.
Currently, there’s only six cruise lines authorised to operate in Glacier Bay: Princess Cruises, Holland America, Norwegian, Seabourn, Cunard, and Viking. So, my strong advice is to focus on one of those lines.
I tend to recommend Holland America, as it’s the line that’s been cruising Alaska longest, or Princess Cruises which has been there the second longest. They know the region very well, but they also in most ports, get the best docking locations and priority.
Both will have lots of kids and family groups on that you won’t find on them in other regions.
However, if you don’t want to go to the iconic and well-known ports, you can also go on a more expedition basis. And then I would recommend Hurtigruten or the small US-based line, UnCruise. These don’t go to the main ports, and they’ll go more remote with a focus on wildlife.
I am going to give some quick-fire recommendations for the next three regions, all of which according to CLIA, attract just over one million passengers a year.
The Other 3 Biggest Regions
The first is the USA West Coast. You have many choices as this region is covered as part of repositioning cruises. Ships go to and from Alaska and the Caribbean at the start and end of the seasons. They tend to go to the same ports like Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, San Diego, San Francisco, and Long Beach.
However, some cruise lines are basing ships there, like Princess, Holland America and Carnival. I would look at those as they offer the most choice of itineraries and timings.
Next is Australia and New Zealand, and again there is a lot choice as many lines pass through on their world voyages, but often with limited itineraries. But your favourite line likely goes there.
But to get more choice of itineraries and timing, I would focus lines that base there for some of the year or year-round.
If you’re looking to do a circumnavigation of Australia, there’s not many options and the two best itineraries are on Holland America and Viking.
If you’re looking to do New Zealand, for me, one of the strongest lines to look at is Celebrity out of Sydney. They base an Edge-class ship there which runs during the season.
If you want to go more local, P&O Australia is being absorbed into local Carnival and has good value family-focused options.
Central & South America
The eighth-biggest region, and one of my favourites is the Panama Canal and South America.
You can get many Panama Canal options, as lines move ships to and from the Caribbean and Alaska, and when ships are going on their world voyages.
All do this route well but there is one overriding factor, even more important than the line, and that is make sure you are booking on a Panamax ship. A Panamax ship is a ship that’s designed to go through the old canal.
Newer mainstream ships like Queen Mary 2, Queen Anne, Nieuw Statendam, Norwegian Bliss, Celebrity Edge class and so on are too big and are what’s known as Neopanamax size and can only use the new Canal.
I believe that to truly experience the wonder of the Panama Canal you need to go through the old canal, so whilst you may be attracted to fancy new ships, many are not Panamax size. So, focus on some of the smaller, older ships in a line’s fleet or on lines with smaller ships.
For example, I have been through on Vista Class ships, Cunard Queen Victoria and Holland America Zuiderdam.
