There Is No “Best” Cruise Line: How to Find the One That’s Right for You

by Greta Smith

Ask a group of cruisers which cruise line is the best and you’ll probably get several very confident (and completely different) answers.

One person will swear by Viking. Another loves Celebrity. Someone else won’t sail anything but Regent. And the family who just returned from Royal Caribbean may tell you they can’t imagine cruising any other way.

Here’s the thing: they may all be right.

After more than a decade helping people plan cruises, I don’t believe there is one “best” cruise line. There is a cruise that’s best for the way you want to travel.

And finding it starts with something much more important than cruise-line rankings.

Start With the Experience, Not the Cruise Line

When I help a client choose a cruise, I’m much more interested in how she wants the vacation to feel than which cruise line she has heard the most about.

Do you picture lively evenings, plenty of entertainment and dozens of things to do?

Or would you happily trade all of that for fewer people, wonderful food and a quiet place to watch the coastline go by?

Would you rather wake up excited about everything happening on the ship—or everything waiting just beyond it?

Those answers immediately begin narrowing the field.

A large ocean ship can be perfect for a multigenerational Caribbean vacation where everyone needs something different to do. A small luxury ship might be wonderful for a couple who cares deeply about food, service and interesting ports. A river cruise may suit someone who wants to spend nearly every day immersed in European cities and villages. And an expedition ship can take an adventurous traveler somewhere she couldn’t realistically experience on a traditional cruise at all.

None is universally better. They are designed to deliver different experiences.

The Questions That Matter More Than “Which Cruise Line Is Best?”

Before you compare cruise lines, think about your own travel priorities.

How important are dining and service? How do you feel about crowds? Do you love sea days or want to maximize time ashore? Do you want nightlife and entertainment? How much structure do you like? Are you happiest with endless choices, or would you prefer fewer options that have been thoughtfully curated?

And perhaps most importantly: what are you willing to spend more for?

Someone who barely drinks may place little value on included alcohol. A traveler who loves theater may happily give up more personalized service for spectacular entertainment. Someone who hates lines may decide that fewer passengers changes her experience enough to justify spending more.

Value is personal because travel is personal.

Don’t Choose the Cruise Someone Else Loved

Recommendations are useful. But another person’s wonderful vacation isn’t automatically your wonderful vacation.

That’s one of the reasons I’m cautious when someone comes to me saying, “My friend sailed on _____ and said it was amazing.”

Super, now I want to know about you.

The goal isn’t to find the cruise with the longest list of amenities or the fanciest marketing.

It’s to identify the things that will actually affect your experience and then find the ship, itinerary and cruise line that deliver them.

Sometimes that means the luxury ship.

Sometimes it means the giant ship with the waterslides.

And sometimes the cruise you thought you wanted isn’t actually the experience you were describing at all.

That matching process is where good cruise planning begins.

My Savvy Take

Stop asking, “What’s the best cruise line?”

Start asking: “What matters most to me when I travel?”

Once you can answer that, the cruise world becomes much easier to navigate.

Not sure what kind of cruiser you are?

Start with my complimentary Which Cruise Style Is Right for You? guide. It walks you through the differences between river, expedition, yacht, small-ship and luxury ocean cruising so you can begin identifying the experiences that fit the way you actually want to travel.

Prefer to listen? Hear more on this topic on Episode 1 of The Savvy Cruise Edit: There Is No “Best” Cruise Line.

Greta Smith is a cruise travel advisor and owner of Savvy Travel Design, specializing in small-ship ocean, river, expedition, yacht, premium and luxury cruising. With more than a decade of experience helping travelers navigate the cruise world, and firsthand experience sailing multiple cruise lines each year, Greta believes there is no single “best” cruise, only the cruise that best fits the way you want to travel. Through Savvy Travel Design and The Savvy Cruise Edit podcast, she helps travelers make confident choices about ships, itineraries and experiences while taking the friction out of planning so they can experience more of the wonder.