Sunday, April 21, 2024

7 best US river cruises

best rated cruise ships

River cruisers in Europe will find the largest standard staterooms and suites aboard Avalon’s fleet of luxurious ships. Onboard amenities include a fitness center, a Sky Deck with a whirlpool and shade system, free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs and a self-serve beverage station. The Avalon Choice program allows cruisers to customize the details of their experience, ensuring each vacation is a perfect fit.

U.S. Editors' Picks Awards: Best Cruise Lines

Silversea Cruises’ 100-passenger Silver Origin delivers luxury in the remote Galapagos National Park, where you can catch spectacular views while soaking in a hot tub as your butler serves champagne. Beyond sizable suites and butler service for all is an experienced team of naturalists who make sure you don’t miss the sight of blue-footed boobies, sea lions, iguanas, sea turtles, and myriad other creatures in this nature wonderland. Visitors to the park may only go onshore, snorkel, or kayak when accompanied by a park-certified naturalist guide—with one guide to every 16 travelers.

Mystery Cruising With Uniworld

Fast-growing Viking will continue its expansion into ocean cruising in 2024 with its 11th new seagoing vessel since 2015. A creation of the deep-pocketed MSC Group, which already owns MSC Cruises, Explora Journeys plans to launch at least six of the superluxurious vessels by 2028, with the first four being roughly the same size and the last two being even bigger. Silver Ray's asymmetrical design will also be evident at two food and beverage venues at the top of the vessel — both new-for-Silversea concepts that first debuted in August on Silver Nova. In other words, its space-to-passenger ratio will be greater, making the ship feel roomier — if only modestly. Note that Icon of the Seas is just the first of three sister ships Royal Caribbean has on order for delivery by 2026, all of similar dimensions. Among lodging options, Icon of the Seas will boast 14 new cabin and suite types plus 14 categories of rooms that already exist on earlier Royal Caribbean ships.

Best Ocean Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Line

With a 95-person crew and a maximum of 112 guests, each passenger receives personalized service. Silversea gives Antarctica travelers the option to skip two days of sailing the often-rocky Drake Passage. Instead, they can fly in comfort over the waters separating South America from the continent, then hop aboard the 127-suite Silver Cloud and 100-suite Silver Endeavour for trips along the frosty coastline. The Alaska trips on Ocean Victory, a fuel-efficient, 93-cabin ship from American Queen Voyages, come with the opportunity to kayak past glaciers and spot bald eagles and grizzlies. The vessel, which first debuted in 2021, represents an evolution in ship design for American Queen, with its cutting-edge X-Bow design (which helps reduce fuel burn) and chic suites, including many with private verandas. On Viking ocean ships, Scandinavian design details, such as the glass-enclosed Wintergarden, with high ceilings and natural lighting in its pool and lounge areas, are showcased throughout.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Grandeur

Enter the Prime 7 steakhouse, where at the bar you’ll pass art pieces by Joan Miró and Picasso. The leathers are butter soft, the carpets and velvet details as plush as can be. In your suite, enjoy some alone time with an extravagant meal accompanied by champagne, served course by course on a white tablecloth on your private veranda.

Expedition Cruising With Seabourn

You can taste bourbon and explore the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory or the Kentucky Derby Museum & Horse Park in Louisville. Take time to appreciate American artistry at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. Rest up from your portside adventures during five days of scenic river cruising. Off-ship experiences include sampling local beer and oysters in Astoria, Oregon; visiting Multnomah Falls or hiking Beacon Rock; and having a private vineyard visit and downtown wine walk in Walla Walla, Washington. You can cruise the entire length of this mighty river as you visit 14 cities in seven U.S. states on Viking's two-week sailing. In just a few years, that'll give Explora Journeys a bigger capacity than such well-known luxury cruise operators as Seabourn and the recently relaunched Crystal.

Visiting Wild Places With Fewer Impacts

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. Utopia of the Seas will be based in Port Canaveral, Florida, for short three- and four-night sailings to the Bahamas.

best rated cruise ships

Carnival's last new vessel before the arrival of Mardi Gras in 2021, Carnival Panorama, didn't even crack the top 40 list of biggest ships when it debuted in 2019. This newest ship for cruise giant Carnival technically arrived at the end of 2023, but its maiden voyage on Dec. 23 was so close to the start of 2024 that we're calling it a new vessel for 2024. The 3,000-passenger Carnival Sunshine has many of the same bells and whistles that Carnival is known for but at a manageable size.

Compare: 10 Best Cruise Ships in The Bahamas and Caribbean - Cruise Critic

Compare: 10 Best Cruise Ships in The Bahamas and Caribbean.

Posted: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

At 54,700 tons, the two ships are about 34% bigger than Silversea's last three new vessels — Silver Muse, Silver Moon and Silver Dawn — but they are designed to hold only about 22% more passengers. In addition to a roller coaster, Carnival Jubilee has a giant water park on its top deck. Like its sister, its interiors are filled with a far broader array of suites than you'd find on earlier Carnival ships. New features include two ocean-themed zones with new bar and dining options — including an underwater-themed bar adorned with octopus arms that will serve drinks.

Gone are the days when a Pride Month advertisement and sparsely attended LGBTQ+ gathering were the norm. Virgin Voyages has blasted away the competition by providing a naturally inclusive cruise where LGBTQ+ people are visible from the moment you board. You'll find the latter openly dancing on dance floors, kissing and hugging in bars, and holding hands over dinner. PortMiami’s enviable location, near Miami Beach, and ease of access has long made it the world’s busiest cruise port.

Icon of the Seas will also feature the largest water park ever built on a cruise ship, with a record six waterslides. No other vessel comes close when it comes to water attractions on a cruise ship. In size, Icon of the Seas will be about 6% bigger than the biggest of the Oasis Class ships, the one-year-old Wonder of the Seas. But it'll be able to hold about 7% more people — 7,600 passengers as compared to Wonder of the Seas' total capacity of 7,084 passengers. Icon of the Seas is just one of two major new Royal Caribbean cruise ships arriving in 2024. Also on the way is Utopia of the Seas, the sixth and final vessel in the line's hugely successful Oasis Class of ships.

Cruise Critic just announced its annual list of the Best Cruise Lines of The Year. This is the 15th iteration of the list compiled by the online cruise community’s international team of cruise experts. "The cruise itself was absolutely perfect. Nice weather, great excursions, beautiful scenery, nice ship and excellent staff."

MSC sets itself apart by making that complex more accessible than ever before, thanks to the line’s value-priced MSC Yacht Club Inside Staterooms that provide a lot of luxe for a little dough. The modern spa is more than a place to relax; it’s a true escape, where the atmosphere and thermal suite complement state-of-the-art treatments. Norwegian Cruise Line has always recognized this in its Mandara Spa, which keeps getting better. Norwegian Viva and Prima boast the first charcoal saunas at sea in a thermal complex that includes a two-story waterfall, gorgeous salt pools, an ice room and infrared sauna. Over two weeks, you'll visit Native American burial grounds and archeological sites in West Virginia and learn about the underground railroad in Ohio.

As with earlier Royal Caribbean ships, it'll even have an indoor ice-skating rink. The ship's main theater, to be called the Princess Arena, will also have a new look. Its new-for-Princess in-the-round shape can be converted into a more traditional proscenium-type theater or a keyhole-type theater to allow for different types of productions. In other words, if you're a megaship fan, this is your new go-to ship — assuming you don't mind vacationing with a lot of other people. Wine, dine, admire masterpieces, and relax in luxury onboard the Seven Seas Splendor. Silversea Cruises topped the list as Best Luxury Cruise Line for the second year in a row.

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