Travel + Leisure Names Best Cruise Lines for 2024

Along with the best hotels, airlines, cities, and rental companies, Travel + Leisure readers also voted for the favorite cruise lines. Readers rated ships – in several categories – based on cabins, food, service, itineraries, excursions, value, and more.

The results were mostly unsurprising, but there were some new entries this year, including Explora Journeys, Riverside Luxury Cruises, HX, and the newly relaunched Crystal. Additionally, in some categories niche cruise lines, such as Quasar Expeditions and Oberoi Cruises, took top five spots despite not being well-known among many cruisers.

Here are the best cruise lines and ships, as voted by Travel & Leisure readers.

Top 10 Intimate Ocean Cruise Lines (

1. Quasar Expeditions (97.81)
2. Overseas Adventure Travel (97.55)
3. Aqua Expeditions (94.81)
4. Lindblad Expeditions (94.40)
5. Seabourn (94.35)
6. Celebrity Cruises – Galapagos (93.94)
7. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (92.86)
8. Variety Cruises (92.35)
9. Ponant (91.73)
10. Silversea (91.33)

Top 5 Small-Ship Ocean Cruise Lines (150 to 299 cabins)

1. Viking (96.69)
2. HX (96.08)
3. Windstar Cruises (92.99)
4. Paul Gauguin Cruises (91.26)
5. Silversea (88.49)

Top 10 Mid-Size Ocean Cruise Lines (300 to 799 cabins)

1. Viking (94.09)
2. Explora Journeys (92.81)
3. Crystal (90.16)
4. Regent Seven Seas Cruises (89.68)
5. Seabourn (88.90)
6. Silversea (87.96)
7. Oceania Cruises (87.31)
8. Holland America Line (86.27)
9. Azamara (86.13)
10. Celestyal Cruises (82.63)

Top 5 Mega-Ship Ocean Cruise Lines (> 1,500 cabins)

1. Virgin Voyages (89.71)
2. Celebrity Cruises (85.85)
3. Princess Cruises (82.58)
4. Norwegian Cruise Line (80.90)
5. Royal Caribbean International (80.81)

Top 10 River Cruise Lines

1. Aqua Expeditions (98.85)
2. Avalon Waterways (95.91)
3. The Oberoi Cruises (95.75)
4. Tauck (95.71)
5. Grand Circle Cruise Line (95.61)
6. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (94.83)
7. Viking (94.73)
8. Riverside Luxury Cruises (94.62)
9. Scenic (91.00)
10. AmaWaterways (90.09)