Cruise Critic has released its highlighting the best in cruising and cruise travel as selected by Cruise Critic’s international editorial team.
Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady claimed top honors this year as Best New Ship. The line’s first vessel, Scarlet Lady, charmed Cruise Critic’s editors enough that the vessel was awarded Best New Ship in 2021. Now, sister-ship Resilient Lady, which has just arrived Down Under for the season, sweeps to victory for the line once again.
Other winners in the Ocean Cruises category included Disney Cruise Line as Best for Families; Celebrity Cruises for Best Cabins; MSC Cruises for Best Nightlife; Holland America Line for Best Service and Carnival Cruise Line for Best Value for Money.
“This was a banner year for the cruise industry,” said Colleen McDaniel, Editor-in-Chief of Cruise Critic. “On Cruise Critic, we saw demand for cruises surpass pre-pandemic times, and a number of lines reported ships sailing at over 100% capacity. Cruising has always been a high-value vacation, but with costs of land- and air-based travel through the roof, the true value of a cruise really hit home this year.
“The value of a cruise doesn’t stop with mainstream sailings. From the fare inclusions on river and luxury sailings, to those on expedition sailings to farther-flung destinations like Antarctica and the Galapagos, you’d be hard-pressed to find a land-based vacation that delivers the experience and value that a cruise offers,” McDaniel said.
Cruise Critic has been releasing its highly anticipated Editors’ Picks Awards for 15 years. This year’s awards are the most thorough to date, naming winners across four key areas – Ocean, River, Luxury and Expedition.
Cruise Critic also brought back a heralded category in 2023: Best Ship Refurbishment, which went to the gorgeously decorated Carnival Venezia. The former Costa Venezia was refitted prior to entering service with Carnival Cruise Line, leaving it with a fascinating blend of Italian-style interior décor courtesy of the line’s longtime design guru Joe Farcus, along with a blend of Carnival favorites tweaked ever-so slightly.
Port Miami was named best North American Homeport thanks to an abundance of innovation and investment that has come out of the new and improved terminal structure and growing improvements to the passenger experience.
Cruise Critic’s 2023 Editors’ Picks Awards is noteworthy for the return of the River Cruise awards for the first time since the global health pandemic shut down travel three years ago. In that category, river cruising giant Viking took top honors as the Best River Cruise Line, while the Best New River Cruise Ship was awarded, for the first time, to an American river cruise ship – American Cruise Lines’ American Serenade.
Other winners in the River Category included AmaWaterways for Best for Active Cruisers, Avalon for Best Cabins, Riverside for Dining and Tauck for Enrichment.
Silversea Scoops Best Luxury Cruise Line
In the Luxury Cruise category, Silversea Cruises was named Best Luxury Cruise Line, thanks to its tireless dedication to service, its modern fleet, and continually innovative offerings. Its Silver Nova was Cruise Critic’s pick for Best New Luxury Ship, while Oceania snapped up Best Dining. The luxury category even held a bit of nostalgia, as restarted (and beloved) brand Crystal took two categories: Best Service and Best for Solo Travelers.
Finally, the Expedition Cruise market continues to expand and mature at a rapid pace. Some of the most hotly deliberated categories were found here, but Cruise Critic’s editors came to consensus: Scenic Eclipse II was named
Best New Expedition Ship, while Quark, Seabourn, Silversea, Viking and UnCruise Adventures, among others, walked away with honors this year.
One thing that was apparent for the entire editorial team in selecting this year’s winners was how close many of these categories were for the ships and lines in the running. Few were easy choices – and that’s good for cruisers. With cruise lines of all shapes and sizes delivering stellar experiences across the oceans and rivers of the world, it’s never been a better time to take a cruise.
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