Cruise Critic Names the World’s Most Popular Cruises for 2023

Virgin Voyages, Oceania Cruises & Viking Cruises stand out as the most highly-rated cruise lines of the year

NEEDHAM, Mass., March 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Cruise Critic^®, the world’s leading cruise reviews site and online cruise community, today announced the winners of its 11^th annual Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards – naming the world’s most popular cruises, based on consumer reviews and ratings shared on Cruise Critic over the past year. The site boasts the world’s largest online cruise community with more than 650,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 700 cruise ships across the globe.

“While this is our eleventh year announcing our Cruisers’ Choice Awards, this year’s awards are some of the most meaningful to-date,” shared Colleen McDaniel, Editor-in-Chief of Cruise Critic. “Our awards were paused for the past two years, due to the pandemic and the challenges it brought the industry. With the successful return of the cruise industry, and a global demand that continues to grow, this year’s awards are positioned to be more important and impactful than ever before. And as the cruise industry has returned to its new normal, it continues to prove its resiliency and dedication to delivering guests truly memorable vacations – as evident by this year’s list of winners.”

Highlights include:

Large Ship Category

• Adults-only Virgin Voyages was the dominant winner in the Large Ship Category, winning every award in the size category. From Best Overall to Best Dining, Best Service and Best Value-for-Money, Virgin’s unique-to-the-industry offering has left its sailors praising every aspect of its cruise experience.

On Virgin Voyages’ Overall Cruise Experience:

“This was the most amazing cruise I have ever been on. It was super chill … met so many new people, and the staff were absolutely supurb. If you are looking for a true getaway, this is it!” — Cruise Critic Member Strubette

On Virgin Voyages’ Service:

“The crew was incredibly friendly, and it was amazing to see all of the crew members being happy, comfortable, and allowed to be themselves. This really adds to the overall guest/crew experience, because when you can tell that someone likes where they work, it changes everything.” – Cruise Critic Member rsibs94

Mid-Size Ship Category

• Oceania Cruises was this year’s top winner in the Mid-Sized Category, also winning every award in its size category. The line’s service and dining were standouts among reviewers, and cruisers also found the cruise line to offer a strong value-for-money.

On Oceania’s Dining:

“Food was uniformly amazing! We prefer Waves in the AM and the Terrace Café in the PM, eating outdoors with the wind & view in the AM, and the stars in the PM.” – Cruise Critic Member MEFlowa

On Oceania’s Service:

“We were so impressed by the service. You can tell the staff are very well-trained and take pride in their work. Upon arrival, our stewardess came into our room to give us a tour of the stateroom and always warmly greeted us in the hallway. Bartenders remembered our favorite drinks and every crew member we passed stopped to greet us.” – Cruise Critic Member DC225

Small Ship Category

• Viking (Ocean), another adults-only line, was the big winner in the Small Ship Category. With a nearly-identical fleet of ocean-going ships, crusiers were impressed with all aspects of the Viking experience – including a strong impression left on first-time cruisers, whose ratings led to the line being named Best for First-Timers. Viking’s brand new expedition ships were also awarded a number of top placements, including the Best Small Ship Line for Dining.

On Viking’s Overall Experience:

“We may be getting spoiled with Viking’s consistently outstanding ships, crews, food & accommodations, but that is why we keep going back to Viking.” – Cruise Critic Member RHunt8218

On Viking’s First-Time Cruiser Experience:

“This was my first cruise, and I had always wanted to go to Greece, so she thought this would be perfect. I was spoiled … It was one of my best traveling experiences and I look forward to going again!” – Cruise Critic Member Vmille

River Cruise Category

• Viking (River) was named the Best River Cruise Line of the Year, with a fleet of river ships that offer a consistent experience in rivers all across the world.

On the Viking River Cruise Experience:

“Everything about this cruise and all the ports were so unforgettable … The local food dishes were well represented in all meals prepared onboard. All details were very well planned. The service was impeccable, the crew absolutely lovely.” – Cruise Critic Member MuffinW

The winners of the 11^th annual Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards are awarded in three ship size classes, based on passenger capacity (Large: 2,000+ passengers; Mid-Size: 1,200 to 1,999 passengers; Small: Fewer than 1,200 passengers). The rankings are calculated using ratings published with user-submitted reviews on Cruise Critic.

The winners of the 2023 Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards Include:

Small Ship Category

Overall

1. 2023 Winner: Viking (Ocean)
2. Viking (Expedition)
3. Windstar Cruises

Cabins

1. 2023 Winner: Viking (Ocean)
2. Viking (Expedition)
3. Ponant

Dining

1. 2023 Winner: Viking (Expedition)
2. Viking (Ocean)
3. Hurtigruten

Service

1. 2023 Winner: Windstar Cruises
2. Viking (Ocean)
3. Viking (Expedition)

Value-for-Money

1. 2023 Winner: Viking (Ocean)
2. Viking (Expedition)
3. Windstar Cruises

Mid-Size Category

Overall Cruise Lines

1. 2023 Winner: Oceania Cruises
2. Holland America Line
3. Ambassador Cruise Line

Cabins

1. 2023 Winner: Oceania Cruises
2. Disney Cruise Line
3. Holland America Line

Dining

1. 2023 Winner: Oceania Cruises
2. Holland America Line
3. Disney Cruise Line

Service

1. 2023 Winner: Oceania Cruises
2. Holland America Line
3. Norwegian Cruise Line

Value-for-Money

1. 2023 Winner: Oceania Cruises
2. Holland America Line
3. Royal Caribbean International

Large Ship Category

Overall Cruise Lines

1. 2023 Winner: Virgin Voyages
2. Celebrity Cruises
3. Princess Cruises

Cabins

1. 2023 Winner: Virgin Voyages
2. Celebrity Cruises
3. Princess Cruises

Dining

1. 2023 Winner: Virgin Voyages
2. Celebrity Cruises
3. Norwegian Cruise Line

Service

1. 2023 Winner: Virgin Voyages
2. Celebrity Cruises
3. Royal Caribbean International

Value-for-Money

1. 2023 Winner: Virgin Voyages
2. Celebrity Cruises
3. Royal Caribbean International

Specialty Categories

First-Timers

1. 2023 Winner: Viking (Ocean)
2. Virgin Voyages
3. Celebrity Cruises

River Cruises

1. 2023 Winner: Viking (River)
2. Emerald River Cruises
3. AmaWaterways

For the full list of winners, visit the 2023 Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards. For photos of the winning ships, click here (Note: Photos to be credited to the specific cruise line).

Note to Editors: To ensure these awards offer the best reflection of customer satisfaction, the awards are based entirely on ratings submitted with reviews published on Cruise Critic, for sailings that took place between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. There is no voting component. 

About Cruise Critic

Cruise Critic® is an online cruise guide, offering a comprehensive resource for cruise travellers, from first-time cruisers to avid cruise enthusiasts. The site features more than 650,000 cruise reviews and hosts the world’s largest online cruise community where travellers share experiences and opinions with fellow cruisers. Cruise Critic was the first consumer cruise site on the Internet, launched in October 1995 by The Independent Traveler, Inc., a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, Inc.

About TripAdvisor

Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform*, helps hundreds of millions of people each month** become better travelers, from planning to booking to taking a trip. Travelers across the globe use the Tripadvisor site and app to discover where to stay, what to do and where to eat based on guidance from those who have been there before. With more than 1 billion reviews and opinions of nearly 8 million businesses, travelers turn to Tripadvisor to find deals on accommodations, book experiences, reserve tables at delicious restaurants and discover great places nearby. As a travel guidance company available in 43 markets and 22 languages, Tripadvisor makes planning easy no matter the trip type. The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP), own and operate a portfolio of travel media brands and businesses, operating under various websites and apps.

* Source: SimilarWeb, unique users de-duplicated monthly, January 2023
** Source: Tripadvisor internal log files

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SOURCE Cruise Critic