🛳️ What cruise lines are steaming ahead?

Is your favorite line heading up ... or down?

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Booking a cruise? It’s hard to rely on what you know if you last sailed before Covid. Prices have gone up … a lot.

Ahoy matey? That will cost you.

A big irritant in price are the ever increasing fees. Plus ships age and some lines adapt better than others.

One guide are passenger rankings. They’re dynamically compiled over time (see bottom). You don’t know from a single number if that high score indicates the cruise line’s best days are today or five years ago.

Cruise critic Gary Bembridge analyzed the rankings for the scoop on the good and the bad. The following includes only lines with substantial US itineraries.

Moving ahead: Holland, Celebrity, Margaritaville, Oceania.

These lines generally are improving their ship inventory with well-designed megaships and new ships replacing old ones, improving if not maintaining food, entertainment, and service quality, and enacting few changes that annoy customers.

Lagging behind: Disney, Princess, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival

Problems in these lines include a decrease in food, entertainment, and service quality, passenger security issues, megaships that are poorly received by passengers, too many older ships, and excessive new fees.

Of course I’m going on a cruise on the line that’s fallen the most - Carnival … next month … for two weeks. Wish us luck!

Cruise ratings

Cruise Critic‘s ratings (like their Deal Score) aren’t compiled at a single, specific time. They’re dynamic, using algorithms based on real-time user reviews and pricing data that reflect passenger experiences as they happen, especially around peak booking times like January-March (Wave Season).

Here’s how it generally works:

• User-Driven Data: Ratings come from actual cruisers posting reviews and deals, so they update as soon as new reviews or deals are submitted.

• Algorithmic Scoring: Their “Deal Score” uses algorithms to factor in nightly fares, inclusions, and itinerary length, constantly recalculating as deals change.

• Peak Times: You’ll see the most activity and potentially better-defined trends during major booking periods, like the January-March “Wave Season,” when more people are searching and booking.

So, there’s no “compilation time” like a daily report; it’s a live system reflecting ongoing user activity and data.