US News & World Report 2018 Rankings

Anyone on CC can "comment" on any cruise line that they wish. After all, there is enough information on the web (reviews, cruise line website, etc.) to have a very good idea of what to expect. I do not need to sail on Crystal, for instance, to know the size of their suites.

 

I find it interesting that several years ago I was judged because we had only sailed on Regent. Then I sailed on Silversea but the same comments were made. Next year we will sail on the 3rd of 4 luxury cruise lines (only considering the top 4 for U.S. passengers) and will likely hear the same comment. Why the judgments? We have also sailed on Oceania, Celebrity and NCL but still am hearing the same old comments.

 

It is wonderful that we all have choices and no one should be put down for theirs. After all, how many cruise lines must one sail before they are permitted to sail on one cruise line simply because it is the right fit for them? By the same token, it does not matter if someone stays in the top suite or the least expensive suite.

 

As an aside, having just disembarked from a Celebrity cruise yesterday, I could not help but notice how nice the passengers were - not judgmental, pushy, set in their ways, etc. While Celebrity is a one time experience, it opened our eyes as to how some people are on Regent.

 

It seems that on this board, judgements and slams are rampant. That is really too bad and very sad. After all, any of us can cruise any ship/cruise line that we wish and should be able to do so without judgement but rather it would be lovely if all of us posted thoughtful, helpful posts.

Are you on seabourn next year?

Alaska cruise?

One problem with polls like this is they cannot be "apples to apples". For instance, did the responders cruse Crystal in their smallest cabins (I believe they even have inside cabins) or in top suits? This factor alone makes a huge difference on many cruise lines in terms of general enjoyment. And were the responders for Oceania and Viking those who only want a drink at lunch and dinner?

Here's an example. We cruised Celebrity twice this year and had a totally different experience from that of others we know on the same cruises. Why? Because we had a Celebrity suite on one cruise and a Royal suite on the other, while our friends booked ordinary balcony rooms. Without going into detail our experience was equal to Regent and in the Royal suite it was better. But the experience of our friends in ordinary balcony rooms was no where close.

And we too were pleased by all fellow guests we encountered on Celebrity as well.

Are you on seabourn next year?

Alaska cruise?

Not 100% sure that we will do the cruise that we are booked on (the more we try other cruise lines, the more we like Regent). It is a west coast departure which is what we are looking for. Unfortunately, if I revealed the cruise line I'd have to spend a year listening to comments that I would rather not hear. I will be reading a lot over the next several months and hope to get as much information as possible. The cruise is not until September, 2019. Prior to the cruise, I will start a thread on the Regent board comparing the two luxury cruise lines.

Sorry that did not give you a direct answer.

One problem with polls like this is they cannot be "apples to apples". For instance, did the responders cruse Crystal in their smallest cabins (I believe they even have inside cabins) or in top suits? This factor alone makes a huge difference on many cruise lines in terms of general enjoyment. And were the responders for Oceania and Viking those who only want a drink at lunch and dinner?

 

Here's an example. We cruised Celebrity twice this year and had a totally different experience from that of others we know on the same cruises. Why? Because we had a Celebrity suite on one cruise and a Royal suite on the other, while our friends booked ordinary balcony rooms. Without going into detail our experience was equal to Regent and in the Royal suite it was better. But the experience of our friends in ordinary balcony rooms was no where close.

 

And we too were pleased by all fellow guests we encountered on Celebrity as well.

No Crystal has no inside cabins. The first ship Harmony did and has been sold and is now called the Asuka.

Not 100% sure that we will do the cruise that we are booked on (the more we try other cruise lines, the more we like Regent). It is a west coast departure which is what we are looking for. Unfortunately, if I revealed the cruise line I'd have to spend a year listening to comments that I would rather not hear. I will be reading a lot over the next several months and hope to get as much information as possible. The cruise is not until September, 2019. Prior to the cruise, I will start a thread on the Regent board comparing the two luxury cruise lines.

 

Sorry that did not give you a direct answer.

no worries

enjoy the cruise

I guess I'm the only one that read the marketing blurb that was under each headline ranking. Numbers 4,5, and 6 headline one cruise line and then describe another in the text. Oceania is described twice, in 6 and 7 and Azamara is number 4 but has no matching text anywhere. That kind of attention to detail kills the entire poll.

I guess I'm the only one that read the marketing blurb that was under each headline ranking. Numbers 4,5, and 6 headline one cruise line and then describe another in the text. Oceania is described twice, in 6 and 7 and Azamara is number 4 but has no matching text anywhere. That kind of attention to detail kills the entire poll.

Good catch!

Not 100% sure that we will do the cruise that we are booked on (the more we try other cruise lines, the more we like Regent). It is a west coast departure which is what we are looking for. Unfortunately, if I revealed the cruise line I'd have to spend a year listening to comments that I would rather not hear. I will be reading a lot over the next several months and hope to get as much information as possible. The cruise is not until September, 2019. Prior to the cruise, I will start a thread on the Regent board comparing the two luxury cruise lines.

 

Sorry that did not give you a direct answer.

Why not tell us what line you are considering in 2019? I think it would be interesting and hearing some feed back for those who may have cruised the line also informative to you and all of us.

Why not tell us what line you are considering in 2019? I think it would be interesting and hearing some feed back for those who may have cruised the line also informative to you and all of us.

My guess is Crystal because of all the comments she has made about it. But, it could be Seabourn that time of the year as well in the Pacific.

My guess is Crystal because of all the comments she has made about it. But, it could be Seabourn that time of the year as well in the Pacific.

Your guess is as good as mine. Do we care? TC can do as she wishes.

Hoping this is okay to post but it is pretty much a fact (heard from many sources) that Crystal gave/gives incentives to their passengers to vote favorably in polls. Don't blast me as I am simply passing on information that is very believable

US News actually publishes their criteria used to determine these rankings - and it's not a reader vote that determines the ratings - so your comment is not relevant in terms of these awards

I think others have also corrected your other incorrect statements on Crystal and their offering

https://travel.usnews.com/Methodology/

Cruise Rankings

The U.S. News & World Report Best Cruises rankings are designed to help you find a cruise that best suits your needs. Using the following methods, U.S. News has identified the best cruise ships and cruise lines in a variety of categories.

Scoring Components

To rank the best cruise ships and cruise lines, we use the following scoring components:

Overall Rating:

The Overall Rating is used to determine the placement of each ship or line on any given list. The Overall Rating comprises three elements:

• Expert Rating (30 percent weight): Our editors assign each ship an Expert Rating between 1 and 5 based on the ship's level of luxury, with 5 being the highest score. This score represents our editors' analysis of a ship's atmosphere, facilities, activities, cabins, cuisine and service.
  
• Traveler Rating (50 percent weight): A ship's traveler rating is provided under license by ***************. Reviewers assign a rating between 1 and 5 based on their level of satisfaction with their cruise experience.
  
• Health Rating (20 percent weight): A ship's health rating is based on sanitation inspection scores published by the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Individual ship inspection reports can be found here. The CDC defines "Satisfactory Scores" as those that are 86 or above (out of a possible 100 points). A ship's Health Rating is the average of the vessel's individual inspection reports from the 22 months prior to the calculation of the U.S. News Best Cruises rankings. For our rankings, CDC scores are translated to a five-point scale as follows: Vessels with average CDC ratings 97.5 or higher received a score of 5; vessels with average CDC ratings between 95 and 97.4 received a score of 4.5; vessels with average CDC scores between 92.5 and 94.9 received a score of 4; vessels with average CDC scores between 90 and 92.4 received a score of 3.5; vessels with average CDC scores between 87.5 and 89.9 received a score of 3; vessels with average ratings between 85.1 and 87.4 received a score of 2.5 and vessels with an average CDC rating of 85 or lower received a score of 1. If a ship has not received an inspection score within the past 22 months, its Health Rating appears as N/A; however, the average Health Rating of all CDC-rated ships within the cruise line is used as proxy in the calculation of the Overall Rating for a ship that lacks CDC scores.
  

A cruise line's Overall Rating is calculated as the average of its ship's overall ratings.

Why not tell us what line you are considering in 2019? I think it would be interesting and hearing some feed back for those who may have cruised the line also informative to you and all of us.

Your guess is as good as mine. Do we care? TC can do as she wishes.

I think that was the right question!

I am not sure how "Luxury line" is defined - but I would imagine it would refer to all-inclusive cruise lines where service is excellent, suites are spacious and cuisine is too. It is my impression that Viking is not "all inclusive". So how does Viking fit into the category?

I'm not sure that there is any official definition of "luxury line". Early in the last decade, Radisson (now Regent) had included drinks only at dinner and lunch, plus a restocked mini bar in the suites. Drinks in the lounges were at charge. Yet is was classified as a luxury line then. And now there are lines where if you book in certain suites, all food and drinks are included and there is a mini bar. But if you book a lower cost room, drinks and some restaurants are extra. I don't know what to call such lines.

I don't think "all-inclusive" is a requirement for luxury. It's nice to have, but is not the definition.

I have sailed on Cunard a number of times in their luxury product, the Queen's Grill. Some of their suites are two-story penthouses that are fabulous. Their Princess Grill would be the equivalent of a business class airline product. These are excellent luxury products. But, Cunard also caters to the budget traveler with interior cabins. If you want your dog to travel with you, they have kennels. Those of us in the Queen's Grill co-exist quite happily with the budget cruiser in Britannia class on the same ship at the same time.

What is luxury? It's like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. It's something different to everyone.

P.S. I do kind of question the Viking inclusion. All I know is the sea offerings are new and they poached a bunch of staff from other lines when they started up. Cunard lost a few that have now returned.

I don't think "all-inclusive" is a requirement for luxury. It's nice to have, but is not the definition.

 

I have sailed on Cunard a number of times in their luxury product, the Queen's Grill. Some of their suites are two-story penthouses that are fabulous. Their Princess Grill would be the equivalent of a business class airline product. These are excellent luxury products. But, Cunard also caters to the budget traveler with interior cabins. If you want your dog to travel with you, they have kennels. Those of us in the Queen's Grill co-exist quite happily with the budget cruiser in Britannia class on the same ship at the same time.

 

What is luxury? It's like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. It's something different to everyone. …….

Totally agree with your post.

I don't think "all-inclusive" is a requirement for luxury. It's nice to have, but is not the definition.

 

I have sailed on Cunard a number of times in their luxury product, the Queen's Grill. Some of their suites are two-story penthouses that are fabulous. Their Princess Grill would be the equivalent of a business class airline product. These are excellent luxury products. But, Cunard also caters to the budget traveler with interior cabins. If you want your dog to travel with you, they have kennels. Those of us in the Queen's Grill co-exist quite happily with the budget cruiser in Britannia class on the same ship at the same time.

 

What is luxury? It's like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. It's something different to everyone.

 

P.S. I do kind of question the Viking inclusion. All I know is the sea offerings are new and they poached a bunch of staff from other lines when they started up. Cunard lost a few that have now returned.

I found your post very interesting. While I agree with you that luxury does not necessarily mean "all-inclusive", the top four luxury lines that are frequented by people living in North America are all-inclusive. I do believe that Hapag-Lloyd has a couple of ships that are luxury but do are not all-inclusive and also cater to children/families and have very few English speakers onboard which, at least for us, counts them out.

Viking Ocean, In my opinion, is in competition with Azamara and Oceania - both premium plus or luxury lite (depending upon who you speak to).

Cunard is a mainstream cruise line with a "luxury" section. In the past few months, we have sailed on two non-luxury cruise lines ...... NCL and Celebrity and stayed in their top suites. While some of the food and service in the special areas were comparable to luxury, the rest of the ship was to and to me neither cruise line matched up and we would not sail on Cunard for that reason. (Note: My DH came to the U.S. on a Cunard line and the class system is so ingrained on Cunard that it is a total put off for us).

While luxury is in the eyes of the beholder, there are few cruise lines that are recognized as being luxury. In addition to Crystal, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea, there are small yachts and cruise boats that are luxury but are so different than the four luxury cruise lines frequented by people in North America that they should (again In my opinion) be in a class of their own.

Note: If Cunard allowed our three kitties to sail with us (in our suite), I would be the first in line to sail on them.:halo:

I found your post very interesting. While I agree with you that luxury does not necessarily mean "all-inclusive", the top four luxury lines that are frequented by people living in North America are all-inclusive. I do believe that Hapag-Lloyd has a couple of ships that are luxury but do are not all-inclusive and also cater to children/families and have very few English speakers onboard which, at least for us, counts them out.

 

Viking Ocean, In my opinion, is in competition with Azamara and Oceania - both premium plus or luxury lite (depending upon who you speak to).

 

Cunard is a mainstream cruise line with a "luxury" section. In the past few months, we have sailed on two non-luxury cruise lines ...... NCL and Celebrity and stayed in their top suites. While some of the food and service in the special areas were comparable to luxury, the rest of the ship was to and to me neither cruise line matched up and we would not sail on Cunard for that reason. (Note: My DH came to the U.S. on a Cunard line and the class system is so ingrained on Cunard that it is a total put off for us).

 

While luxury is in the eyes of the beholder, there are few cruise lines that are recognized as being luxury. In addition to Crystal, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea, there are small yachts and cruise boats that are luxury but are so different than the four luxury cruise lines frequented by people in North America that they should (again In my opinion) be in a class of their own.

 

Note: If Cunard allowed our three kitties to sail with us (in our suite), I would be the first in line to sail on them.:halo:

QM2 has added kitty condos after the last refit. But, they have to stay in the pet area and not your cabin. No sneaking them out. The kennels are only used on Trans-Atlantic crossings. There really is a kennel master. He does nothing but take care of the menagerie and sleeps with them.

Each special passenger gets their own coat. It's great fun to go up to the kennels and visit with the special passengers while at sea. It really helps when you are missing your own. The kennels are always sold out and there is a wait list. They are the first off the ship and make quite the parade.

QM2 has added kitty condos after the last refit. But, they have to stay in the pet area and not your cabin. No sneaking them out. The kennels are only used on Trans-Atlantic crossings. There really is a kennel master. He does nothing but take care of the menagerie and sleeps with them.

 

Each special passenger gets their own coat. It's great fun to go up to the kennels and visit with the special passengers while at sea. It really helps when you are missing your own. The kennels are always sold out and there is a wait list. They are the first off the ship and make quite the parade.

Have to admit that I would love visiting dogs/cats or any other animal on a ship. I adore animals.