EWING, N.J., Feb. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cruise
Critic®, the world's leading cruise reviews site and
online cruise community, has announced the winners of its
8th annual Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards –
naming the most popular cruise ships of the year, based on consumer
reviews shared on Cruise Critic over the past 12 months. The site
boasts the largest online cruise community in the world with more
than 350,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 500 of the most
popular cruise ships.
"What's fun to see in this year's list of winners is the wide
range of ships awarded as the best of the best," explains
Colleen McDaniel, Senior Executive
Editor of Cruise Critic. "You have two of the largest ships at sea,
alongside luxury yachts and small expedition ships that sail to
some of the most far-flung destinations across the globe. As
different as these ships are, the common thread is the exceptional
ratings they received from actual guests. Whether you're looking
for a mega ship or a more intimate vessel, a port-heavy itinerary
or laid-back beach escape, this list is a fantastic resource to
guide to you to a ship perfectly suited to your needs."
Large Ship Category
- Celebrity Cruises was this year's big winner in the Large Ship
Category, winning five awards, including Best Overall, Best
Dining, Best Public Rooms and Best Service for Celebrity
Equinox, and Best for Value for Celebrity Silhouette.
Celebrity Silhouette sails a number of itineraries, including the
Caribbean, Mediterranean and
Baltic and has been praised for its wide range of dining and
entertainment options onboard.
- Royal Caribbean International received four awards in the Large
Ship Category, including Best Cabins, Best
Embarkation and Best for Fitness & Recreation for
Harmony of the Seas, and Best Entertainment for Allure of
the Seas. Allure of the Seas features a number of chart-topping
shows including Mamma Mia! and How to Train Your Dragon performed
on ice.
Mid-Size Ship Category
- Oceania Cruises was awarded the most accolades in the Mid-Size
Category, snagging five awards for Best Overall, Best Cabins,
Best Dining, Best for Fitness & Recreation and Best
Public Rooms for its ship, Riviera. This is the fourth
consecutive year that the line was awarded in all five categories.
Riviera offers Caribbean, Baltic
and Mediterranean sailings, and will begin sailing to Cuba in 2019.
- Celestyal Cruises won two awards in the Mid-Size Category for
its Celestyal Crystal – Best Shore Excursions and Best
for Value. The ship sailed Cuba year-round, but will be redeployed to
sail in the Mediterranean later in 2018.
Small-Mid Ship Category
- Viking Ocean Cruises was the runaway winner in the Small-Mid
Category, winning in every category but one – Viking Sea was named
Best Overall, Best Cabins, Best for Fitness & Recreation,
Best Shore Excursions and Best for Value; Viking Sky was
named Best Entertainment and Best Public Rooms; and
Viking Star was named Best Dining and Best Service.
Viking Sea was also named Best for First-Timers across all
size categories.
Small Ship Category
- Windstar Cruises won four awards in the Small Category – all
for different ships in its fleet. Star
Pride was named Best Cabins, Wind Spirit named
Best for Fitness & Recreation, Wind Star named Best
Service and Star Legend, Best Public Rooms. Wind Star
and Wind Spirit are both four-masted sailing ships, while
Star Pride and Star Legend are
luxury yachts.
- Silversea Cruises won three awards in the Small Category –
Best Overall, Best Shore Excursions and Best for
Value – for its 100-passenger Silver Galapagos. The ship is
all-inclusive and offers year-round Galapagos cruises.
The winners of the 8th annual Cruise Critic Cruisers'
Choice Awards are awarded in four ship size classes, based on
passenger capacity (Large: 2,000+ passengers; Mid-Size: 1,200 to
1,999 passengers; Small-Mid Size: 400- 1,199 passengers; Small:
Fewer than 400 passengers.) The rankings are calculated using
ratings published with user-submitted reviews on Cruise Critic.
First-place winners include:
Best Cruise Overall
Celebrity Equinox (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Riviera (Mid-Sized) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Silver Galapagos (Small) – Silversea Cruises
Best Cruise Ship Cabins
Harmony of the Seas (Large) – Royal Caribbean International
Riviera (Mid-Sized) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Star Pride (Small) – Windstar
Cruises
Best Cruise Ships for Dining
Celebrity Equinox (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Riviera (Mid-Sized) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Star (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
National Geographic Explorer (Small) – Lindblad Expeditions
Best Cruise Ships for Embarkation
Harmony of the Seas (Large) – Royal Caribbean International
Amsterdam (Mid-Sized) – Holland
America Line
Pacific Princess (Small-Mid) – Princess Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises
Best Cruise Ships for
Entertainment
Allure of the Seas (Large) –
Royal Caribbean International
Disney Wonder (Mid-Sized) – Disney Cruise Line
Viking Sky (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
L'Austral (Small) --
Ponant
Best Cruise Ships for Fitness &
Recreation
Harmony of the Seas (Large) –
Royal Caribbean International
Riviera (Mid-Sized) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Wind Spirit (Small) – Windstar Cruises
Best Cruise Ships for Public Rooms
Celebrity Equinox (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Riviera (Mid-Sized) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sky (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Star Legend (Small) – Windstar Cruises
Best Cruise Ships for Service
Celebrity Equinox (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Amsterdam (Mid-Sized) – Holland
America Line
Viking Star (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Wind Star (Small) – Windstar
Cruises
Best Cruise Ships for Shore Excursions
Carnival Breeze (Large) – Carnival Cruise Line
Celestyal Crystal (Mid-Sized) – Celestyal Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Silver Galapagos (Small) – Silversea Cruises
Best Cruise Ships for Value
Celebrity Silhouette (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Celestyal Crystal (Mid-Sized) – Celestyal Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Silver Galapagos (Small) – Silversea Cruises
Best Cruises for Families
Carnival Breeze – Carnival Cruise Line
Best for First Timers
Viking Sea – Viking Ocean Cruises
For the full list of winners, visit the 2018 Cruise Critic
Cruisers' Choice Awards. For photos of the winning ships,
click here.
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
CruiseCritic.com. There is no voting
component.
This list of winners represents Cruise Critic's Global Cruisers'
Choice Awards. To view the separate list of UK winners, click
here.
About Cruise Critic
Cruise Critic® is an online
cruise guide, offering a comprehensive resource for cruise
travelers, from first-time cruisers to avid cruise enthusiasts. The
site features more than 350,000 cruise reviews and hosts the
world's largest online cruise community where travelers 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.
TripAdvisor-branded sites are home to the world's largest travel
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