Travel + Leisure Names Best Cruise Lines for 2025

Every year, Travel + Leisure releases its lists of the best of the best in travel, from hotels to airlines to car rental companies, and more, including cruise lines. As voted on by readers, the list includes cruise lines in several categories and based on multiple criteria including cabins, food, service, itineraries, excursions, value, and more.

As is typical, most of the results are unsurprising and there were only a handful of new entries, SeaDream Yacht Club and Atlas Ocean Voyages on the list of top “intimate” cruise ships, among them.

One notable result was the move from #3 to #1 for Oberoi Nile Cruises on the top river cruise lines list. This lesser-known, niche line got a nearly perfect score of 99.07 – the highest of any cruise line on any of the lists. Other surprising changes on that list: Avalon Waterways dropped from #2 to #10 and Riverside Luxury Cruises fell off the list.

Other surprising results can be found within the mega and midsized ship lists. On the mega list, Costa Cruises debuted at #3 (knocking Norwegian Cruise Line off the list entirely), and on the mid-sized list, Viking dropped from #1 to #3, pushed down by Crystal (#1) and Explora Journeys, which retained its #2 spot.

There were other notable changes within some of the categories. On the list of top 10 intimate ocean cruise lines, Aqua Expeditions moved up a spot to #2, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection went from #7 to #9, and Celebrity’s Galapagos product, plus Seabourn, and Silversea fell off entirely.

In the small-ship list, Windstar Cruises moved from #3 to #2, and both HX and Paul Gauguin Cruises fell off – replaced by The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Seabourn.

Here are the best cruise lines and ships for 2025, as voted by Travel & Leisure readers.

Top 5 Mega-Ship Ocean Cruise Lines (>1,500 cabins)

1. Virgin Voyages (94.8)
2. Celebrity Cruises (84.48)
3. Costa Cruises (83.0)
4. Princess Cruises (80.89)
5. Royal Caribbean International (80.49)

Top 5 Large Ocean Cruise Lines (800 to 1,399 cabins)

1. Disney Cruise Line (88.33)
2. Cunard (85.04)
3. Holland America Line (83.62)
4. Celebrity Cruises (82.60)
5. MSC Cruises (80.71)

Top 10 Mid-Size Ocean Cruise Lines (300 to 799 cabins)

1. Crystal (94.85)
2. Explora Journeys (92.98)
3. Viking (92.46)
4. Regent Seven Seas Cruises (90.14)
5. Seabourn (89.35)
6. Silversea (88.68)
7. Oceania Cruises (87.08)
8. Azamara (86.79)
9. Holland America Line (85.95)
10. Celestyal Cruises (83.48)

Top 5 Small Ocean Cruise Lines (150 to 299 cabins)

1. Viking Expedition (97.13)
2. Windstar Cruises (91.93)
3. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (91.83)
4. Seabourn (90.66)
5. Silversea (88.72)

Top 10 Intimate Ocean Cruise Lines (<150 cabins)

1. Quasar Expeditions (98.41)
2. Aqua Expeditions (97.02)
3. Overseas Adventure Travel (96.96)
4. National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions (93.93)
5. SeaDream Yacht Club (93.56)
6. Windstar Cruises (92.90)
7. PONANT (91.82)
8. Atlas Ocean Voyages (91.72)
9. Variety Cruises (91.67)
10. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (90.70)

Top 10 River Cruise Lines

1. The Oberoi Nile Cruises (99.07)
2. Grand Circle Cruise Line (97.37)
3. Aqua Expeditions (96.93)
4. Tauck (96.0)
5. AmaWaterways (94.74)
6. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (93.50)
7. Viking (92.10)
8. Scenic (88.95)
9. American Cruise Lines (88.52)
10. Avalon Waterways (88.09)