Travel + Leisure Names Best Cruise Lines for 2026

Every year, Travel + Leisure releases its lists of the best of the best in travel, from hotels to airlines, 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 are only four new entries: Paul Gauguin Cruises on the list of best small cruise lines, Metropolitan Touring and Ecoventura on the list of intimate ocean cruise lines, and Emerald Cruises on the list of top river cruise ships. At the same time, cruise lines including Seabourn, American Cruise Lines, SeaDream Yacht Club, and PONANT no longer appear in any of the lists.

The most notable changes come in the intimate cruise lines and river cruise sections.

The list of intimate ocean cruise lines is the most changed from last year. While Quasar Expeditions and Aqua Expeditions retain their #1 and #2 spots, respectively, there was a lot of movement throughout the rest of the list. Metropolitan debuts on the list at #3 and Ecoventura debuts at #4. Silversea Cruises, which is also on the small ocean cruise lines list, grabs the #7 spot on this list after not being on it last year. Variety Cruises moves from #9 in 2025 to #6 this year. Overseas Adventure Travel falls from #3 last year to #5 this year, National Geographic-Lindblad Expedition falls from #4 last year to #8 this year, and Atlas Ocean Voyages moves from #8 to #9. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, which, like Silversea, is also on the small cruise line list, retains its #10 spot on this list. SeaDream Yacht Club and PONANT both fall off the list entirely.

On the river list, Oberoi retains its top position but several other river cruise lines move around, some quite dramatically. Avalon Waterways moves from the #10 spot in 2025 to #8 this year, Viking moves from #7 to #4, Grand Circle Cruise Line moves from #2 to #5, and Emerald enters the list at #10. American Cruise Line drops out of the list entirely and, for a second year in a row, Riverside Luxury Cruises remains off of the list.

Another notable change came in the list of five best small ocean cruise lines, where the introduction of Paul Gauguin Cruises knocks Seabourn off the list. While Viking Expedition retains its top spot, the rest of the list shuffles with The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection moving from #3 in 2025 to #2 this year, Windstar Cruises moving from #2 last year to #3 this year, and Silversea Cruises moving from #5 to #4. Paul Gauguin debuts at #5.

Entrants on the mega-ship cruise lines list remained the same with small switches in positions. Virgin Voyages and Celebrity Cruises retain their #1 and #2 spots, respectively, while Costa Cruises moves from #3 to #5. Princess Cruises moves into the #3 spot and Royal Caribbean moves from #5 to #4.

Likewise, the large cruise ship list stays relatively the same with some jockeying of position for Holland America (from #3 to #2), Celebrity Cruises (from #4 to #3), and Cunard (from #2 to #4).

There were few changes in the list of mid-size ocean cruise lines, where Crystal, Explora Journeys, and Viking retain the top three spots. Silversea moves up from #6 to #4, Regent drops from #4 to 6, Azamara goes from #8 to #7, and Oceania from #7 to #8.  

Here are the best cruise lines and ships for 2026, as voted by Travel & Leisure readers.

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

1. Virgin Voyages
2. Celebrity Cruises
3. Princess Cruises
4. Royal Caribbean International
5. Costa Cruises

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

1. Disney Cruise Line
2. Holland America Line
3. Celebrity Cruises
4. Cunard
5. MSC Cruises

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

1. Crystal
2. Explora Journeys
3. Viking
4. Silversea Cruises
5. Seabourn
6. Regent Seven Seas Cruises
7. Azamara Cruises
8. Oceania Cruises
9. Holland America Line
10. Celestyal

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

1. Viking Expedition
2. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
3. Windstar Cruises
4. Silversea Cruises
5. Paul Gauguin Cruises

Top 10 Intimate Ocean Cruise Lines (<150 cabins)

1. Quasar Expeditions
2. Aqua Expeditions
3. Metropolitan Touring
4. Ecoventura
5. Overseas Adventure Travel
6. Variety Cruises
7. Silversea Cruises
8. National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions
9. Atlas Ocean Voyages
10. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection

Top 10 River Cruise Lines

1. The Oberoi Nile Cruises
2. Aqua Expeditions
3. Tauck
4. Viking
5. Grand Circle Cruise Line
6. AmaWaterways
7. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
8. Avalon Waterways
9. Scenic Luxury Cruises
10. Emerald Cruises