Choosing A Cruise Line

Choosing a cruise line used to depend a great deal on your budget and, although that is still true, the competitiveness of the cruise business has resulted in a much narrower price range in the premium and mainstream lines. Service and food will vary from one line to another, but this also can vary among the ships of a fleet, and even from one voyage to the next on the same ship, which goes to show the influence a good hotel manager or head chef or cabin steward can have on your cruise experience.

Generally speaking, a ship is rated according to its level of accommodations, facilities, maintenance and passenger service. There are many other factors which come into play when cruise critics rate ships, right down to the type of ingredients used in the kitchen (fresh versus frozen, etc.). One factor is the measurement of volume a ship has to the number of passengers on board and is known as the passenger / space ratio. This measurement of overall spaciousness is determined by taking the ship's tonnage (i.e. size) and dividing this by the ship's passenger capacity. The higher the ratio number, the more space there is on board per passenger. A ship carrying 2,000 passengers will feel relaxed and uncrowded if it has a high space ratio. Today's large ships almost always have a ratio of 35 (about 3500 cubic feet per passenger) or better and many are in the range of 40.

The following profiles of a selection of cruise lines are designed to quickly familiarize you with the various brands. We hope that after reading this, you will be able to narrow your choice to two or three lines and use this as a starting point when you visit a travel agent or the cruise line's website. An agent can give you important detail about each ship, itineraries and cabin choices and, although it pays to shop around to determine what pricing is being offered, experienced cruise agents are usually aware of the best deals available - both early bird specials and last minute promotions.
 

Cruise Line Classifications

Find out about the various classifications of ships from Budget to Luxury and what levels of service you can expect from each.

Cruise Line Companies

Detailed information on each cruise line with photos and links to websites.


 Carnival Lines
 Celebrity Cruises
 Costa Cruises
 Cruise West
 Crystal Cruises
 Cunard Line
 First European
 Holland America
 Norwegian Lines
 Orient Lines
 P & O Cruises
 Princess Cruises
 Regent 7 Seas
 Royal Caribbean
 Royal Olympic
 Seabourn lines
 Silversea
 Thomas Cook Nile
 Windstar Cruises
 World Explorer