CRUISE CRITIC NAMES TOP PICKS
Carnival wins best value for money
Awards for “best of ” in the cruise industry are the creation of a variety of sources. For example, the public pick’s Condé Nast Traveler’s winners, Travel Weekly’s awards come from travel agents who sell cruises as well as other travel products. And Cruise Critic, the largest online and review website devoted to covering cruising full- time, has its editors pick the “best of.”
Cruisecritic. com is one of 23 travel websites owned by Trip Advisor. Its team of writers and editors attends all new ship launches and inaugurals, traditionally for ocean cruising but — with river cruising on rocket- like growth — has added rivers to the 2015 winners.
The Cruise Critic 2015 Editors’ Picks were announced last week.
There should be no disagreement on Best New Ocean Ship: Viking Star. Most cruise writers/ editors had this one picked from conception, at a lavish Beverly Hills soiree in May 2013.
Quantum of the Seas was the hands- down winner last year as the Viking Star was this year. The 930- passenger ship has all outside cabins, no casino and uses many of the complimentary amenities on river ships, like Wi- Fi, alcoholic beverages at lunch and dinner and free shore excursions — a unique and welcome change for the ocean industry.
Looking into my cruise crystal ball for 2016, my projected pick for Best New Ocean Ship is Regent Seven Seas Explorer, scheduled to launch in July.
In the Best Value- for- Money category, Carnival was the win- ner for the second consecutive year. Its river counterpart was Emerald Waterways.
Crystal wins more “best luxury” awards than most cruise lines so it’s no surprise as Cruise Critic’s choice. However, Disney — last year’s Best for Families winner — surprisingly finished behind Royal Caribbean, which also won Best Entertainment and Best Suites.
Azamara won for Best Itineraries and Best Shore Excursions with the gifted Claudius Docekal, Azamara’s man behind both categories before taking his talents to Crystal Cruises. His legacy with Azamara remains through 2017.
Windstar was a double winner for Best Refurbishment ( Star Breeze) and repeated as Best for Romance.
The fast- growing adventure category went to Seattle based Un- Cruise Adventures, a perfect name for this fleet of small ships, expedition vessels and boutique yachts ranging in size from 22 to 88 passengers that cruise from Alaska to Central America, Hawaii and the Columbia and Snake rivers.
OTHER OCEAN-CRUISE WINNERSOF THE CRUISE CRITICEDITORS’ PICKS:
Celebrity Cruises: Best Dining Disney: Best Inside Cabins MSC Cruises: Best Standard Cabins Norwegian: Best Nightlife Port Canaveral: Best North American Homeport ( the editors might want to consider Vancouver next year, just saying)
OTHER RIVER-CRUISE WINNERS:
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises: Best River Line, Best New River Ship ( Marie Theresa), Best Shore Excursions Ama Waterways: Best Dining, Best for Active Cruisers Avalon: Best Cabins ( with their suite cabins and beds that face the water) Viking: Best Itineraries ( the world’s largest river line)
I hope that readers who are cruising now pick this up at portsandbows. com because it makes for interesting conversation when you’re on a ship, especially on a sea day. Visit portsandbows. com, sponsored by Expedia CruiseShipCenters, 1- 800- 707- 7327, www. cruiseshipcenters. com, f or daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind- the- scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up f or an email newsletter on the site f or even more cruise inf ormation. Phil Reimer may be contacted directly at portsandbows@ gmail. com.