Disney sails away with awards haul
The world’s most famous Mickey is going to have to call on some of his Disney buddies to help him haul away the awards that their cruise ships stacked up last week. One of the smallest cruise lines, with just four ships, Disney walked off with 11 first- place finishes.
Cruise Critic, in its sixth annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards, picked the best ships ( small, medium and large) in 12 categories. Disney’s 11 “gold medals” were in both the “large” and “medium” competition.
Readers of cruising ’s largest community/ social media site — cruisecritic. com — are the judges. While Cruise Critic has professional editor reviewers, they leave this up to the readers ... maybe some of you voted.
Capacity determines ship sizes. Large is 2,000- plus passengers. Medium is 1,200 to 1,999. Small is below 1,200.
The top three in all 12 categories are announced ( you can see the entire list at portsandbows. com).
What makes Disney’s dominance so startling is that nine of the large- ship categories went to sister ships Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. The Wonder won twice in the medium competition.
The Dream claimed the coveted “best cruises overall” title, and was also chosen best for cabins, entertainment, public rooms, service and ( no surprise here) families. The Fantasy scooped up dining, embarkation and fitness and recreation. The Wonder won for best entertainment and best service on medium- size ships.
Viking Star, the well- known river line’s first ocean ship, was a big small- ship winner. My personal “ship of the year” in 2015 with its all- balcony staterooms, no casino, large public areas, free excursions and beer and wine with lunch and dinner won three times, for best ship for first- timers, staterooms and best public rooms. The Star’s sister,
the Viking Sea, arrives this year.
Oceania, a perennial winner in award competitions, had sister ships Riviera and Marina win four times in the medium category, while Nautica won a small- ship award.
Best overall for small ships was Celebrity’s Xpedition, which cruises to the Galapagos, and Holland America’s Maasdam was tops in medium- size. Maasdam also picked up the important “best value” award, which Island Windjammers Sagitta won among small ships and Carnival among large.
I’ve cruised twice with Disney — sans grandchildren. It’s a given Disney is the creme- de- la- creme for families. Like the theme parks, it’s expensive but offers service, quality and meticulous detail in all aspects that make it suitable for grown- ups.
With adults- only restaurants, bars and dancing, Disney is keenly aware that when kids go to bed, adults deserve a chance to play. Palo and Remy are for-fee restaurants that take family cruise food to a new level.
Embrace your inner child and you will enjoy Disney as much as the kids.