South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
These South Florida cruise lines made U.S. News & World Report’s top rankings
Fort Lauderdale ranked as one of the top cities for LGBTQ holiday travel. This is the "gay beach" on A1A at Sebastian Street, near the Ritz-Carlton hotel. The area is unofficially designated because of its proximity to gay guesthouses on the west side of A1A.
U.S. News & World Report has released its rankings of the top cruise lines in the country for 2019, and South Florida has some bragging rights.
For the rankings, the magazine known for its annual listing of best colleges and universities looked at 169 ships in 17 top cruise lines and broke them down in six categories.
Factors included the companies’ reputation among passengers and travel experts, ship quality, price and itineraries and results of health assessments from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the “Best Cruise Line for the Money” ranking, Doral-based Celebrity Cruises, which is part of Royal Caribbean, was at the top. The magazine noted that Celebrity, which has 10 ships in its fleet, “offers the floating-city experience of larger ships (think: kids clubs and endless buffets) while maintaining the service standard and intimacy of smaller lines.” The publication also highlighted that the cruise line’s affordable rates “that can be as little as $199 per person, per night for the line's Caribbean voyages.”
Royal Caribbean came in second in that category. The magazine noted the cruise line for having “the ability to accommodate thousands of guests per ship allows the company to keep rates low.” The company’s biggest ship, Symphony of the Seas, which is now based at PortMiami, can hold 6,680 passengers. And Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line ranked third in that category.
Based in Celebration, Florida, Disney Cruise Line was No. 1 as “Best Cruise Line for Families” and No. 1 for “Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean.” Royal Caribbean came in second in the “Families” category followed by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line. The magazine said that Carnival ships are “outfitted with water parks, basketball courts and ropes courses to entertain kids of all ages.”
In other categories,Carnival-owned Seabourn Cruise Line was named the “Best Cruise Line in the Mediterranean” as well as the “Best Luxury Cruise Line.”