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23 Feb 2024

Best and worst cruise lines

P&O, Celebrity Cruises, Fred Olsen, Cunard and more cruise lines as rated by guests. Find out which have five-star facilities, cabins and excursions — and which are better avoided

Which? Team

Our ocean cruise rankings reveal a huge difference in the quality of the experience on-board, so it always pays to do your research before booking – for 2024 and beyond.

The results are driven by thousands of guests rating their voyage – the cabin, facilities, excursions, food and drink and customer service – so you can avoid queuing for the restaurant every morning, or being ripped off over tips.

From luxury small-ship cruises to big-name brands with full entertainment and leisure facilities, the cruise lines rated top are always those that have the best passenger-to-space ratio on board. See the full results below to find out which companies provide enough room, and which ones pack you in like sardines.

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The best cruise lines

It’s no coincidence that this year’s top-rated ocean cruise companies are all-inclusive. Some brands lure you in with a low headline price, but then slap on costly extras – for drinks, meals, excursions and service charges – once you’re on board.

Noble Caledonia, Viking and Saga, which include everything from wi-fi to excursions in the headline fare, were among the top-ranking brands. Tui’s highly rated cruise line, Marella Cruises, has a low average price per night, which includes drinks and tips. No wonder customers think its cruises are great value.

Read the full reviews for Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) Noble Caledonia, Viking, Marella Cruises and Saga.

Find out how to get the best cruise deals.

Ocean cruise lines rated

In the table below, we show the latest results from our survey of Which? members.


RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Noble Caledonia Ocean Cruises	90%	Read full Noble Caledonia review	£675	n/a		n/a	n/a
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Viking Ocean Cruises	87%	Read full Viking Ocean Cruises review	£413
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Saga Ocean Cruises	85%	Read full Saga Ocean Cruises review	£351
Seabourn	84%	n/a	£498		n/a	n/a	n/a
Oceania Cruises	83%	n/a	£601
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Marella	81%	Read full Marella review	£212
Regent Seven Seas	80%	n/a	£874

Using the table: In November 2022, we asked 1,727 members of Which? Connect and the general public about their experiences of cruise holidays in the past two years. For star ratings, n/a means too few responses to be awarded a rating. Indicative price/night Based on the brochure price of a Med/Norway cruise in a balcony cabin in June/July 2023, not including flights. Passenger-to-space ratio Number of people on ship compared with its size. On-board facilities Quality of communal facilities, such as cinema and gym. Cabin quality Cleanliness, condition of furniture, comfort. Port excursions quality Examples include organisation, availability and price. Value for money Price in relation to experience. Customer score Combines satisfaction and likelihood of recommending brand.

What makes a Which? Recommended Provider? cruise line

Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) are the cream of the crop and, as a minimum, we only consider giving the accolade to cruise lines with the highest customer scores.

That’s not all. We know that pricing transparency is important, so we only make a company a WRP if it provides clear information about gratuities, excursions and drinks at the booking stage. After all, it's hard for customers to compare prices if they can't find these details before parting with their cash. This year, WRP was withheld from Seabourn and Oceania due to lack of clarity on tipping and drinks costs.

All our Which? Recommended Providers also scored at least four out of five stars for both customer service and that all important passenger-to-space ratio.

Which? is independent. You can be sure that our recommendations are based on survey results and policy analysis only. We're not influenced by third parties and we don't accept freebies from product manufacturers, retailers or providers.

This article uses insights from the Which? Connect panel, collected from research activities with our members. Find out how to get involved