Top 25 Cruiselines of the World

Azamara Club Cruises’ three identical mid-size vessels deliver deluxe travel at excellent value. For Australia/New Zealand cruises: Azamara Pursuit visits December 2020 through February 2021, and Azamara Journey visits December 2021 for two months. T.... More »

Carnival Cruises, the world’s largest brand with 26 “Fun Ships”, carries one in every eight of the world’s cruise passengers. Carnival’s Spirit, Splendor and Legend (no tipping, and local tastes in entertainment) sail from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisb.... More »

Celebrity Cruises (with the “X” on the funnel) is a premium line. Celebrity’s eleventh cruise ship Celebrity Apex arriving April 2020. Explorer ships Celebrity Flora and Xpedition sail the Galapagos Islands. Celebrity’s Solstice cruises Australian - .... More »

Crystal Cruises is a luxury line with two medium-sized ships based in Los Angeles. Crystal Yacht Expedition Cruises has one small explorer ship, and a second, Crystal Endeavor, for delivery in 2020. Berlitz 2018 rated Crystal as the world’s Number 2 .... More »

Cunard Line is a British-American company based in Southampton, and a leading operator of transatlantic routes. Australia welcomes MS Queen Elizabeth during the summers of 2019-20 and 2020-2021, sailing out of Sydney and Melbourne, and RMS Queen Mary.... More »

Holland America Line (founded 1873) is American owned (since 1989), with head office in Seattle, one of nine cruise line brands of Carnival Corporation. HAL’s 14 ships, with dark blue hull and white superstructure, bear the suffix ‘-dam’, after dams .... More »

MSC Cruises is an Italian-Swiss company based in Geneva. It is the world’s largest privately owned cruise company and second youngest large resort ship line. MSC offers Italian-based ambience. Itineraries include all Europe, Atlantic coast of the Ame.... More »

Norwegian Cruise Line, based in Florida, was the originator of modern cruising and has a strong record for innovations. It is the fourth largest cruise line in the world. Family-oriented Norwegian Jewel sails from Sydney each summer (November through.... More »

Oceania Cruises, based in Florida, operates six luxury cruise ships on world-wide itineraries, up to 200 nights around the world (Insignia, annually). Four ships are the very popular 30,277 GT R-Class vessels – with that smaller ship ambiance couched.... More »

P&O Cruises Australia targets Australian tastes in food, humour, sports events, partying, families, and holiday seasons. It offers child-care programs, while adults have their private areas. Readers Digest voted P&O Cruises as one of Australia’s most.... More »

Founded 1837, the oldest cruise line in the world, P&O Cruises UK (a Carnival subsidiary) is based in Southampton, England. The line’s six vessels provide all the trimmings that British passengers have come to expect. Most cruises depart from Southam.... More »

Ponant (an archaic French naval term for "West") is a French cruise line based in Marseilles, operating nine ships with 64 to 264 guests for an international market. Two new explorer vessels arrive in 2020, and Le Commandant Charcot icebreaker in 202.... More »

Eight of the 18 ships in the Princess fleet will be based in or visit Australian ports in the next two years. Princess is a premium British-American cruise line based in California, and known for its TV “Love Boat” fame. Australia follows the USA mar.... More »

Regent Seven Seas Cruises, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has five luxury mid-size vessels aimed at up-market executive level of cruising. Four ships visit Australia annually during their World Cruises. Their all-suite ships, along with u.... More »

Royal Caribbean International, a Norwegian-American line based in Miami, has 26 ships, carrying 15% of the world’s cruise passengers. Its 26th ship is Spectrum of the Seas, built for the Asian market, sailing out of Hong Kong and Shanghai. RCI concen.... More »

Swiss-based Scenic is the only Australian owned and operated river cruising company in Europe. In 2019 Scenic Eclipse, a 228-guest “Discovery Yacht”, opened the line to ocean cruising. Scenic’s 12 five-star ‘Space-Ships’ sail the nine major rivers of.... More »

Seabourn is an ultra luxury cruise line headquartered in Seattle. Four of its ships are included in the ‘Top 10 Small Ships’ of Berlitz 2018. Seabourn has two vessels that include Australia and New Zealand in their itineraries. The readers of Travel .... More »

Silversea Cruises operates five luxury cruise ships named after Rolls Royce cars – Cloud, Wind, Shadow, Whisper and Spirit. Silversea Expeditions have three smaller dedicated explorer ships. With headquarters in Monaco and controlling stake held by R.... More »

Los Angeles-based Uniworld Boutique River Cruises will have a 2020 fleet of 21 luxurious boutique, hotel-style ships in Europe, Russia, Egypt, India, China, Vietnam and Cambodia. It has over 500 ports of call in more than 20 countries. While Uniworld.... More »

Viking Ocean Cruises launched in 2013 with headquarters in Los Angeles and Switzerland. The line attracts experienced travelers from the UK, USA and Australia with an interest in geography, culture and history. This luxury line includes most drinks, .... More »

Windstar Cruises, headquartered in Seattle, operates a fleet of six high class small cruise ships that carry 148 to 312 passengers. Three of the ships named ‘Wind’ are motor-sailing yachts, with four/five masts and computer-controlled sails. Hydrauli.... More »