Some of the top luxury cruise lines in the cruise industry today include: Seabourn Cruises, Sea Dream Yacht Club, Silversea Cruises, Cunard Line, Crystal Cruises, and Radisson Seven Seas. The vast majority of luxury ships will accommodate anywhere from 200-300 passengers, 110 for Sea Dream Yacht Club.
About Luxury Cruises
A luxury cruise is like no other cruise in the world. Some of the immediate differences you will notice on luxury cruises is the types of passengers on a luxury cruise are different than on a regular cruise; the destinations and ports of call are typically exotic or remote; the excursions lean towards the elaborate and expensive; and even the ships are different. You won’t feel like you’re just a face in the crowd. On a luxury cruise you will feel like the staff is there to cater to you and only you.
While this highly desirable area of cruise travel is distinctly different from other areas of cruise travel, a few of the amenities on luxury cruise lines are similar to others. Most luxury cruise lines will accommodate smaller numbers of passengers, which makes it easier to offer personalized service, privacy, and a more intimate environment. However, there are several lines that cater to bigger crowds of luxury seekers, but they are far and few between. Crystal Cruises, for example, features larger ships for its luxury cruises, but they still manage to offer stellar service to satisfied (repeat) customers. Cunard Cruise Line is another example of the large ship/luxury cruise. They have larger crowds, but the luxury service and feel doesn’t suffer.
Here’s what you can expect on a luxury cruise:
·Exotic Destinations and Unique Ports of Call such as Africa, Asia, New Zealand, Northern Europe, and South America with places like Athens, Copenhagen, Dubai, Lisbon, Tahiti, and Mumbai
·Elaborate Spa Services
·Butler Service
·World Class Cuisine Served in a Formal Setting
·Formal Nights
·Over the Top Excursions
·Designer and Name Brand Products in your Suite
·Sophisticated Entertainment
·Lots of Leisure Time — Meaning No Schedules
·Guest Lectures
·Privacy
·All-Inclusive or Included-Amenities such as Alcohol, Excursions, etc.
What you won’t find on luxury cruise lines are large crowds, large families with kids, planned or scheduled “family reunion” type activities, off-the-wall entertainment, bustling casinos, noisy nightclubs and discos, common ports of call, and tasteless comedy acts.
If you would like to book a cruise on a luxury cruise line today, contact the cruise line directly or contact a cruise travel specialist. If you would love to book a luxury cruise, but you can’t afford one, there are several options available to you. Princess Cruises and Holland America Line both have “luxury cruise” offerings, but prices are far less than a regular luxury cruise. Contact Princess Cruises or Holland America directly for details.
Want to find out more about any given luxury cruise line? Visit any of the top cruise review websites listed below:
·Cruisecritic.com
·Cruisereviewsonline.com
·Cruisereport.com
·Cruisedirectonline.com
·Cruisemates.com
Cruisecritic.com offers more than just reviews, this site has several search functions to help you find everything from bargains and discounts to theme cruises, and exotic itineraries. The site also includes features, news, planning tools, and a variety of cruise message boards where fellow cruisers can exchange stories and information.
Reviews, ratings, rankings, and popularity contests — at Cruisereviewsonline.com find out which cruise ships are at the top and which ones are not. Get other information on cruise lines, as well as information, ratings and rankings on embarkation ports, and ports-of-call.
Cruisereport.com offers the lowdown on cruise lines from A to Z. Unbiased reviews, cruise searches, quotes, and feature articles are just a few of the sites extras. You can also search for “the perfect cruise,” and browse through news pieces about cruising. After checking out their ratings and reviews, you can also search for discounts and deals. With more than 50,000 visitors per month, Cruisereport.com has information on roughly 8,500 current sailings.
Cruisedirectonline.com relies on reader surveys to help keep reviews & ratings in check. In addition to cruise ship reviews and ratings, visitors to the site will find top ten and top thirty lists, as well as feature articles about the best of the best in the world of cruises. The site has other information about discounts, as well as information on roughly 12,000 sailings. Cruise Direct Online has been featured in Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine, and on MSNBC, CNBC, MSN Money, and more.
Cruisemates.com offers short reviews and ratings. The two types of ratings include: star ratings and value ratings. Star ratings are based on one question — “how good is this ship?” One star is the worst, five stars is the best. Cruisemates.com takes everything from age and accommodations to food, service, and entertainment into account when rating the worlds cruise ships. Value ratings or “thumbs up” ratings are all about the “Bang for your Buck.” Five thumbs up means the ship is an excellent value while one thumb up means you won’t find much of anything that resembles a value here.