The 11 Best Luxury Cruise Lines, According to T+L's Experts

Table Of Content

• The 9 best luxury cruise lines for elegance and exclusivity
• Silver Moon, Silversea Cruises
• Best Luxury Expedition Cruise: Aurora Expeditions, Sylvia Earle
• These are just a few of the best luxury cruise lines, in no particular order.
• Oceania Cruises
• Book a trip with one of the best luxury cruise lines today

Guests must be 18 years or older, which makes this a great option for couples or older families who can truly appreciate the experience. Oceania offers several unique travel options, including a 180-day “Around the World” cruise that visits South America, the South Pacific, Asia, and Europe. The ships at Oceania range in size, holding anywhere from 670 to 1,250 guests and 400 to 800 staff members. The first thing you notice about Viking Venus is its open, airy feel and the care put into the design of every space onboard. All accommodations include a veranda, and even the tightest quarters -- the Deluxe Veranda and the Veranda categories -- are comfortably sized at 270 square feet. Larger accommodations include the Penthouse Veranda at 338 square feet, the 405-square-foot Penthouse Junior Suite and the Explorer Suite, which spans 757 to 1,163 square feet, including balcony.

The 9 best luxury cruise lines for elegance and exclusivity

Setting sail on a luxury cruise is a dreamy escape that promises comfort, indulgence, and adventure. If you are thinking about heading out to sea, choosing the right cruise line can make all of the difference. From extravagant amenities and world-class cuisine to personalized service and gorgeous destinations, the best luxury cruise lines redefine the notion of a vacation at sea. Whether you seek relaxation, adventure, or a blend of both, these are the finest offerings of the high seas. Spaces inside are contemporary, and the ship is easily one of the best expedition options for adventurous luxury travelers.

Silver Moon, Silversea Cruises

With ultra-luxury ocean cruises to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and Alaska, Seabourn Cruise Line provides travelers with a one-of-a-kind experience. The cruise line considers the preferences of guests, providing customized, hand-selected itineraries. A few of the amenities you can enjoy when traveling with Seabourn Cruise Line include intimate ships with a yacht-like atmosphere, ocean-front suites, complimentary caviar, and extraordinary entertainment experiences.

Best Luxury Expedition Cruise: Aurora Expeditions, Sylvia Earle

This decadent spread includes a Champagne toast and buffet loaded with caviar and other snacks, all to be enjoyed during a shoreside beach barbecue. Complimentary choices on Silver Moon include Asian-fusion Indochine, Italian La Terrazza, seafood grill Atlantide, tapas restaurant and bar Silver Note, pizza place Spaccanapoli, and The Grill, a grill-your-own meat venue. During the day, La Terrazza is the ship's buffet, offering breakfast and lunch.

Long gone are the days where overcrowded ships with overstimulating amenities are your only cruising option. They certainly still exist, yes, but now there’s a much stronger and more accessible market for luxury charters. Combining lavish amenities and refined comforts with the thrill of exploration, the best luxury cruises have taken white-glove service to the sea. In fact, luxury cruising has become so in demand that many esteemed hospitality brands—like the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Aman—have recently launched branded yacht collections of their own. Viking Ocean Cruises epitomizes the pinnacle of luxury travel on the high seas, seamlessly blending Scandinavian elegance with high-quality service and innovative design.

Oceania Cruises

Surprisingly, there is a long list of TSA prohibited items that are strictly banned from being stowed away in the checked compartment of a plane. So, before you zip up your suitcase and bid farewell to your checked bag, let’s explore what items must remain out of sight during your journey. Silversea Cruises offers luxury trips to popular destinations in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, as well as unique locations such as Antarctica and Greenland. Instead, in-room amenities -- think Belgian linens, down duvets, wool blankets and Bvlgari bath products -- are the focus.

Book a trip with one of the best luxury cruise lines today

Cabins may not have an overtly opulent feel, but they have all the right touches, including balconies in every room, quiet-closing drawers, heated bathroom floors and plentiful USB ports and outlets. The ship is immersed in all things Polynesian, with a troupe of local performers on board to entertain guests with local song, dance and craft lessons.

Best Luxury River Cruise: Viking River Cruises,Viking Osiris

Celebrity Beyond, which debuted in 2022, accommodates 3,260 guests has 32 bars and restaurants, like Le Voyage by chef Daniel Boulud, and two-story villas on board. And if you love balconies, the suites on Regent Seven Seas Splendor are some of the largest afloat, ranging from 83 to 1,292 square feet. Granite and Italian marble are found all over, and there are almost 500 chandeliers made of Czech crystal and glass throughout the ship.

Viking Ocean Cruises

Paired with the Nile as a backdrop, you’ll find yourself absorbing more than you can have possibly imagined. Built for just 82 passengers, the intimate ship is a modern vessel built specifically for the Nile, with intentional Scandinavian design details. It has a light and bright feel, encouraging outdoor exploration of the riverbanks through plenty of outdoor decks.

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Thoughtful touches in all cabins include bedside USB ports, quiet-closing drawers, heated bathroom floors and anti-fog mirrors. Viking's fares are inclusive but not all-inclusive, and its ships sport clean Scandinavian design rather than opulent decor. Necessities such as Wi-Fi and self-serve laundry are complimentary, as are all nonalcoholic beverages and beer and wine with lunch and dinner.

Passengers always get a kick out of the monogrammed pajamas that are laid out in their stateroom upon arrival. Beautiful interiors and intuitive spaces that are designed for the way people want to gather and relax are hallmarks of Seabourn Ovation's indoor and outdoor public areas, which were created by renowned designer Adam D. Tihany. All 300 suites have balconies that are perfect for enjoying breakfast, drinks or dinner alfresco. Seabourn's newest ship, Seabourn Ovation, is the second in the line's Encore Class, the next generation of Seabourn's popular Odyssey-class ships. If you're willing to pay, up to 24 passengers a night can enjoy a seven-course meal at La Reserve by Wine Spectator. As you can imagine, the wine pairings are of special note there and three menus are available.

Perks included in the cruise fare may include beverages, Wi-Fi, fresh flowers, extraordinary pampering and, in some cases, butler service. Exquisite cuisine is prepared a la minute and accompanied by pours of fine wines. When you rest your head, it's on a luxury mattress topped with the finest linens. Foodies might also wish to pay a visit to the well-equipped Culinary Center onboard Oceania Riviera (as well as on twin sister ship Oceania Marina).

Viking Cruises is a river and ocean cruise line that recently added expedition sailings and the Great Lakes trips to its repertoire. "T+L readers rave about the consistency of Viking's vessels and their Scandinavian design," cruise expert Fran Golden reported when Viking once again topped T+L's World's Best Awards last year. Viking came in at No. 1 in T+L's best mid-size ship category and river cruise category. Golden said the WBA Hall of Fame honoree's 50 river "longships" are "light-filled floating boutique hotels." And let's not forget that the cruise line offers its signature Champagne and Caviar Splash on Caribbean voyages.

It's a self-contained cooking school at sea that offers hands-on experience at 12 individual cooking stations (two people per station). Classes focusing on a variety of topics do incur an extra fee, but get rave reviews from past participants. Guests can enjoy dining in multiple onboard venues, plus room service, for no extra cost. Don't miss the Italian Manfredi's or a gorgeous afternoon tea spread in the glass-enclosed Wintergarden. That's the approach upscale cruise line Oceania Cruises takes with its fleet of seven 648- to 1,238-passenger ships (the last of which, Oceania Vista, just debuted in May 2023 and is its most elegant yet). The line's two newest ships, the 264-passenger Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit, are built with a tough "polar class" design to operate in the ice-filled waters of the Arctic and Antarctica.

In fact, Silversea's butlers take white-glove service to a whole new level — they'll handle your laundry with more care than you do, scour port towns to find your favorite tastes of home, and even help you pack and unpack your suitcase. Further, Silversea's new culinary program, nicknamed S.A.L.T. (for Sea and Land Taste), brings the taste of destinations on board through cooking classes. Of course, there's no need to cook for yourself aboard a Silversea ship, as each one features several restaurants with multi-course menus to whet your appetite every night. Oceania Cruises has just seven ships, but the debut of the brand-new Oceania Vista catapults this cruise line into the luxury division. The cruise line's relatively new Go Local shore excursions for small groups bring travelers to under-the-radar destinations, T+L contributing editor and long-time cruiser Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon reported recently. Her 2022 cruise on Riviera included 70 excursions "from canoeing Croatia’s Cetina River to cooking classes in Athens."