Topic: Celebrity Cruises Move Up to Take Top Spot as Best Cruise Line

Official Press Release:

With talk of recession still very much in the news, the cruise industry continues to buck the trend with steady growth supported by high levels of customer satisfaction. The commonly held belief that once you get someone to try a cruise, they’re hooked, seems to be holding up well as the number of new to cruising passengers is up too.

For the fourth year, the www.cruise.co.uk ‘Cruise Passenger Ratings Survey’ has shown what’s popular with UK based passengers including some new entrants and old favourites continuing to show strong performance. The survey is the definitive guide to cruising, written for and by UK cruisers, and includes 6500 new passenger reviews since January 2011, showing what UK passengers really think about their cruising experience.

Over the last four years visitors to the cruise.co.uk web site have been asked to rate operators and their ships in eight different key categories, as part of the review process, including Best Cruise Line, Best Ship, Best Food, Best Entertainment, Best Accommodation, Best Service, Best for Kids/Families and Best Shore Excursions.

Seamus Conlon, Managing Director of www.cruise.co.uk said: “With another successful cruising year under our belts, our website continues to provide a worthwhile service to consumers looking to spend their holiday budget. Once again we see ships and companies moving up and down with winners and losers across the board.

“For the first time Celebrity Cruises has taken top spot as Best Cruise Line, making excellent progress in winning over the UK passenger market over the last three years. Not only are they top cruise line this year but they also command a top three position in five out of the eight categories including top spot for accommodation, held for the last three years, and probably one of the most important categories.

“We continue to see Thomson and Cunard well placed, delivering excellent products at different ends of the cruising spectrum. Their combined loyal following, as well as, great products have ensured they both have positions in a number of categories. Cunard’s Queen Victoria continues to hold on to its position as best cruise ship and best for food.

“P&O’s Ventura regains its position as best ship for families, although dropping in a number of other categories, with her sister ship Azura coming in third. The latter ship features in every section, showing its diverse appeal and strength across all categories. Four Royal Caribbean Ships are in the top 10 for families, showing how their activity based positioning wins over the growing family market. Surprisingly, Independence of the Seas, like Ventura, has dropped back in several categories which perhaps shows that tastes are changing with consumers. Big isn’t always best.”



Scores taken on the 3rd January 2011 – scores are shown in real time as and when browsers view the site.

Note: Each category is rated from one to five stars – the resulting average scores are continually updated as new reviews are added, showing the current top performers. These ratings come from real cruising experiences.

Do you agree with these scores?

Hi I really don't understand how certain cruise lines get a higher rating for shore excursions. In my experience they provide very similar if not indentical packages and often employ the the same local operators to carry out these excursions. I find them all overpriced but if asked to vote I would for opt for Thomsons (their prices are slightly lower).
However, my main criticism of these polls is that some peolpe infer that the ship/cruisline coming out on top is the best, it isn't always. It's a good measure of assessing the best they have experienced but is less accurate at finding the "best cruise ship/line".

Do I agree?

Can't really say. We sailed on Oriana on her maiden Med. cruise and the only other ship I've sailed on in the list is Victoria and she ticks all our boxes with bells on!

Nice to see Thomson come top in what i most look for in a cruise.
'Entertainment & Service'.
But i knew they would.
JC

QUOTE:

Nice to see Thomson come top in what i most look for in a cruise.
'Entertainment & Service'.
But i knew they would.
JC

Obviously very easily pleased at the budget end JC. I'll stick with the good food for now.

QUOTE:

Nice to see Thomson come top in what i most look for in a cruise.
'Entertainment & Service'.
But i knew they would.
JC

QUOTE:

Obviously very easily pleased at the budget end JC. I'll stick with the good food for now.

Actually seeing Thomson in that survey position was brought back home to me later yesterday evening while I was catching up on newspapers I had missed while away cruising.



Says it all really.

it doesn't matter about polls, what a cruise costs or if it is 'upmarket' or 'budget', all that matters is that you have a great cruise. no one should look down on what cruiseline someone prefers after all everyone's taste if different.

Well said, Issy. We all have differing reasons why we choose a ship- indeed, why we cruise at all, and what is right for one is so wrong for another.
Jo.

QUOTE:

Obviously very easily pleased at the budget end JC. I'll stick with the good food for now.

Richard, always thought you were a P & O man. In that case who are you referring to when you mention Good Food?

Have only done 1 cruise with celebrity on the summit, enjoyed the cruise and the ship but what sticks in my mind is the expensive drink prices for example £35-£40 for a average bottle of wine, ship lacking much atmosphere in the evenings with waiters walking round in circles looking for someone, anyone in fact to buy a drink. Also excursions if you wanted a day tour of Rome or Florence (not that i did but many do rely on the ships excursions) it was working out at about £240 per person absolutely incredible