Unique Cruiseline.com 2017 Members’ Choice Cruise Industry Awards Analysis

Cruiseline.com claims to be the largest source of verified cruise reviews, having ensured that those who submit have actually traveled on the ships they rank, and it has recently revealed the results of its 2017 Members’ Choice Cruise Industry Awards. The top three winners, in descending order, are listed for each of 18 categories ranging from the usual Best Mainstream Cruise Line to the distinct Most Improved Ship, as determined by over 16,000 reviews.

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Best Mainstream Cruise Line

What's interesting is that Celebrity Cruises comes in first ahead of Disney Cruise Line and Holland America Line since the three can be grouped together in the premium cruise market along with Princess Cruises. They are not usually considered standard lines with the exception of Disney which is often put against the likes of Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International despite often bettering such competition.

Best Line for First Timers

More expectedly, Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line rank the highest for those looking to try a cruise for the first time. In fact, Carnival is amusingly referred to sometimes as the gateway drug to cruising.

Best Line for Couples

Following my previous point, Celebrity Cruises again comes ahead of Holland America Line and Princess Cruises, all premium lines, for couples. Clearly, abstractly presented celebrity and princess lifestyles speak to romance.

READ MORE: The Cruise Winners of Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2016

Best Line for Kids and Best Line for Teens

Coming in first, second and third place for the kids and teens categories are Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line; and Royal Caribbean International, Carnival Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line respectively. It would seem Carnival and Disney resonate with both age groups, but only Norwegian impresses children and Royal Caribbean teens—at least, according to these results.

Best Ship Quality

Ranking highest for ship quality are Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Cunard Line. At least in terms of maintenance, I would agree with Disney but question the other two as Crystal Cruises and MSC Cruises would be more accurate companions.

Best Line for Onboard Activities, Food & Dining, Entertainment, Service & Staff and Cabins

Looking at categories that are very similar to those I divide my own cruise ship reviews by are the winners for activities to accommodations. Royal Caribbean International, Disney Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises topped Onboard Activities, good for the first and third for being corporate cousins, and Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Cunard Line excelled in Food & Dining, good for Disney which often doesn't get the credit it deserves.

Meanwhile, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line aced the Entertainment category as the first two are clearly the leaders in raising the bar industry wide, and Norwegian is not far behind in regards to Broadway caliber shows. Following a trend is Celebrity Cruises leading Disney Cruise Line and Holland America Line for the top brands for Service & Staff, and Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Cunard Line similarly win for Cabins.

READ MORE: The Conde Nast Traveler Best Cruise Lines Awards 2016 Speak Volumes

Best New Ship of 2016

Getting love are new ships Carnival Vista from Carnival Cruise Line, Harmony of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International and Koningsdam from Holland America Line, and it’s nice to see the deserving latter which has been inexplicably snubbed from several other awards.

Most Improved Ship and Line

Also boosting Holland America Line’s image is its Zuiderdam listed as the Most Improved Ship ahead of Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, both from Norwegian Cruise Line. What’s more, Celebrity Cruises, perhaps explaining its high rankings across the board, came in first ahead of Costa Cruises and Disney Cruise Line as Most Improved Line. The latter perhaps comes in having raised the bar with the newly redesigned Disney Wonder and excellent “Star Wars” programming aboard the Disney Fantasy.

Best U.S. Embarkation Port

Also in Disney Cruise Line’s favor is that its most frequented homeport of Port Canaveral, Florida came in the top spot before Seattle, Washington and New Orleans, Louisiana, both of which are other great U.S. embarkation and disembarkation turnarounds.

Best Caribbean, Alaska and Europe Destinations

The last three categories cover destinations themselves with Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Cozumel, Mexico and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas hitting it out of the park for the Caribbean; Glacier Bay National Park; Juneau and Skagway for Alaska and Dubrovnik, Croatia; Rhodes, Greece and Venice, Italy for Europe. With so many more ports-of-call than there are cruise ships, these are even more difficult to qualify but good calls all the way around.

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