Best and worst cruise lines

Whether you’re planning to sail the Med, the Caribbean or further afield, if you’re a novice or have started to question your decades-long loyalty to the same brand, it pays to do you research into the best and worst cruise lines.

Our ratings are driven by thousands of cruise line guests rating their experience of the facilities onboard, the cabin, food and drink and customer service so you can avoid finding yourself queuing for the restaurant every morning or being ripped off over tips.  

From luxury small-ship cruises to big name brands with full entertainment and leisure facilities, we know from guests that the cruise lines rated best are always those that have the best passenger to space ratio onboard. See the full results below to find out which cruise lines give you room and which ones pack guests onboard. 

Find out how to find the best cruise deals.

Cruise lines survey results
Brand	WRP	Customer service	Passenger-to-space ratio	On-board facilities	Cabins	Food and drink	Customer score
							93%
							88%
							87%
							85%
							85%
							84%
							84%
							82%
							80%
							80%
							76%
							76%
							76%
							71%
							71%
							71%
							70%
							69%
							68%
							57%

Best cruise companies overview

In our annual survey we ask thousands of cruise customers about their experiences when booking and aboard their ship, to be sure that Which? Recommended Providers are the best cruise companies on the water.

Our survey doesn’t just reveal which cruise line will give you excellent value for money and customer service, but also what the social atmosphere feels like on board, what the food tastes like and how imaginative the excursions are. Customers share their real experiences so we can tell you which brands feature spas, planetariums and libraries on-board and the ones with cabins you’ll struggle to tear yourself away from. Not only this but we highlight which ships feel crowded, overpriced, or in need of a refresh.

Discover the results of our cruise survey with ratings for all the major brands including P&O, Fred Olsen, Saga, Royal Caribbean, Cunard, Marella and Viking.

To get all of this information, join Which? and access all of our reviews of cruise companies.

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What makes a Which? Recommended Provider?  

Which? Recommended Providers are the cream of the crop and the accolade is only given to cruise lines that achieve a customer score of 70% or above.  That’s not all. We know that pricing transparency is important, so we only give the award to the companies that provide clear information about gratuities, excursions and drinks at the booking stage. After all, it's hard for customers to compare prices if they can't find these details before parting with their cash. If the companies fall down in more than one area, they’re not eligible to be Which? Recommended Providers, whatever score they receive in the survey.  Which? is independent - we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We don’t take advertising and we buy all the products that we test ourselves, so our advice helps you to make the right choice first time and avoid costly mistakes