Best Cruise Lines in the World: 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards

The names to know in the cruise industry—which is stronger than ever.Trends come and go, but here at Condé Nast Traveler, one thing never changes: your insatiable appetite for seeing the world. This year our readers cast an almighty 798,867 votes in our 39th Readers’ Choice Awards to tell us about the planet’s best travel experiences: You fell hard for palace hotels in Morocco, cruised down the Amazon, and got swept up in New York City’s exhilarating energy. Now, read on to find out where your favorites fall among the winners—and get inspired for where to go next, whether it's to a top-rated hotel or resort, or centered around a worthy cruise, spa, or island. These are the best cruise lines in the world as voted by you, our readers.View all the Readers' Choice Award winners for best cruise lines as a list with scores here.Mega Ships (4,000+ passengers)Courtesy Norwegian Cruise Line5. Mega Ship Line: Norwegian Cruise LineKnown for its colorful ships, Norwegian Cruise Line first broke into the mega-ship category in 2010 with the launch of Norwegian Epic, which can carry just over 5,000 passengers at full occupancy, and the company has since introduced six others in the Breakaway and Breakaway-Plus classes. The crowd aboard these vessels, which primarily sail in North America, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean, often consists of families who take advantage of amenities like waterparks, virtual-reality gaming, and go-kart racing, though the cruise line’s ship, Norwegian Bliss, has a decidedly more mature atmosphere.Carnival Cruise Line4. Mega Ship Line: Carnival Cruise LineCarnival made its debut into the mega-ship category in 2019 with the launch of Carnival Panorama, which has a double-occupancy passenger count of 4,008. Since then, the mega-ships have kept coming. Mardi Gras, named after the cruise line's first-ever ship, launched in 2021 and notably featured the first roller coaster at sea. Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee followed in 2022 and 2023, while former Costa ships Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze joined the fleet in 2023 and 2024. More mega-ships are on order.Port Miami for MSC Cruises3. Mega Ship Line: MSC CruisesThough MSC Cruises is headquartered in landlocked Switzerland, this cruise line has mastered the art of mega-ships, building many of the largest in the world. Each can hold between 5,300 and 6,700 passengers. MSC Cruises has some plans for mega-growth, too: it debuted its first World-class mega-ship MSC World Europa in 2022, with its sister MSC World America following in 2025. There are two more World-class ships in the pipeline: MSC World Asia is due in December 2026, MSC World Atlantic is scheudled to follow in 2027.Courtesy Royal Caribbean International2. Mega Ship Line: Royal Caribbean InternationalIf you truly want to feel like you’re living in a floating city, Royal Caribbean is the cruise line for you, given that it has the nine largest cruise ships in the world. Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas, and Legend of the Seas top the list in terms of passenger count (up to 7,600 at full capacity), length (nearly 1,200 feet long), and gross tonnage (nearly 250,000 tonnes), and their sisters are just behind them with their stats. Given their size, these ships provide every amenity you can think of—and plenty you can’t even imagine—from waterparks to world-class musical productions to autonomous bars staffed by robots to double-decker suites with slides for the kids. You’ll find these behemoths sailing the Caribbean and Mediterranean throughout the year, but with so many activities on board, you might not even want to leave the ship.Princess Cruises1. Mega Ship Line: Princess CruisesWelcome to the wonderful world of mega ships, Princess Cruises. The 2024-launched Sun Princess and 2025-launched Star Princess are the cruise line's largest ships to date, carrying up to 4,300 passengers. Princess Cruises has come a long way since its Love Boat days; the TV show was filmed on its former ship Pacific Princess, which only carried up to 626 passengers.Large Ships (2,500 to 4,000 passengers)Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line10. Large Ship Line: CarnivalCarnival Cruise Lines is all about good family fun at a reasonable price point. It has 29 ships in its fleet, with about half of them falling in our large ship category with 2,500 to 3,900 guests. Carnival is known for its fun upper decks that are akin to an amusement park at sea, with water slides, ropes courses, mini-golf, and attractions like SkyRide, where guests pedal a hanging vehicle around a suspended track.Courtesy Royal Caribbean International 9. Large Ship Line: Royal Caribbean InternationalThough Royal Caribbean is perhaps best known for its mega-ships, it has quite a number of large ships, too—the 3,100-passenger Voyager-class ships, for instance, were once the world’s largest, until Royal Caribbean debuted the larger Freedom class. Both of these large classes had other firsts—Voyager of the Seas was the first ship to have an ice rink and a rock-climbing wall, while Freedom of the Seas introduced the first FlowRider surf simulator at sea.Courtesy of MSC Cruises8. Large Ship Line: MSC CruisesA number of ships in MSC’s fleet—namely those ships in the Musica and Fantasia classes—fall into the large cruise category, with most of its newer builds firmly taking a “bigger is better” stance. The eight vessels primarily sail in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, though they do offer itineraries in North and South America, Asia, and Northern Europe, too. These family-friendly ships skew toward the upscale side, and they’re known for their international crowds.Alamy7. Large Ship Line: CunardFor those longing for the romantic nostalgia of bygone transatlantic sailings, Cunard is your go-to. The legendary cruise line was established in 1840 and has had dozens of ships in its fleet, though today, there are just four active vessels: the Queen Mary 2, the world’s only true transatlantic ocean liner, designed specifically for ocean crossings, as well as the world’s only pet-friendly ship (dogs and cats are required to stay in the kennel, a designated playroom, and a specific walking deck); the Queen Elizabeth; the Queen Victoria; and the newest ship Queen Anne. Activities haven’t changed all that much in the last 180 years—there’s still a proper afternoon tea, black-tie dinners, and galas in the ballrooms. It’s quite like a step back in time, with all the modern safety measures, of course.Courtesy Norwegian Cruises6. Large Ship Line: Norwegian Cruise LineThings escalated quickly for Norwegian: The cruise line jumped from medium-sized ships to mega-ships practically overnight (okay, over eight years), with just a few ships in its current fleet sized somewhere in between. But that all changed with Norwegian Prima, the first of six 3,300-passenger Prima-class ships, launched in August 2022. Some of its highlights include the fastest slides at sea (including the world's first free-fall dry slide), a three-level go-kart racetrack, and a three-story theater that transforms into a nightclub after the evening's show. Twin sister Norwegian Viva launched in 2023, while Prima-Plus-class Norwegian Aqua launched in 2025.Princess Cruises5. Large Ship Line: Princess CruisesPart of the Carnival family, Princess Cruises has a fun claim to fame—the TV show The Love Boat was set on its former Pacific Princess ship. If you’ve never seen an episode, you’re in luck, as one of the onboard TV channels airs reruns around the clock. But you won’t want to stay cooped up in your stateroom when you discover all the activities on board its 17 ships. Its special Seawitch craft beer program sees the cruise line partner with breweries around the world, while Discovery at SEA offers a series of activities based on TV shows from the Discovery, Inc. family of networks, including Animal Planet, the Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel.Steve Dunlop4. Large Ship Line: Celebrity CruisesCelebrity Cruises currently sails around the world with a fleet of 15 ships, ranging in size from its small Xpedition-class vessel, carries 100 passengers, to its large 2,800- to 3,100-passenger Solstice class and 2,900-passenger Edge class, which debuted in late 2018 with Celebrity Edge. This edgy ship (pun intended) was designed to appeal to a non-cruising clientele with innovations like Eden, a three-story hybrid “experiential” restaurant, craft cocktail lounge, and performance venue; and Le Petit Chef at Le Grand Bistro, a dinner restaurant that features a 4D animation projected on your plate throughout your meal. Celebrity Edge was later joined by its sister ships Celebrity Apex in 2020, Celebrity Beyond in 2022, Celebrity Ascent in 2023, and Celebrity Xcel in 2025.This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.Stefanie is a New York–based writer and editor whose beats include travel, architecture and design, art, science, and history. She's worked on staff at Architectural Digest, ARTnews, and Oyster.com, a TripAdvisor company, and has contributed to Popular Science, History.com, Mental Floss, Jetsetter, and TripSavvy. She has a passion for aviation ... Read More