Top Ships Revealed in 2019 Cruise Critic UK Cruisers' Choice Awards

World's largest cruise review site reveals the high-scoring ships, according to passenger reviews

LONDON, March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cruise Critic, the world's leading cruise review site and online cruise community, has announced the winners of the 2019 Cruise Critic UK Cruisers' Choice Awards. The awards name the most popular cruise ships of the year, based entirely on UK reviews posted to the Cruise Critic website. The site boasts the largest online cruise community in the world with more than 350,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 700 cruise ships across the globe.

Adam Coulter, UK Managing Editor, Cruise Critic said: "The UK Cruisers' Choice Awards play an important part in showcasing the cruise ships that UK travellers rate most highly in a number of key categories, such as entertainment, service, dining experiences, cabins and shore excursions. Our members play an invaluable role in helping to inform and guide other cruisers and first-time travellers to find and choose the best cruise ships for their ideal holiday, and we wouldn't have this authoritative awards programme without them."

Large-Ship Category

In the Large Ship category, Celebrity Cruises was the top-rated cruise line across most categories, winning nine top position awards. The line's dedicated Caribbean ship, Celebrity Equinox, was named Best Overall, Best Cabins, Best Dining, Best for Fitness and Recreation, Best Public Rooms and Best Value for Money. The ship was also named Best for First Timers across all size categories. The line's Celebrity Eclipse scooped the top ranking for Best Service, and Celebrity Solstice secured the Best for Shore Excursions award. Celebrity Equinox boasts a real grass lawn on top of the ship and a Lawn Club Sunset Bar complete with deck furniture and a faux fire pit. It also has a living tree suspended in the atrium, so the outside is never far away. 

Royal Caribbean International won the highest ranking for Best Entertainment and Best for Families - across all size categories.

Mid-Size Ship Category

Another big winner, this time in the Mid-Size category was Marella Cruises, which won six top rankings. Marella Discovery secured three top awards, including: Best Entertainment, Best Shore Excursions and Best for Fitness and Recreation; whilst Marella Celebration scooped top spots for Best Service and Best Value for Money.

Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines' ship, Balmoral, also proved popular with Brits, securing the coveted Best Overall ship ranking, as well as the Best Dining accolade. Refurbished every two years, and famed for its great food and wealth of activities and entertainment, Balmoral continues to make British travellers feel very much at home.

For the second year, Cunard Line's, Queen Victoria, won the top Best Public Rooms placement. The centrepiece of its Royal Arcade on Deck 3 is a custom-built, chiming pillar clock by English clockmaker Dent & Co. - clockmaker to Queen Victoria, whose most famous work is Big Ben in London.

MSC Lirica was also favoured to win the Best Cabins award. 64 per cent of the ship's cabins offer outside views and all balcony cabins are mini-suites.

Small-Ship Category

A historic ship with nods to maritime heritage of yesteryear, Hurtigruten's, Lofoten, stole the show in the Small Ship category, winning four top ranking awards for Best Overall, Best Dining, Best Public Rooms and Best Shore Excursions. What the ship lacks in modern-day bells and whistles, it makes up for in charm – offering a one-of-a-kind way to sail the Norwegian Fjords.

Saga Cruises also did well, securing Best for Entertainment and Best for Embarkation pole positions for Saga Sapphire; and Best Service and Best Value for Money top spots for Saga Pearl II. Saga has taken all-inclusive to the ultimate level, by including everything in the fare, including a complimentary chauffeur service for sailings from Southampton and Dover, and free flights and rail travel with transfers, for non-UK sailings.

For the third year in a row, the stunning Viking Sea, secured the Best for Fitness and Recreation category; whilst Silversea's flagship 2017 cruise vessel, Silver Muse, scooped the win for Best Cabins. Even the smallest of Silver Muse's suites measure almost 400 square feet, and they all boast walk-in closets and ultra-luxury sheets and towels.

The UK Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards are awarded in three ship classes, based on passenger capacity (Large: 2,000+ passengers; Mid-Size: 1,200 to 1,999 passengers; Small: 1,199 or fewer passengers) and are calculated using the ratings submitted with each Cruise Critic member review.

This year's UK winners include:

Best Cruises Overall 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Balmoral – Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines (Mid-Size)
Lofoten - Hurtigruten (Small)

Best Cruise Ship Cabins 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
MSC Lirica– MSC Cruises (Mid-Size)
Silver Muse - Silversea (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Dining 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Balmoral – Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines (Mid-Size)
Lofoten - Hurtigruten (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Embarkation 
Sapphire Princess – Princess Cruises (Large)
Marella Explorer – Marella Cruises (Mid-Size)
Saga Sapphire – Saga Cruises (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Entertainment 
Symphony of the Seas – Royal Caribbean International (Large)
Marella Discovery– Marella Cruises (Mid-Size)
Saga Sapphire – Saga Cruises (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Fitness and Recreation 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Marella Discovery– Marella Cruises (Mid-Size)
Viking Sea – Viking Ocean Cruises (Small)

Best Cruise Ship Public Rooms 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Queen Victoria – Cunard Line (Mid-Size)
Lofoten - Hurtigruten (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Service 
Celebrity Eclipse – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Marella Celebration – Marella Cruises (Mid-Size)
Saga Pearl II – Saga Cruises (Small)

Best Cruise Ship Shore Excursions 
Celebrity Solstice– Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Marella Discovery – Marella Cruises (Mid-Size)
Lofoten - Hurtigruten (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Value 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises (Large)
Marella Celebration – Marella Cruises (Mid-Size)
Saga Pearl II – Saga Cruises (Small)

Best Cruises for Families 
Jewel of the Seas – Royal Caribbean International

Best for First-Timers 
Celebrity Equinox – Celebrity Cruises

For the full list of winners, visit the 2019 UK Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards. For photos of the winning ships, please click here.

About Cruise Critic
Cruise Critic® is an online cruise guide, offering a comprehensive resource for cruise travelers, from first-time cruisers to avid cruise enthusiasts. The site features more than 350,000 cruise reviews and hosts the world's largest online cruise community where travelers share experiences and opinions with fellow cruisers. Cruise Critic was the first consumer cruise site on the Internet, launched in October 1995 by The Independent Traveler, Inc., a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, Inc.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site*, enables travelers to unleash the full potential of every trip. With over 730 million reviews and opinions covering the world's largest selection of travel listings worldwide – covering approximately 8.1 million accommodations, airlines, experiences, and restaurants – TripAdvisor provides travelers with the wisdom of the crowds to help them decide where to stay, how to fly, what to do and where to eat. TripAdvisor also compares prices from more than 200 hotel booking sites so travelers can find the lowest price on the hotel that's right for them. TripAdvisor-branded sites are available in 49 markets, and are home to the world's largest travel community of 490 million average monthly unique visitors**, all looking to get the most out of every trip. TripAdvisor: Know better. Book better. Go better.

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UK Media Contact:
Laurena McKenna, Cruise Critic
lmckenna@cruisecritic.co.uk 
M:07775 620 232

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