Category: Cruise Lines & Ships

Hurtigruten is not really a cruise line. It started as a mail and cargo route up the coast of Norway in 1893. It still runs that route today. Ships sail from Bergen in the south to Kirkenes near the Russian border and back. The full round trip hits 34 ports in 12 days. Some of…

There are no kids on a Virgin Voyages ship. Not fewer kids. None. The whole fleet is eighteen and up, which means the pool deck sounds different than any mainstream cruise you have been on. Virgin set out to build a cruise that does not feel like a cruise. There is no main dining room…

Most cruise lines sell you the ship. Azamara sells you the place the ship happens to be parked next to. That is the whole personality of this line. The ships are small by modern standards. They hold a few hundred guests, not a few thousand. There is no water park. There is no go-kart track.…

Celebrity just took delivery of its newest ship, Celebrity Xcel. It is the fifth and final ship in the Edge class. That matters more than it sounds. The first Edge ship launched years ago as a bet. The bet was that a mainstream premium line could build something that looked like a luxury yacht and…

Carnival is building a new ship, and it is doing something none of its big ships have done before. It is skipping the roller coaster. Carnival Festivale is the fourth ship in the Excel class. That is the same family as Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, and Carnival Jubilee. Those three all have a top deck…

Windstar built a new yacht and pointed it at Southeast Asia. That is not where most big new ships go. Most of them go to the same Caribbean loop. The ship is called Star Seeker. It joins Windstar’s fleet alongside a sister yacht, Star Explorer. Both are small. That is the whole point of Windstar.…

MSC Cruises is the largest privately owned cruise line in the world, and most American cruisers still cannot pronounce it. It is not misk. It is not em ess see said fast. It stands for Mediterranean Shipping Company, and the parent runs one of the biggest cargo fleets on the planet. That heritage matters. This…

Silversea just put its newest ship in the water and it holds about 728 guests. That is smaller than a single deck on some of the megaships people fly across the country to board. The ship is called Silver Ray. It is the second in Silversea’s Nova class, and it runs on a hybrid system…

Holland America gets written off as a line for older cruisers. That reputation is not wrong. It is also not the whole story. This is a mid-size ship line. The ships are smaller than the floating cities Royal Caribbean and MSC keep launching. That means no waterslides, no go-kart tracks, and no roller coasters at…

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has a new ship coming, and it is the first of a new class. It is called Seven Seas Prestige, and it debuts in 2026. It carries about 850 guests, which by cruise math today is tiny. This is the seventh ship in the fleet. A sister ship is already planned…