UK travellers’ favourite cruise ships named in 2016 UK Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards

Cruise Critic, the world’s leading cruise review site and online cruise community, has announced the winners of the 2016 UK Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards. The awards name the best cruise ships of the year, based entirely on UK reviews posted to the Cruise Critic website.

Proving popular with UK cruisers, Norwegian Cruise Line sailed away with eight awards. Of the line’s Large Ship category award wins, Norwegian Spirit took four, including Best Overall, while Norwegian Escape, which launched in 2015, won Best Entertainment. The line’s three Mid-Size Ship awards all went to Norwegian Sun, including Best Entertainment. These successes follow Norwegian Cruise Line’s recent announcement that from 2017, for the first time in seven years, the UK will receive a dedicated ship sailing from Southampton.

Oceania’s Riviera created big waves amongst UK cruisers, not only holding onto its five Mid-Size Ship class wins from 2015, including Best Overall, but also added a sixth award for Best Dining. MSC Cruises’ MSC Lirica was highlighted as being the Best Value Mid-Size Ship.

In the Small Ship category, Regent’s Seven Seas Voyager was named Best Overall and also awarded Best Embarkation and Best Shore Excursions. Viking Ocean Cruises, which launched in 2015, has already made a significant splash with first ship Viking Star, which won seven accolades including Best Dining and Best Service.

A new award for 2016, Best for First-Timers, went to P&O Cruises’ Arcadia, which offers a variety of itineraries including destinations such as San Francisco, Auckland, Hong Kong, and Cape Town as part of a new world cruise offering in 2016.

“These awards offer a valuable stamp of approval from travellers, and celebrate the lines which are truly excelling,” explained Adam Coulter, UK editor, Cruise Critic.  “The feedback and reviews shared on Cruise Critic help travellers to be better informed and feel more confident about their decisions, making it easier to plan a great cruise holiday.”

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
Norwegian Spirit (Large)
Oceania Riviera (Mid-Size)
Seven Seas Voyager (Small)

Best Cruise Ship Cabins
Celebrity Reflection (Large)
Oceania Riviera (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Dining
Island Princess (Large)
Oceania Riviera (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Embarkation
Explorer of the Seas (Large)
Oceania Riviera (Mid-Size)
Seven Seas Voyager (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Entertainment
Norwegian Escape (Large)
Norwegian Sun (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Fitness & Recreation
Norwegian Spirit (Large)
Norwegian Sun (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruise Ship Public Rooms
Queen Elizabeth (Large)
Oceania Riviera (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Service
Island Princess (Large)
Oceania Riviera (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruise Ship Shore Excursions
Norwegian Spirit (Large)
Norwegian Sun (Mid-Size)
Seven Seas Voyager (Small)

Best Cruise Ships for Value
Norwegian Spirit (Large)
MSC Lirica (Mid-Size)
Viking Star (Small)

Best Cruises for Families
Thomson Cruises’ Thomson Majesty

Best for First-Timers
P&O Cruises’ Arcadia (Large)

For the full list of winners, visit the 2016 UK Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards. Cruise Critic boasts the largest online cruise community in the world with more than 150,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 500 of the most popular cruise ships.

For photos of the winning ships, please click here.

To ensure these awards offer the best reflection of customer satisfaction, the awards are based entirely on ratings submitted with reviews published on CruiseCritic.co.uk. There is no voting component.