Outline
- Introduction
- What are Cruise Lines?
- Types of Cruise
- What is a Cruise Line?
- Cruise Lines by Total Revenue
- Cruise Lines by Total Passengers
- The 10 Best Cruise Lines in the World
- Other Amazing Cruise Lines
- Which Cruise Line or Cruise Type to Choose?
- Summary
- Conclusion
Introduction
The modern appraisal and boom of cruise and cruising are just beginning and far from being over. It may seemingly be not as dominant as it was several decades ago before the emergence of air travel. Cruising has started gathering momentum as many adventure lovers are now becoming aware of the pros of fun-filled leisure journeys through the world’s waterways and oceans on a floating “resort”. Whether you are a cruising veteran, a newbie or just an aspiring cruiser, this post presents the top 10 best cruise lines in the world.
There are several considerations in determining or choosing the best or top cruise lines. The metrics of choice could be, the size of the ships, total passenger capacity, quality of onboard services and facilities, availability of premium or luxury amenities cum services, customer experience, and overall cost.
In this post, I will be discussing the 10 best cruise lines in the world using the total revenue and total passenger data for the year 2021.
The rationale is that if a cruise line is excellently booming (high revenue) and also has a significantly high number of customers (cruisers/passengers), then such a cruise line is ranked higher than those with lesser figures for these same variables while every other variable such as cost of the cruise, cruise destination, type of cruise, onboard facilities and overall passengers experience are held constant.
The ranking of the top cruise lines in this post is based on the juxtaposition of these two variables (total revenue and total passengers) for the year 2021.
Therefore, let’s review these variables in better detail. But before then, what are Cruise Lines?
What are Cruise Lines?
To answer the question What are Cruise Lines, I will start by explaining what cruises are and what are the types of cruises out there.
A cruise is a leisure journey, trip or tour on either a river, sea or ocean. People go on cruises on a boats, yachts or ships. For the sake of this post, I will be using the term “cruise” to refer to both river and sea/ocean cruises on a ship.
The ships used for cruises are called “cruise ships” and they are mainly designed for commercial purposes and can board a large number of passengers (cruisers) at a time.
Types of Cruises
A cruise can be contemporary, premium or luxury.
A contemporary cruise involves journeys on a ship fitted with only basic facilities mostly for accommodation and feeding. In some cases, contemporary cruises may involve ships with a little bit of basic recreational and entertainment amenities. You can see contemporary cruises as simply the most basic type of cruising.
Premium Cruise is an enhanced type of cruise that involves higher-class onboard services, recreational facilities and other value-added amenities. A Premium Cruise can involve the service of a private chef, a private butler or in some cases consigliere services. The accommodation aboard the ships is also upscale.
Luxury Cruise or Cruising is the apex of cruise adventures! Some luxury cruises are only limited to the imagination of the cruiser in terms of the services required or rendered. From high-end personalized services to an abundance of recreational facilities (think of swimming pools, spas, gyms, luxury shopping, fine dining, helicopter services, etc.). A luxury cruise has everything in a Premium Cruise and lots more.
In terms of the general classification and depending on the objective of the cruise, characteristics of the passenger (solo, family, couple, group, experts, etc.), the destination of the cruise, the configuration of the ship, etc., a cruise could also be described as; a family cruise, adventure cruise, expedition, all-inclusive cruises, adult-only cruises, budget-cruises, glacier cruise, speciality cruise and so on.
Haven described what a cruise is and the available types of cruises, what exactly are cruise lines?
What is a Cruise Line?
A cruise line is a branded company, agency or firm that owns, manages and/or operates a fleet of cruise ships. The fleet (total number of cruise ships owned or managed) by a cruise line can be as little as one ship to as many as tens of cruise ships.
In the world today, there are more than 50 officially registered cruise lines operating over 270 ships to different cruise destinations across the globe. The fleet of these cruise lines ranges from 1 ship to over 80 ships.
In most instances, several cruise lines (operators of cruise ships and cruises) are owned by a Parent Company. The parent company is usually a registered public company or an official business umbrella under which the cruise lines operate. There are few cases where a cruise line is privately owned and operated.
Next, let’s look at which of the cruise lines in operation today are the best.
Cruise Lines by Total Revenue
The table below shows the ranking of major cruise lines in the world by their total revenue for the year 2021. This data is sourced from Cruise Market Watch.
| No. | Brand (Cruise Line) | Parent Company | Total Revenue |
| 1 | Royal Caribbean International | Royal Caribbean Group | 3,048,670,000 |
| 2 | Princess Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 2,065,350,000 |
| 3 | Norwegian Cruise Line | Norwegian Cruise Line Holding | 2,057,990,000 |
| 4 | Carnival Cruise Line | Carnival Corporation & plc | 1,803,870,000 |
| 5 | MSC Cruises | Mediterranean Shipping Company | 1,539,650,000 |
| 6 | Celebrity Cruises | Royal Caribbean Group | 1,452,300,000 |
| 7 | AIDA Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 1,373,710,000 |
| 8 | Costa Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 1,121,190,000 |
| 9 | Holland America Line | Carnival Corporation & plc | 1,095,070,000 |
| 10 | TUI Cruises | TUI Cruises | 903,790,000 |
| 11 | Dream Cruises | Genting Hong Kong | 723,030,000 |
| 12 | Disney Cruise Line | Disney Parks, Experiences and Products | 653,450,000 |
| 13 | Regent Seven Seas Cruises | Norwegian Cruise Line Holding | 565,150,000 |
| 14 | P&O Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 466,790,000 |
| 15 | Cunard Line | Carnival Corporation & Plc | 427,110,000 |
| 16 | Viking Cruises | Other (Privately Owned) | 393,410,000 |
| 17 | Silversea Cruises | Royal Caribbean Group | 391,710,000 |
| 18 | Oceania Cruises | Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings | 373,140,000 |
| 19 | Seabourn Cruise Line | Carnival Corporation & plc | 345,120,000 |
| 20 | Hurtigruten | Hurtigruten, Inc. | 334,930,000 |
From the table, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) is the cruise line with the highest revenue in 2021. The cruise line made a revenue of over $3 billion. This is followed by Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line with both having a revenue of over $2 billion each.
Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, AIDA, Costa Cruises, and Holland America Line all recorded revenue that is more than $1 billion in 2021.
The rest of the Cruise Lines recorded a total revenue that is less than $1 billion for the year 2021.
Revenue alone is not enough to ascertain which of the cruise lines is the best. Therefore, I examine in the next section which of the Cruise Lines have the highest number of passengers in 2021, one of the critical variables that reveal the performance of any cruise line.
Cruise Lines by Total Passengers
According to the data available on Cruise Market Watch (Link: https://cruisemarketwatch.com) at the time of developing this post, the table below presents the market share of major cruise lines by their respective total passengers for 2021.
| No. | Cruise Line | Parent Company | Total Passengers |
| 1 | Royal Caribbean International | Royal Caribbean Group | 2,657,900 |
| 2 | Carnival Cruise Line | Carnival Corporation & plc | 2,528,100 |
| 3 | MSC Cruises | Mediterranean Shipping Company | 1,414,700 |
| 4 | Norwegian Cruise Line | Norwegian Cruise Line Holding | 1,200,300 |
| 5 | Costa Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 862,400 |
| 6 | Princess Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 816,300 |
| 7 | AIDA Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 749,300 |
| 8 | Celebrity Cruise | Royal Caribbean Group | 540,000 |
| 9 | Holland America Line | Carnival Corporation & plc | 384,200 |
| 10 | TUI Cruises | TUI Cruises | 330,100 |
| 11 | Disney Cruise Line | Disney Parks, Experiences and Products | 312,200 |
| 12 | Dream Cruises | Genting Hong Kong | 264,100 |
| 13 | P&O Cruises | Carnival Corporation & plc | 241,500 |
| 14 | Viking Cruises | Other (Privately Owned) | 143,700 |
| 15 | P&O Cruises Australia | Carnival Corporation & plc | 127,300 |
| 16 | Hurtigruten | Hurtigruten, Inc. | 122,300 |
| 17 | Virgin Voyages | Virgin Group and Bain Capital | 111,100 |
| 18 | Fred Olsen | Bonheur | 110,700 |
| 19 | Marella Cruises | TUI Cruises | 102,900 |
| 20 | Cunard Line | Carnival Corporation & plc | 99,700 |
The table reveals that Royal Caribbean International (RCI) has the largest number of passengers in 2021. RCI has a total number of passengers of 2.6 million, a position closely contested by Carnival Cruises which has a little over 2.5 million passengers in the same year.
MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line have over a million passengers each while Costa Cruises, Princess Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Celebrity Cruise have a total passenger figure ranging between 500,000 and 900,000.
The recorded total number of passengers for each of the other cruise lines is less than 500,000.
The Top 10 Best Cruise Lines in the World
From the foregoing, the indisputable best cruise line in the world is Royal Caribbean International (RCI). The cruise line ranks in first place for both revenue and total passengers.
One fact that the tables also exhibited is that the top 10 places for both total revenue and total passengers in 2021 are dominated by the same cruise lines.
Therefore, I can conveniently infer that the top 10 best cruise lines in the world, based on the available data as of the time of compiling this post, are;
- Royal Caribbean International (RCI)
- Princess Cruises
- Norwegian Cruise Line
- Carnival Cruise Line
- MSC Cruises
- Celebrity Cruises
- AIDA Cruises
- Costa Cruises
- Holland America Line, and
- TUI Cruises
1. Royal Caribbean International (RCI)
Parent Company: Royal Caribbean Group
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, United States
Year Founded: 1968
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 27 Ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $3.04 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 2.65 million
Major Cruise Destinations: 270 destinations in 60 countries on six continents [Source]
Official Website: Royal Caribbean International
How Does the Royal Caribbean Describe its Cruise Line?
“Royal Caribbean International has been delivering innovation at sea since its launch in 1969. Each successive class of ships is a record-breaking architectural marvel that revolutionizes vacations with the latest technology. Today, the cruise line continues to dial up the guest experience for adventurous travellers, offering bold onboard thrills, spectacular dining options, breath-taking entertainment and world-class accommodations.” [Source]
2. Princess Cruises
Parent Company: Carnival Corporation & plc
Headquarters: Santa Clarita, California, United States
Year Founded: 1965
Cruise Type: Luxury Cruises
Total Fleet: 15 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $2.06 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 816k
Major Cruise Destinations: 380 destinations across more than 100 countries on 7 continents [Source]
Official Website: Princess Cruises
Description in Princess Cruises’ Own Words:
“One of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises first set sail in 1965 with a single ship cruising to Mexico. Today, the line has grown to become the third largest cruise line in the world, renowned for innovative ships, an array of onboard options, and an environment of exceptional customer service.” [Source]
3. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
Parent Company: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH)
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, United States
Year Founded: 1966
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 18 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $2.05 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 1.2 million
Major Cruise Destinations: 450 destinations [Source]
Official Website: Norwegian Cruise Line
Description of the Cruise Line According to NCL:
“Norwegian Cruise Line has been the premier innovator in the cruise line industry for over 56 years. We were the first to eliminate set dining times and provide guests with the freedom to cruise on their schedule to over 450 incredible destinations around the world. Our award-winning fleet provides an unparalleled onboard experience and will continue to expand with the arrival of our Prima Class ships.” [Source]
4. Carnival Cruise Line
Parent Company: Carnival Corporation & plc
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, United States
Year Founded: 1972
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 23 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $1.8 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 2.5 million
Major Cruise Destinations: 700 destinations around the world [Source]
Official Website: Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Line Official Description:
“If you’re thinking of cruising, there’s a very good chance you’re considering a Carnival cruise. Growing since our founding in 1972, Carnival Cruise Line — “The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line®” — now carries millions of guests every year.” [Source]
5. MSC Cruises
Parent Company: Mediterranean Shipping Company and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Holding SA
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Year Founded: 1970
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 21 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $1.5 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 1.4 million
Major Cruise Destinations: 40+ destinations in (more than) 24 countries [Source]
Official Website: MSC Cruises
How Does MSC Cruises Describe its Cruise Line?
“We are the world’s third-largest cruise brand as well as the leader in Europe, South America, the Gulf region and Southern Africa, with more market share in addition to deployed capacity than any other player. We are also the fastest-growing global cruise brand with a strong presence in the Caribbean, North America and the Far East markets.” [Source]
6. Celebrity Cruises
Parent Company: Royal Caribbean Group
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, United States
Year Founded: 1988
Cruise Type: Luxury Cruises
Total Fleet: 15 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $1.4 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 540k
Major Cruise Destinations: 300+ destinations in all the 7 continents [Source]
Official Website: Celebrity Cruises
A Description of Celebrity Cruises by Celebrity Cruises:
“Celebrity is a Relaxed Luxury℠ resort at sea where guests can sail from the world’s best places to the world’s best places. Visit up to 8 destinations in one sailing, dine in a new restaurant at every meal, rest in luxurious spaces designed to the last detail for comfort, and find your well-being miles away at sea, all with the world at your service.” [Source]
7. AIDA Cruises
Parent Company: Carnival Corporation & plc
Headquarters: Rostock, Germany
Year Founded: 1960
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 12 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $1.3 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 749k
Major Cruise Destinations: More than 8 cruise regions [Source]
Official Website: AIDA Cruises
Description:
AIDA Cruises is a German Cruise Line that offers premium-quality, affordable and relaxed cruises to most parts of the world. The cruise line services are targeted at German-speaking cruisers. AIDA provides cruises to Northern Europe, Western Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Canary Islands, and the Baltic Sea.
8. Costa Cruises (Costa Crociere)
Parent Company: Carnival Corporation & plc
Headquarters: Genoa, Italy
Year Founded: 1854
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 22 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $1.1 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 862k
Major Cruise Destinations: 250 destinations worldwide [Source]
Official Website: Costa Cruises
Official Description of Costa Cruises:
“For 70 years Costa Crociere has embodied Italian style and hospitality. We have always made it our business to introduce our guests to the world’s most stunning places, giving them a chance to explore various destinations and discover different cultures on five continents while showing complete respect for their diverse identities. As the only cruise company flying the Italian flag, it is our responsibility and duty to act as an ambassador for Italian values in the world and to represent our country at our ports of call.” [Source]
9. Holland America Line
Parent Company: Carnival Corporation & plc
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States
Year Founded: 1873
Cruise Type: Contemporary Cruises
Total Fleet: 11 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $1.1 billion
Total Passengers (2021): 862k
Major Cruise Destinations: Over 500 cruises, 470+ ports in 98 countries [Source]
Official Website: Holland America Line
What does Holland America have to say about their Cruise Line?
“At Holland America Line, we believe travel has the power to change the world. We consider it our higher purpose to help make the world a better place through opening minds, building connections, and inspiring a shared humanity.” [Source]
10. TUI Cruises (Mein Schiff)
Parent Company: TUI Group and the Royal Caribbean Group
Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany
Year Founded: 2008
Cruise Type: Premium Cruises
Total Fleet: 7 ships [Source]
Revenue (2021): $903 million
Total Passengers (2021): 330k
Major Cruise Destinations: More than 140 destinations across the world [Source]
Official Website: TUI Cruises
Description:
TUI Cruise (Mein Schiff) is a Germany-based Cruise Line founded as a joint venture between TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Group. The Cruise Line offers premium-quality cruises and services. The cruise ranges from all-inclusive cruises to family cruises and adult-only cruises. In addition to providing sea/ocean cruises, TUI Cruise is also one of the best cruise lines to experience amazing river cruises, especially within Europe.
Other Amazing Cruise Lines
In this post, I reviewed and ranked the top 10 best cruise lines in the world based on their recorded total revenue and total passengers for 2021.
However, this evaluation and ranking do not take into consideration other important cruise line assessment criteria such as the cruise type, costs, cruise destinations, overall passenger experiences and regulations aboard the cruise ships (almost all cruise lines have different onboarding rules and regulations – they differ in what they accepted and what they do not).
Therefore, if any of the above cruise lines fall short in meeting your cruising desires, interests, goals or objectives, I have listed below, an additional 10 cruise lines from which you can also derive great and memorable cruising experience.
These other amazing cruise lines are;
- Dream Cruises
- Disney Cruises
- Regent Seven Seas
- P&O Cruises
- Cunard
- Viking Cruises
- Virgin Voyages
- Ponant/Paul Gaugin Cruises
- Silversea, and
- Oceania Cruises
Which Cruise Line or Cruise Type to Choose?
Choosing a cruise line or cruise type is majorly a factor in your interests and budget.
If you are a luxury cruiser, you will want to sail with a luxury cruise line such as Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises (among other great luxury cruise lines) and not with a cruise line offering only contemporary or basic cruise amenities and services.
Also, if you are on a budget, going on the sea with popular contemporary cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises and Holland America Line would be a more reasonable choice. There are several cruises designed for budget cruisers.
For adventure lovers, there are quite a good number of adventure-themed cruises out there. Not all cruise lines offer adventure-related cruises – most are mainly for leisure!
And closely related to adventure cruises are expeditions. Regular cruise ships will not want to sail to Antarctica or the Arctic Ocean! Ships for expeditions are built to withstand and prevail in harsh and extreme environments.
It is also important to note that a single cruise line can offer services that span across different cruise types.
As a major example, Royal Caribbean International operates majorly contemporary cruises. However, the cruise line also has some of the best luxury cruise ships in the world such as its Oasis, Allure, Harmony and Symphony of the Seas Cruise Ships.
Some cruise lines also offer a mixture of budget, premium and luxury facilities and services on a single cruise ship.
Therefore, to choose the best cruise line to sail with, I recommend you evaluate and match your interests, sailing objectives and budget with the type of cruise line (contemporary, premium or luxury) and most importantly the kind of facilities, amenities and services they offer for a particular cruise.
Summary
As a recap, a cruise was described as a leisure journey, trip or tour on either a river, sea or ocean on a boat, yacht or ship. I also distinguished between the three major types (classes) of cruise – contemporary cruise, premium cruise and luxury cruises.
A cruise line was finally defined as a branded company, agency or firm that owns, manages and/or operates a fleet of cruise ships.
Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line and MSC Cruises have the highest recorded revenues for the year 2021.
And, the top 4 cruise lines with a total number of passengers exceeding 1 million in 2021 are Royal Caribbean International, Carnival Cruises, MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruises.
Overall, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) is the best cruise line in the world based on the total revenue generated in 2021 and the total number of passengers for the same year. This same statistic is valid to date.
Therefore, the top 10 best cruise lines presented in this post and their respective dominant cruise types are;
- Royal Caribbean International (RCI) – Contemporary Cruises
- Princess Cruises – Luxury Cruises
- Norwegian Cruise Line – Contemporary Cruises
- Carnival Cruise Line – Contemporary Cruises
- MSC Cruises – Contemporary Cruises
- Celebrity Cruises – Luxury Cruises
- AIDA Cruises – Contemporary Cruises
- Costa Cruises – Contemporary Cruises
- Holland America Line – Contemporary Cruises, and
- TUI Cruises – Premium Cruises
See Also: The 6 Most Popular Cruise Destinations in the World
Conclusion
The cruising business, lifestyle and everything else in between is essentially rejuvenating. And there is no sign of slacking down!
Apart from the petty “lying-down” or “having lunch or dinner” in a boat on a lake or limited part/course of a river, taking a full-fledge fun-filled, entertainment-rich, relaxing and upscale cruise on a world-wild ocean or the high sea is a completely different experience.
If you call yourself a “seasoned” traveller and you have not taken a real cruise (river or sea/ocean) at least once, then your travelling experience is incomplete. A cruise journey should be part of any adventure-loving traveller’s bucket list. And, essentially, cruising shouldn’t be a one-time thing!
Among the multitude of cruise lines out there, this post presented the top 10 best cruise lines in the world.
Though Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise line operator in the world by the number of fleets, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (a subsidiary of the Miami-based Royal Caribbean Group) is the overall best cruise line on earth today.
However, deciding on a cruise line to patronize is not necessarily a fixed thing. The decision of a cruise line to choose or sail with should largely depend on personal factors like your interests, desired destinations, sailing objectives and budget. These factors are not considered in the rankings presented in this post.
No matter your cruising objectives and/or experience, this post presented the top 10 best cruise lines in the world. This I believe can immensely help and serve as a practical guide for your first cruise adventure or your next cruise itinerary.
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