Top5LargeResortShips
1. Royal Caribbean International
(800) 769-2522, royalcaribbean.com
2. CelebrityCruises
(800) 437-3111, celebritycruises.com
3. NorwegianCruise Line
(866) 234-7350, ncl.com
4. PrincessCruises
(800) 774-6237, princess.com
5. HollandAmerica Line
(877) 932-4259, hollandamerica.com
Top5Small/MidsizeShips
1. Windstar Cruises
(800) 258-7245, windstarcruises.com
2. Crystal Cruises
(888) 799-4625, crystalcruises.com
3. Regent SevenSeasCruises
(877) 505-5370, rssc.com
4. SeabournCruise Line
(800) 929-9595, seabourn.com
5. OceaniaCruises
(800) 531-5658, oceaniacruises.com
Editors’Mentions
CelebratedLiving
editorsalsorecog-
nize theseoutstandingcruise lines.
LargeResort Ships
Cunard Line
(800) 728-6273, cunard.com
Small/MidsizeShips
SilverseaCruises
(800) 722-9955, silversea.com
Readers’ Choice Platinum List
on thePacificcoastofMexico. Prin-
cess’s latestacquisition, the113,000-
ton
RubyPrincess
, debuted in2009
and featuresaweddingchapel, among
manyotheramenities.Meanwhile,
HollandAmericacontinues towin
considerablepraise for itssurprising-
ly innovative itineraries throughout
the restof theworld. Itwill soonwel-
come the largestaddition to its fleet,
the
NieuwAmsterdam
,whichwill
first sail theMediterranean.
OurEditors’Mention for large
ships, history-rich
CUNARD LINE
, has
beenwinningaccoladeswith the
QueenVictoria
and the
QueenMary2
(now that the
QE2
hasbeen retired).
Thehighlyanticipated
QueenEliza-
beth
will beput intoservice thisOcto-
ber.AlthoughAmerican-owned today,
CunardmaintainsaveryclassyBrit-
ishdemeanor,whichsets itapart from
mostotherships.Knownmainly for
its transatlanticvoyages,Cunardalso
offerselegant cruising inEuropeand
theCaribbeanandonanannual
around-the-worldadventure.
Manyprefer tocruise insmaller
(thoughno lessstylish) ships, and
CL
readershaveweighed inon their fa-
vorites.Midrange tosmall shipsallow
formore informal camaraderieamong
passengers, and theshipscansail into
smaller,more interestingportsof call
notavailable to theirbigsisters.
Our readers’ topchoice in this
group is
WINDSTAR CRUISES
,whichun-
furls itscomputer-controlledsailson
bothsidesof theAtlanticand in fre-
quent crossingsbetween theoldand
newworlds. It caters toasophisticat-
edclientelebut still offersplentyof
fun:Windstaroften lowersaplatform
from thestern toprovideastaging
area forwateractivities.
CRYSTAL CRUISES
providesanexperi-
encesimilar tosomeships in the larg-
ercategory.Both the
Crystal Serenity
and
Crystal Symphony
carryaround
1,000passengers.Cruiserscanexpect
privatebalconiesandother refine-
mentsnormallynotavailable in the
small ormidsizevessels.
Thereare just threeall-suite,
ultra-luxury shipsguidedby
REGENT
SEVEN SEAS CRUISES
,whichgenerally
caters tohigh-incomeguestsover the
ageof 45. Regent voyagesvarybe-
tween sevenand 119days in several
partsof theworld. Similarly,
SEABOURN
CRUISE LINE
welcomesaffluent cruisers
andhasbegun to concentrateon in-
novative itineraries inChina,Korea,
andJapan.
OCEANIA CRUISES
, knownbysophisti-
cated travelers for its threeelegant
684-guest ships, isabout toadda
fourth, largervessel, the
Marina
, in
January. First stopswill include the
PanamaCanal and theCaribbean.
SILVERSEA CRUISES
, adependable
ultra-luxurious company, captures
ourEditors’Mention in the small-to-
mid-size category, its flagshipbeing
the 540-guest
SilverSpirit
.Many
stateroomshaveprivateverandas
andother featuresusually limited to
larger ships.
All inall, 2010and2011aredes-
tined tooffersomeof themost com-
fortable, delicious, invigorating, and
all-around-enjoyablevacationexperi-
enceseverseenon thehighseas.
Silversea’s Silver Spirit
Cruises
