Exploring Asia, traditions and modern itineraries

Exploring Asia by cruise is a fantastic way to experience the continent’s diverse cultures, stunning landscapes, and rich history. Here are some of the best cruises to Asia in 2024:

Princess Cruises: Known for their comprehensive itineraries, Princess Cruises offers voyages to destinations like Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and more. Their cruises blend ancient traditions with modern metropolises, providing a unique travel experience ¹.
Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Cruises offers luxurious trips to various Asian destinations, including Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Their ships are known for excellent service, gourmet dining, and enriching shore excursions ².
Royal Caribbean: This cruise line provides a mix of adventure and relaxation with itineraries covering Japan, South Korea, and China. Their ships feature numerous amenities, including rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, and Broadway-style shows ².
Viking Ocean Cruises: Viking offers culturally immersive cruises with stops in Japan, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Their smaller ships allow for more intimate experiences and access to less-visited ports ².
Holland America Line: Known for their elegant ships and diverse itineraries, Holland America Line offers cruises to Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. They focus on cultural enrichment and offer extensive shore excursions ².
Regent Seven Seas Cruises: For a more luxurious experience, Regent Seven Seas offers all-inclusive cruises to various Asian destinations. Their itineraries often include overnight stays in major cities, allowing for deeper exploration ².
Silversea Cruises: Silversea provides ultra-luxury cruises with personalized service and gourmet dining. Their Asian itineraries cover destinations like Japan, China, and Southeast Asia ².
Oceania Cruises: Known for their culinary excellence, Oceania Cruises offers trips to Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Their smaller ships provide a more intimate cruising experience ².

Each of these cruise lines offers unique experiences, so consider what aspects are most important to you, such as luxury, adventure, cultural immersion, or specific destinations. Bon voyage! 🚢🌏

Would you like more details on any specific cruise line or destination?

2024 Luxurious Brands and Ships

The most luxurious brands and ships of 2024!

Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady (Photo: Virgin Voyages)

Cruise Critic has released its highlighting the best in cruising and cruise travel as selected by Cruise Critic’s international editorial team.

Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady claimed top honors this year as Best New Ship. The line’s first vessel, Scarlet Lady, charmed Cruise Critic’s editors enough that the vessel was awarded Best New Ship in 2021. Now, sister-ship Resilient Lady, which has just arrived Down Under for the season, sweeps to victory for the line once again.

Other winners in the Ocean Cruises category included Disney Cruise Line as Best for Families; Celebrity Cruises for Best Cabins; MSC Cruises for Best Nightlife; Holland America Line for Best Service and Carnival Cruise Line for Best Value for Money.

“This was a banner year for the cruise industry,” said Colleen McDaniel, Editor-in-Chief of Cruise Critic. “On Cruise Critic, we saw demand for cruises surpass pre-pandemic times, and a number of lines reported ships sailing at over 100% capacity. Cruising has always been a high-value vacation, but with costs of land- and air-based travel through the roof, the true value of a cruise really hit home this year.

“The value of a cruise doesn’t stop with mainstream sailings. From the fare inclusions on river and luxury sailings, to those on expedition sailings to farther-flung destinations like Antarctica and the Galapagos, you’d be hard-pressed to find a land-based vacation that delivers the experience and value that a cruise offers,” McDaniel said.

Cruise Critic has been releasing its highly anticipated Editors’ Picks Awards for 15 years. This year’s awards are the most thorough to date, naming winners across four key areas – Ocean, River, Luxury and Expedition.

This Year’s Awards Saw the Return of Best Ship Refurbishment

Crew assemble to welcome the first guests onboard Carnival Venezia

Main Atrium on Carnival Venezia (Photo: Adam Coulter)

Cruise Critic also brought back a heralded category in 2023: Best Ship Refurbishment, which went to the gorgeously decorated Carnival Venezia. The former Costa Venezia was refitted prior to entering service with Carnival Cruise Line, leaving it with a fascinating blend of Italian-style interior décor courtesy of the line’s longtime design guru Joe Farcus, along with a blend of Carnival favorites tweaked ever-so slightly.

Port Miami was named best North American Homeport thanks to an abundance of innovation and investment that has come out of the new and improved terminal structure and growing improvements to the passenger experience.

Cruise Critic’s 2023 Editors’ Picks Awards Include New Categories, a Return of Awards for River Cruises

American Serenade docked in Paducah, KY (Photo: Aaron Saunders)

Cruise Critic’s 2023 Editors’ Picks Awards is noteworthy for the return of the River Cruise awards for the first time since the global health pandemic shut down travel three years ago. In that category, river cruising giant Viking took top honors as the Best River Cruise Line, while the Best New River Cruise Ship was awarded, for the first time, to an American river cruise ship – American Cruise Lines’ American Serenade.

Other winners in the River Category included AmaWaterways for Best for Active Cruisers, Avalon for Best Cabins, Riverside for Dining and Tauck for Enrichment.

Silversea Scoops Best Luxury Cruise Line

Silver Nova sails under a blue sky. (Photo: Silversea)

In the Luxury Cruise category, Silversea Cruises was named Best Luxury Cruise Line, thanks to its tireless dedication to service, its modern fleet, and continually innovative offerings. Its Silver Nova was Cruise Critic’s pick for Best New Luxury Ship, while Oceania snapped up Best Dining. The luxury category even held a bit of nostalgia, as restarted (and beloved) brand Crystal took two categories: Best Service and Best for Solo Travelers.

(Credit: Scenic Cruises)

Finally, the Expedition Cruise market continues to expand and mature at a rapid pace. Some of the most hotly deliberated categories were found here, but Cruise Critic’s editors came to consensus: Scenic Eclipse II was named

Best New Expedition Ship, while Quark, Seabourn, Silversea, Viking and UnCruise Adventures, among others, walked away with honors this year.

One thing that was apparent for the entire editorial team in selecting this year’s winners was how close many of these categories were for the ships and lines in the running. Few were easy choices – and that’s good for cruisers. With cruise lines of all shapes and sizes delivering stellar experiences across the oceans and rivers of the world, it’s never been a better time to take a cruise.

The Full 2023 Cruise Critic Editor’s Picks Awards List

Best New Ship: Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady
Best Ship Refurbishment: Carnival Venezia
Best Cabins: Celebrity Cruises
Best Dining: Virgin Voyages
Best Entertainment: Virgin Voyages
Best for Families: Disney Cruise Line
Best Innovation/Tech: Princess Cruises
Best for LGBTQ+ Travelers: Virgin Voyages
Best Nightlife: MSC Cruises
Best Service: Holland America Line
Best for Solo Travelers: Norwegian Cruise Line
Best Spa: Norwegian Cruise Line
Best Specialty Dining: Norwegian Cruise Line
Best Suites: Royal Caribbean International
Best Suite Complex: MSC Cruises
Best Value for Money: Carnival Cruise Line
Best App: Royal Caribbean International
Best North American Homeport: Miami

Luxury Category

Best Luxury Cruise Line: Silversea Cruises
Best New Luxury Ship: Silver Nova
Best Cabins: Viking Cruises
Best Dining: Oceania
Best Enrichment: Windstar Cruises
Best Itineraries: Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Best Service: Crystal
Best Shore Excursions: Oceania Cruises
Best for Solo Travelers: Crystal
Best Spa: Viking Cruises
Best Value for Money: Emerald Yacht Cruises

Expedition Category

Best New Expedition Ship: Scenic Eclipse II
Best for Adventure: Quark Expeditions
Best Cabins: Seabourn Cruise Line
Best Dining: Scenic
Best for Light Expedition: Viking Cruises
Best for Luxury: Silversea Expeditions
Best Science Offerings: Hurtigruten
Best Service: Silversea Expeditions
Best Spa: Viking Cruises
Best Value for Money: Atlas
Best in Alaska: UnCruise Adventures
Best in Antarctica: Scenic
Best in the Arctic: Ponant Cruises
Best in the Galapagos: Lindblad Expeditions

River Category

Best River Cruise Line: Viking Cruises
Best New River Cruise Ship: American Cruise Lines’ American Serenade
Best for Active Cruisers: AmaWaterways
Best Cabins: Avalon Waterways
Best Dining: Riverside Luxury Cruises
Best Enrichment: Tauck River Cruising
Best for Families: Adventures by Disney/AmaWaterways
Best for First-Timers: Viking Cruises
Best for Luxury: Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection
Best Service: Viking Cruises
Best for Solo Travelers: Avalon Waterways
Best Value for Money: Emerald River Cruises

Luxury Cruising Bermuda | What a Gem

Favorite Activities on a Cruise to Bermuda

The British flair of crisp colonial architecture, is a delightful contrast to the isle’s verdant hills and laid-back island vibe. It’s a place where bright white roofs are used to catch rainfall for drinking water. There are more golf courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Come experience where the classic Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktail was born. Tour UNESCO-protected St. George in a horse-drawn carriage. Lounge on Bermuda’s famed pink-sand beaches at Horseshoe Bay, explore the archipelago’s legacies and past along the African Diaspora Heritage Trail. Browse the shops and vibrant street art on Front Street in Hamilton.

Our Favorite Cruises for Babies

Don’t let having a baby deter you from taking your dream cruise. While there are stipulations, most ships require an infant to be six months old at the time of embarkation and 12 months for transatlantic cruises, a cruise with a baby can be a great vacation. Just be sure to choose one that caters to families and small children. Here’s a list of top picks.

Disney Cruise Line

Supplies:

Complimentary diaper disposal units, bottle warmers, bottle sterilizers, cribs, and playpens are available upon request from the stateroom host/hostess. Guest services provide strollers.

Complimentary high chairs are available at all of the restaurants onboard.

At Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, complimentary wagons is available to facilitate navigating the island’s sandy beaches.

Essential baby supplies are available for purchase at the onboard merchandise shops, including diapers, training pants, rash cream, infant formula (ready to feed), bottles, pacifiers, baby food, baby shampoo, baby lotion, and baby powder.

Baby Food:

Freshly pureed vegetables can be prepared at the main dining rooms and through room service, upon request. Guests may bring baby food and formula onboard the ship as carry-on items as long as they are pre-packaged, unopened and do not require any food preparation from the kitchen. All complimentary services and amenities are offered on a first-come, first served basis.

Nursery:

Nurseries are for children ages six months to 3 years and offer extended hours to accommodate the ships’ many activities.

“It’s a Small World“ Nursery! is located on Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Disney Magic, and Disney Wonder.

Royal Caribbean

Supplies:

Royal Caribbean offers the “Babies 2 Go!” program, where parents can pre-order Huggies diapers, wipes, and cream, as well as organic Gerber baby food to their room both before and throughout their cruise. You can purchase the packages by calling (800) 722-5443 in the U.S. or Canada.

Pack and play is included.

Baby Food:

There is milk available pretty much everywhere on board. You can ask your stateroom attendant to clear your mini fridge and to “stockpile” milk for use later. If your child is old enough for solids, there is a special children’s menu, or you can bring your baby food on board and store it in your room.

Nursery:

Royal Baby and Tot Nursery (6-36 months) available on Freedom of the Seas accommodates a certain amount of children per staff member (1:3 ratio for children 6-18 months; 1:4 ratio for 19-36 months). Make a reservation in advance. Cost is $8 per child per hour. There is also an option for in-room babysitting, but costs are higher for this service.

Norwegian

Supplies:

Crib or pack and play is available upon request.

Baby Food:

Sealed baby food can be brought on board but must be stored in your cabin.

Nursery

The Splash Academy accommodates ages 6 Months – Under 3 Years Old with sensory play, music and movement and colors.

With advance planning and helpful cruise agents, traveling with your baby can be smooth sailing, especially on our favorite family ships! Make sure to check out our guide to traveling with babies so you can be fully prepared.

Royal Caribbean Adds Vegan Options to Ships

When you have unique dietary restrictions, it can be more of a challenge to eat while traveling. Trying to avoid all animal products when on a cruise can feel impossible for many vegans. Luckily, some cruise lines are taking steps to offer more diverse food options for travelers who have restrictions. Vegans will be happy to know that Royal Caribbean now has vegan menu items in their main dining room.

Royal Caribbean introduced these menu offerings starting on August 1. Some of the vegan eats include: vegan spaghetti Bolognese, orzo pasta stew, edamame-stuffed Portobello mushrooms, and toffee cheesecake. The food selection will rotate. Guests must ask for the vegan menu as it’s separate from the regular dining menu. These items give vegetarians and vegans more food choices while onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise.

For buffet-style dining, Royal Caribbean has other options for vegetarians and vegans. Their Windjammer Cafe is a buffet-style dining option with a variety of food choices. Items that are vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free are marked as such to make it easier for travelers to find approved foods. The cruise line will continue to feature vegan and vegetarian items at their buffets.

Sailing with Royal Caribbean isn’t your only option as a vegan. Take a look at the list below if you’re wondering what other cruise lines are accommodating vegetarians and vegans:

Regent Seven Seas has a new vegan menu will start at the beginning of October.

Costa Cruises features both vegan and vegetarian menus aboard their ships.

Oceania Cruises has a vegan menu, which they’ve continued to improve upon over the years.

SeaDream Yacht Club has a “Raw Food” menu which features raw, organic, vegan dishes.

It’ll be interesting to see what other cruise lines choose to upgrade their menu offerings to meet the needs of travelers with unique dietary needs. Will you be giving the new Royal Caribbean menu a try soon?