For the 11th straight year, U.S. News & World Report has released their rankings for the Best Cruise Lines.
Viking and Disney Cruise Line were the big winners among the 18 most popular cruise lines in U.S. News’ 2025 rankings for Best Cruise Lines.
There were six categories that ranged from Best Cruise Lines for the Money to the Best Cruises Lines in the Caribbean. Here is a look at the top three rankings in all categories.
2025 Best Cruise Line Rankings
Best Cruise Lines for the Money
- Celebrity Cruises
- Virgin Voyages
- MSC Cruises
Best Cruise Lines for Families
- Disney Cruise Line
- Royal Caribbean
- Norwegian Cruise Line
Best Cruise Lines in the Caribbean
- Disney Cruise Line
- Celebrity Cruises
- Virgin Voyages
Best Cruise Lines for Couples
- Viking
- Seabourn
- Celebrity Cruises
Best Cruise Lines in the Mediterranean
- Viking
- Seabourn
- Celebrity Cruises
Best Luxury Cruise Lines
- Viking
- Seabourn
- Regent Seven Seas Cruises
How did U.S. News & World Report rank each cruise line? They used a rating system that comprised of three elements.
50% of the weight of each score was from verified cruise reviews from Cruiseline.com. Cruisers assigned a rating between one and five based on their level of satisfaction from their cruise. Cruiseline.com uses their huge network of travel agents from World Travel Holdings so they know their reviews are by people who actually took that cruise.
30% of the score was U.S. News’ expert ratings where they compared a cruise line’s atmosphere, activities, cabins, food and service.
The last 20% of the score was based on the health rating from surprise inspections held by the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program. Every cruise ship that sails to and from a U.S. port has two unannounced health inspections and a ship must score at least an 86 to pass. U.S. News used the following formula to award points:
- 5 – Score of 97.5 or higher
- 4.5 – Score of 95 to 97.5
- 4 – Score of 92.5 to 95
- 3.5 – Score of 90 to 92.5
- 3 – Score of 87.5 to 90
- 2.5 – Score of 85.1 to 87.5
- 1 – Scores below 85.1
If a ship had no health inspections over the past 22 months because it had not visited a U.S. port, the average health rating of all CDC-rated ships within the cruise line was used as proxy in the calculation of the ship’s overall rating.
Nicola Wood, senior travel editor at U.S. News, gave the following statement:
“With so many cruise lines to choose from, it may be hard to know where to start when it comes to finding the perfect cruise vacation. The 2025 Best Cruise Lines rankings not only recognize the top cruise lines, but also provide a way for travelers to compare features, amenities and offerings to find the right cruise for an exciting experience at sea.”
To read more about U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Cruise Lines, you can visit their website here.