Disney Dream & Magic Named Best Overall Cruise Ships in Cruise Critic’s 2017 Cruisers’ Choice Awards

Cruise Critic, the world’s leading cruise reviews site and online cruise community, recently announced the winners of its 7th Annual Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards. In 2017, Disney Cruise Line scored big in the large ship category with nine first place awards. The annual awards name the best cruise ships in the world, based solely on ratings submitted with reviews published on the Cruise Critic website.

Disney Cruise Line takes top awards in eight categories, including Best Overall Large Ship for Disney Dream for the third consecutive year.  Disney Dream sails Bahamian itineraries year-round from Port Canaveral, Florida, and also won Best Cabins, Best Service, Best Public Rooms and Best Shore Excursions. In the Mid-Size ship category, Disney Magic took top honors for Best Overall as well as Best for Families. In fact, the fleet swept the Best for Families category taking home the top 3 spots and the fifth.

“With these awards we consolidate the thousands of reviews submitted to Cruise Critic each year and honor those lines that received the best ratings from cruisers,” explained Colleen McDaniel, Senior Executive Editor, Cruise Critic. “Reviews offer incredibly helpful insights for those planning a cruise but also highlight the remarkable experiences and levels of service that people encounter every day on a cruise. We’re thankful to everyone who added their voice to these awards by taking the time to write a review.”

Viking Ocean Cruises, which launched its first ocean cruise ship in 2015, ranks number one in 10 categories.  Viking Sea, which sails European and Caribbean itineraries, won Best Overall in the Small-Mid size ship category, as well as Best Service, Best Entertainment, Best for Fitness, Best Public Rooms and Best Shore Excursion. Sister ship Viking Star won Best Value, Best Dining, Best Cabins and Best for First-Timers, in the same Small-Mid size category.

Celebrity Cruise Line’s Galapagos-based ship, Celebrity Xpedition, won six top awards in the Small Ship class, including Best Overall, Best Value and Best Shore Excursions.

The winners of the 7th annual Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards are awarded in four ship size classes, based on passenger capacity (Large: 2,000+ passengers; Mid-Size: 1,200 to 1,999 passengers; Small-Mid Size: 400- 1,199 passengers; Small: Fewer than 400 passengers.) The rankings are calculated using ratings published with user-submitted reviews on Cruise Critic.

First-place winners include:

Best Cruise Overall
Disney Dream (Large) – Disney Cruise Line
Disney Magic (Mid-Size) – Disney Cruise Line
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises

Best Cruise Ship Cabins
Disney Dream (Large) – Disney Cruise Line
Marina (Mid-Size) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Star (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Star Legend (Small) – Windstar Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Dining
Celebrity Reflection (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Marina (Mid-Size) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Star (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Wind Surf (Small) – Windstar Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Embarkation
Celebrity Reflection (Large) – Celebrity Cruises
Celestyal Crystal (Mid-Size) – Celestyal Cruises
Pacific Princess (Small-Mid) – Princess Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Entertainment
Allure of the Seas (Large) – Royal Caribbean International
Celestyal Crystal (Mid-Size) – Celestyal Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Silver Shadow (Small) – Silversea Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Fitness & Recreation
Disney Fantasy (Large) – Disney Cruise Line   
Marina (Mid-Size) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Public Rooms
Disney Dream (Large) – Disney Cruise Line
Marina (Mid-Size) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Service
Disney Dream (Large) – Disney Cruise Line
Marina (Mid-Size) – Oceania Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Paul Gauguin (Small) – Paul Gauguin Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Shore Excursions
Disney Dream (Large) – Disney Cruise Line
Celestyal Crystal (Mid-Size) – Celestyal Cruises
Viking Sea (Small-Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises

Best Cruise Ships for Value
Norwegian Sky (Large) – Norwegian Cruise Line
Celestyal Crystal (Mid-Size) – Celestyal Cruises
Viking Star (Small Mid) – Viking Ocean Cruises
Celebrity Xpedition (Small) – Celebrity Cruises

Best Cruises for Families
Disney Magic – Disney Cruise Line

Best for First Timers
Viking Star –Viking Ocean Cruises

Disney Cruise Line’s Top 10 Rankings Summary

Cruise Critic categorizes the ships based on passenger capacity. The Disney Dream & Disney Fantasy are listed in the large ship (2,000+ passengers) category, while the Disney Magic & Disney Wonder are listed in the Mid-size ship (1200-1999 passengers) category. Keep this in mind while reviewing the following rankings. *The exceptions are the Best for Families and First Timers categories which are not broken out by ship size.

Best… Fantasy Dream Wonder Magic
Cruise Experience
Overall 5 1 4  1
Cabins 2 1 6
Dining 4 3 10
Embarkation 5 2 8
Entertainment 3 2 2
First Timers* 5
Fitness & Rec 1 4  2
Families* 3 2 5  1
Public Rooms 2 1 3
Service 4 1 7
Shore Excursions 1  4
Value 8

Visit the 2017 Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards for a complete list of winners. These awards are based on review submitted by Februrary 1, 2017 from Cruise Critic’s readers who cruised in 2016. To be included ships must have a minimum number of posted reviews and ratings in each category to be included in the top 10 list.

One Reply to “Disney Dream & Magic Named Best Overall Cruise Ships in Cruise Critic’s 2017 Cruisers’ Choice Awards”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.