The awards season is getting into full swing in the travel industry. More than 100,000 votes have been cast in Cruise International’s first-ever awards, and there is still more than a month to go for passengers to make their opinions count.
There are separate categories for the best cruise line, river cruise line and ship, all voted for by the people who pay to travel on them. You can choose the Coolest Captain and even vote for me in the Best Cruise Blogger category (what are you waiting for?) and every vote cast provides a chance to win a £3,000 Mediterranean cruise on MSC Divina.
Voting is open until the end of August and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on September 14.
Meanwhile, nominations have been announced for the British Travel Awards, which will be presented at a lavish event on November 2.
There are eight separate cruise categories, more than ever before. Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Fred Olsen, Holland America, Norwegian, P&O, Royal Caribbean and Thomson are competing for the Mainstream Cruise title, and the luxury section sees Azamara, Celebrity, Crystal, Cunard, Hebridean Princess, P&O, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Silversea and Windstar fighting for the title. Both awards were collected by P&O last year.
Up for Best Family Cruise, won last year by Royal Caribbean, are Carnival, Costa, Disney, Norwegian, P&O, Royal Caribbean and Thomson, while the Niche Cruise Line award sets river cruise lines against the ocean-going outfits with nominations going to Avalon Waterways, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Disney, Hebridean Princess, Hurtigruten, Noble Caledonia, Orion Expeditions, Star Clipper, Swan Hellenic, Voyages of Discovery and Windstar. Last year’s winner was Voyages of Discovery.
In the River Cruise section, Viking, who have won for the past two years, are up against APT, Avalon, Elegant, Noble Caledonia, NCL, Swan Hellenic and Uniworld.
For the first time this year there’s a separate category for ex-UK cruises, and the nominations go to Celebrity, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Cunard, Fred Olsen, Norwegian (who don’t actually sail from the UK any more), P&O, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery.
All the companies get a chance to be voted best overall cruise line, and there are 15 travel agents in line for Best Cruise Holiday retailer.
Everyone who votes is in with a chance of winning a selection of travel prizes, from two weeks in Turkey, to free car hire and theme park tickets. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. What are you waiting for?
AMERICA’S Travel+Leisure magazine has named Crystal the world’s best large ship cruise line, with a score of 92.45. However, it’s a strange definition of “large ship” which pits Azamara Club Cruises, whose two ships carry about 700 passengers each, against Royal Caribbean, whose largest vessels can carry more than 6,000. For the record, Azamara came sixth with a score of 82.51, and Royal Caribbean were ninth with 80.28.
In the small ship category, Silversea (90.03) pipped Lindblad (89.25) but this was another unequal battle; Crystal promise an ultra luxury cruise, while Lindblad offer a more spartan expedition experience.
On the river, Tauck came top with a score of 90.06, followed by Uniworld (88.70), Viking (86.76), AmaWaterways (85.23), and Avalon (84.27).
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
What about Seabourn who scored 93.3 – highest in either category, although T+L class them in the small ship group.