Travel + Leisure Readers' 10 Favorite Midsize-ship Ocean Cruise Lines of 2024

With adult-focused delights, these mid-size ocean cruise lines topped the list in our annual "World’s Best Awards" survey for 2024.

By

Fran Golden

Updated on July 9, 2024

Midsize ships, with 300 to 799 cabins, focus on a variety of entertainment options. You’ll find activities like intellectual lectures, and carefully curated menus served in a variety of fine-dining restaurants. Personalized service and creative itineraries make these cruises extra special. Travel + Leisure readers looking to explore beyond the tried-and-true love these ships as a comfortable, and even luxurious way to see the world.

How Voting Works

Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Over 186,000 T+L readers completed the 2024 survey. A total of more than 700,000 votes were cast across over 8,700 properties (hotels, cities, cruise lines, etc.).

For the cruise category, respondents were asked to rate individual ships; the results were combined to generate scores for cruise lines in different categories based on number of cabins.

Ships were specifically rated on the criteria below:

Cabins/facilities
Food
Service
Itineraries/destinations
Excursions/activities
Value

For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are averages of these responses.

Two Viking cruise ships at sea. — Courtesy of Viking

What Readers Loved

Launched in late summer 2023, the first ship of luxury line Explora Journeys quickly caught readers’ attention and, impressively, was voted into the No. 2 spot in the midsize category in the World’s Best Awards for 2024. “Explora I surpassed all of my expectations,” said one voter. “It feels like a luxury resort at sea. They hit all of the marks for an exceptional experience!”

Shut down by a previous owner and resurrected by renowned luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent, Crystal made an impressive reentry in the No. 3 spot. Readers lauded Crystal’s cuisine and exceptional service. “What makes this ship unique specifically is the staff,” said one reader. “Onboard they make you feel like you are family and remember every detail of what makes you the person you are.”

That said, it’s hard to displace a line like Viking, noted for its consistency of overall excellence. For a third year in a row, it’s the No. 1 choice of readers in this year’s voting.

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The World's Best Awards

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The Winner

Viking

When you get on a Viking ship, you know what to expect. There are familiar surroundings, no kids onboard, no casinos, no nickel-and-diming, just overall excellence, say T+L readers. With 10 identical 465-cabin ships and a 11th, 499-cabin ship debuting later in 2024, Viking delivers a winning formula of all-inclusive fares that combine meals, beverages, Wifi, gratuities, and a shore excursion in every port with standout itineraries, too. Those destinations include the Caribbean, Alaska, Southeast Asia, China, South America, Australia, and Scandinavia. Service was an area that got particular raves in this year’s survey. “Experience made us feel like superstars!” said one reader.