MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cruise industry full of optimism; Norwegian Prima chosen the best vessel in the Ocean category

Besides the Norwegian Prima in the awards' Ocean category, Norwegian Cruise Line also earned best entertainment and best for solo travelers honors.

The best new cruise ship of 2022 has gone to Norwegian Prima, in the Ocean category of the Cruise Critic Editors' Pick Award. The vessel has 3099 guests and 1,506 crew, with a three level race track and slides that are 10-stories tall.

The award recognize recipients chosen by an international team of cruise experts at Cruise Critic, a review site and online cruise community.

“Most lines no longer have pretesting guidelines or vaccine requirements,” Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, was quoted by CNN Travel pointing out the industry is back to pre-pandemic conditions.

“Cruise lines no longer have capacity limits, making the onboard environment much more bustling than we'd seen in the months immediately following the return, and there are more areas onboard open to cruisers -- from lounges and entertainment venues, to restaurants and fitness classes.”

In the awards' Ocean category, Norwegian Cruise Line also earned best entertainment and best for solo travelers honors.

Celebrity Cruises has the best cabins, while Virgin Voyages offers the best dining and nightlife and is best for LGBTQ+ travelers, according to the 2022 Ocean category awards.

In the awards' Luxury category, Silversea Cruises earns the best luxury cruise line honor and the line also takes the award for best dining in the category.

The Emerald Azzurra is the best new luxury cruise ship. The Emerald Cruises “luxury yacht” can accommodate 100 guests and a crew of 72.

Travelers who are more than ready for an adventure-of-a-lifetime cruise will find the Cruise Critic awards' new Expedition category helpful in sorting through their options.

The 2022 debut of the category names the best lines for the most popular destinations: Alaska (UnCruise Adventures), Antarctica (Silversea Expeditions), the Arctic (Ponant Cruises) and the Galapagos Islands (Lindblad Expeditions).

Viking takes the prize in the Expedition category for the best new luxury ships -- Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris -- and the best science offerings. Quark Expeditions was named best for adventure.

“Kayaking, mountain biking, trekking -- even Arctic hot-air ballooning: However you want to be active at the poles, Quark will make it happen,” Cruise Critic editors said in a news release.

McDaniel added that “technology is much more ingrained in the cruise experience, being leveraged to help limit crowds and also just create a more efficient experience for travelers”.

She mentioned facial recognition technology that's making embarkation easier, the ability to order food and drink from an app from anywhere on the ship and in-cabin muster drills that are replacing in-person drills.

Next year, a range of new ships will come into service, including a new class of ships from Royal Caribbean, Oceania and MSC as well as a number of “sister” ships that will be the 2.0 or 3.0 versions of others in their fleets.

“And the hunger for cruises continues to rise in 2023 -- we're seeing some really strong shopping and booking numbers, particularly for the summer months,” McDaniel said.