These Are the World's Most Popular Cruises for 2023, According to Experts

Ladies and gentlemen, this year's Oscar winners are officially in—the cruise ones, that is.

The experts over at Cruise Critic, a cruise reviews site and online cruise community, just announced the winners of its 11th annual Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards, which recognize the world's most popular cruises based on consumer reviews and ratings.

This year, the awards are a bigger deal than usual. Due to the pandemic, Cruise Critic paused their Cruisers' Choice Awards for two years, but now, they are back with newly found enthusiasm for world travel.

"With the successful return of the cruise industry, and a global demand that continues to grow, this year's awards are positioned to be more important and impactful than ever before," Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, said in a statement. "And as the cruise industry has returned to its new normal, it continues to prove its resiliency and dedication to delivering guests truly memorable vacations–as evident by this year's list of winners."

Just like your favorite movie awards, the Cruisers' Choice Awards recognize value in multiple categories and subcategories. The larger umbrella categories divide cruises depending on size, featuring the small ship, mid-sized ship, large ship, and specialty categories. Then, within each one of those categories, cruises are awarded in specific subdivisions, including overall cruise lines, cabins, dining, service, and value-for-money. For specialty cruises, the awards consider subcategories of river cruises and first-timers.

Here are the Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards winners of 2023:

Overall Cruise Lines winner: Viking (Ocean)
Cabins winner: Viking (Ocean)
Dining winner: Viking (Expedition)
Service winner: Windstar Cruises
Value-for-Money winner: Viking (Ocean)

Overall Cruise Lines winner: Oceania Cruises
Cabins winner: Oceania Cruises
Dining winner: Oceania Cruises
Service winner: Oceania Cruises
Value-for-Money winner: Oceania Cruises

Overall Cruise Lines winner: Virgin Voyages
Cabins winner: Virgin Voyages
Dining winner: Virgin Voyages
Service winner: Virgin Voyages
Value-for-Money winner: Virgin Voyages

First-Timers winner: Viking (Ocean)
River Cruises winner: Viking (River)

For a complete list of winners as well as the second and third spots for each category, you can visit the 2023 Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards website.

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