Worst Cruise Lines

[david63]

Yesterday I was looking for a video on YouTube and came across one showing the worst cruise lines in 2026. Although this was based on US cruise lines it was interesting to see that Princess and Carnival were both in the top 10 (in fact Carnival was said to be the worst).

This would seem, to me, that there is a policy within Carnival Corp. driving this as the same thing is/has happened with P&O and to some extent with Cunard, and I suspect that the main driver of this is cost cutting. The problem with cost cutting is that there is only so far that you can go before you enter a downward spiral.

[barney]

I think that Carnival as a group have made a decision on what market they are going for.
Within the leisure industry, there are defined categories.
Everything from budget to ultra luxury.
These are obviously defined by price.

I often watch Gary Bembridge, who specialises in the ultra luxury end of cruise lines.
While impressed with many of the offerings, I can't convince myself that it is worth that kind of money.

I may have mentioned before, but I came across an invoice from a cruise on Oceana in 2010.
It was £3,500 for a two week balcony cruise in the Med.
In January 2026, I paid £3,500 for a two week azura Canary balcony cruise.
Logic dictates that cuts have to be made or if not, a serious increase in price.

[Cheshire Cruiser]

Surprised to see Princess in there although maybe the USA experience is different to ex UK. We sampled Sky Princess in May 2024 and found it vastly superior to P&O albeit whilst the fare was in line with P&O the on board cost of living was a significantly higher mainly due to the nasty American traits of charging both Gratuities and Service charge - to me both have the same meaning!
We have booked again for 2027 albeit this time the fare per person per night is a higher than we have ever paid with P&O.

Picking up on Barney's point, I feel Carnival Group have a spread across everything from budget to,if not ultra luxury certainly luxury (Seabourn), with Carnival line and P&O firmly in the budget bracket and quite a few across the middle ground such as Cunard, Princess and Holland America.
We have a friend on Seabourn at the moment and will be interested to hear her feedback.

Looking at our own fares across many years with P&O, they remained remarkably static meaning fares are falling well short of inflation so it is inevitable the onboard experience has to be victim of sometimes fairly aggressive cost cutting.

[david63]

it is inevitable the onboard experience has to be victim of sometimes fairly aggressive cost cutting.

There are three scenarios at play here:

• If the intention is to attract new cruisers then it is not a problem as they know no different.
• If the intention is to attract cruisers from other lines then depending on which line they have cruised with it is debatable as to whether they will succeed or not.
• If the intention is to alienate past passengers then they are going the right way about it for many.

[oldbluefox]

Succinctly put David. Correct on all three counts. After our last couple of PO cruises we vowed never again, no longer our style.

[Stephen]

Nor us. .

[barney]

The policy is quite obvious.

It’s to attract new cruisers, predominantly young families.

The next ship will be another monster, probably bigger than Ariva and Iona. Was told this by the captain on Azura.

Our generation is no longer their preferred customer.

[oldbluefox]

It's good news for other cruise lines who do provide for our generation and it seems they are ready to take advantage. I believe Ambassador have already included a new ship in their programme and are looking to buy another. Fred will be happy to garner new customers so I say if they can provide the more traditional style of cruising which I like then good luck to them.
I might also add they are also attracting younger couples who like the opportunity of travelling from ports other than Southampton.

[Stephen]

I think the phrase ‘out with old wood and in with the new’ sums it up.

Just under seven weeks until our Saga cruise

[barney]

I think the phrase ‘out with old wood and in with the new’ sums it up.

Just under seven weeks until our Saga cruise

You are 100% correct Stephen.
Nearly everyone on our January cruise on Azura who we spoke with and were quite new to cruising, loved it.

Those more seasoned cruisers were more critical.

We have one booked for 2027 in the Med on Azura.
That will probably be our last P&O.
We have two pretty expensive land holidays booked for this year.
Actually, the Riviera one needs to be paid for this month.

I received the email from Ambassador and we are disappointed that they have dumped Bristol.
Couldn’t be bothered to drive to Tilbury so I suspect we will just continue with holidays from either Exeter or Bristol.