2023 Member Choice Awards: Best Ship Onboard Experience

It was a year of evolution, but by the end of December 2022, life on cruise ships was starting to look and feel the way it did pre-2020. We saw the return of all guests being welcome back onboard and cruise lines resuming with most of the vessels in their fleet back in full-time service. 

Throughout 2022, ships returned to full capacity, group and kid’s activities restarted, and ship venues once again hosted activities and entertainment. In short, the onboard experience was starting to feel ‘normal’ again. Cruiseline.com and Shipmate members ranked their onboard experiences with top scores. 

The awards for the best ship onboard experiences were gathered from all the 2022 member review sailings to rank the best ships for overall quality, dining, onboard activities, service, and staterooms. 

Without further ado, the following are 2023 member choice award winners for the best ships for onboard experience…  

Best Ships: Ship Quality

1. Rotterdam - 4.76
2. Celebrity Edge - 4.75
3. Celebrity Apex - 4.72
4. Disney Dream - 4.71
5. Majestic Princess - 4.70

Honorable Mentions:

6. Oasis of the Seas - 4.69
7. Celebrity Beyond - 4.68
8. Symphony of the Seas - 4.678
9. Celebrity Reflection - 4.675
10. Celebrity Equinox - 4.67

How a guest perceives the quality of a ship can influence the entire cruise review. This category allows members to rank the vessel's overall condition, including the ease of navigating its layout, decor, and even cleanliness levels. 

Holland America Line’s new ship Rotterdam debuted at number one in the best ship quality category. The Pinnacle-class vessel received high marks for an easily accessible and navigable layout, superb staterooms, numerous dining options, and various entertainment venues. When Holland America first began promoting Rotterdam, one of the unique selling features was its Music Walk which encompasses live music-themed venues such as B.B. King’s Blues Club, Lincoln Center Stage, and Billboard Onboard. Between the high-quality entertainment options and great overall shipboard experience, our members rewarded the Rotterdam with top honors and the number one spot for ship quality.  

Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Apex came in just behind Rotterdam with incredibly close scores. However, these Edge class vessels boast many of the same ground-breaking amenities combined with Celebrity Cruises’ excellent service standards, making it no surprise they’ve topped this list. 

In numbers four and five, Disney Dream and Majestic Princess are older ships in their respective fleets. However, these vessels have consistently ranked high throughout the years by offering an excellent shipboard experience and service. 

Best Ships: Onboard Activities and Entertainment 

1. Allure of the Seas - 4.45
2. Oasis of the Seas - 4.40
3. Navigator of the Seas - 4.39
4. Freedom of the Seas - 4.387
5. Symphony of the Seas - 4.381

Honorable Mentions:

6. Independence of the Seas - 4.34
7. Disney Dream - 4.33
8. Harmony of the Seas - 4.32
9. Mardi Gras - 4.31
10. Celebrity Beyond - 4.30

With Royal Caribbean coming in at number one for the best cruise line for activities and entertainment, It’s little surprise that they also swept the top six places in this category. Like we’ve said before, Royal Caribbean consistently ranks high for offering venues and activities guaranteed to entertain everyone from ages 0-100+. In addition, their ships score well for the variety of options and the overall quality of experience guests have participating onboard. The sheer variety of activities and entertainment keeps Royal Caribbean at the top of the list year after year. 

Allure of the Seas dramatically jumped in this category from number four last year to number one in 2023. With a full year of sailing under its ‘belt,’ coupled with the newly-added Amplified upgrades like zip lines, FlowRider surf simulators, an H2O Zone waterpark, world-class shows, and high-energy entertainment options, members showed lots of love for this ship. However, with the hardware upgrades and the volume of activities and entertainment options onboard Allure of the Seas, it’s almost impossible to fit everything into a seven-night sailing. 

Honorable mentions for this category include Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Dream, Carnival’s Mardi Gras, and Celebrity Cruises’ new ship Celebrity Beyond. Just hundredths of points separated these three ships. Disney Dream ranked highly by members with original themed shows, multiple pools, the AquaDuck water coaster, Marvel Day at Sea, adult-only spaces like 687 Pub and the Senses Spa, and its kids/teens youth club programs. Mardi Gras scored high for the category with fun offerings like BOLT, ‘Family Feud’ Live, WaterWorks, and PlaylistProductions performances. Celebrity Beyond, which entered service in April 2022, had less than a year’s worth of reviews but was highly regarded and ranked enough to catapult the ship into the top 10. Celebrity Beyond received superb feedback in the activities category for its Resort Deck pool area, three over-the-top unique theatre shows, the Rooftop Garden, and the fantastic spa. 

Best Ships: Food and Dining

1. Celebrity Edge - 4.51
2. Celebrity Equinox - 4.48
3. Celebrity Apex - 4.44
4. Celebrity Reflection - 4.418
5. Norwegian Escape - 4.416

Honorable Mentions:

6. Celebrity Summit - 4.40
7. Norwegian Encore - 4.398
8. Celebrity Solstice - 4.394
9. Navigator of the Seas - 4.393
10. Disney Wonder - 4.39

Celebrity Cruises’ ships dominated this year’s awards for the best ships in food and dining. Our members consistently rank Celebrity ships high for various food options, high quality and tasty dishes, and attentive service in eateries. 

Once again, Celebrity Edge has come in first place in this category. It’s interesting to note this overall rating went down from last year, which could be indicative of the number of reviews that came in and not necessarily a decrease in dining quality. Celebrity Edge consistently receives high marks for its 30+ onboard restaurants and lounges. Across the board on this ship, you will find a great dining experience and an eclectic mix of restaurants and food types. Main Dining Rooms and other included eateries (like Mast Grill and Oceanview Cafe), all the way up to the elegant specialty eateries (such as Le Petite Chef, Fine Cut, and Le Grande Bistro), captured the highest reviews and extraordinary overall feedback from our members once again. Although Celebrity Edge is no longer the newest ship in the line’s fleet, it’s clear that the quality of dining over the years has not diminished, and guests are returning happy and well-fed.   

The top two through four award spots are Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Apex, and Celebrity Reflection. These three ships were separated by mere hundredths of points, reflecting the consistency and overall satisfaction with the dining experience onboard these incredible vessels. Norwegian Escape again retained its number five ranking in the category, the same as last year. This ship’s 25 onboard eateries offered something for everyone: great quality food, themed dining venues, and appealing menu options. 

Honorable mentions were given to Celebrity, Disney, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean ships in this category. Most of these scores were separated by minuscule amounts, making these rankings incredibly close and separated by a few review percentages. 

Best Ships: Service and Staff

1. Allure of the Seas - 4.778
2. Celebrity Equinox - 4.776
3. Celebrity Solstice - 4.76
4. Oasis of the Seas - 4.759
5. Celebrity Reflection - 4.74

Honorable Mentions:

6. Celebrity Silhouette - 4.737
7. Disney Fantasy - 4.732
8. Celebrity Edge - 4.731
9. Carnival Radiance - 4.73
10. Navigator of the Seas - 4.72

Across the board, members who returned from cruises in 2022 had high marks and compliments for the excellent service received on their voyages. In our ‘new age’ of cruising, the crew is tasked with delivering a great guest experience and ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for all. 

The best ship of the year, Allure of the Seas, lept to the top honors based on review data collected from 2022 sailings. The vessel was absent in this category in the 2022 awards and only came in at number four in 2020. Scheduled for its “amplification” upgrades during the pandemic, the Allure of the Seas will have to wait until Spring 2024 for a 58-day dry dock. However, even without the enhancements, the ship delivers high review marks, and guests notice the excellent service and attentive staff!  

The number two winner of this category, Celebrity Equinox, came in a mere two-thousandths of a point behind Allure of the Seas. We found this very interesting as Celebrity Equinox has a much smaller capacity of just over 2,800 passengers versus Allure’s total capacity of over 6,000 guests. We had many more reviews submitted for Allure of the Seas, so it speaks to members' outstanding quality of service when sailing on Celebrity Equinox this past year. 

The remainder of our top ten best ships for service and staff came from Royal Caribbean, Disney, and Carnival ships. Once again, these ratings were very close, with minimal percentages separating each winner.  

In doing these awards, we’ve found that member ratings for best ships for service and staff category can differ in many ways and depend on the individual’s experience. So we tip our hats to all ten ships' hard-working and dedicated crew and staff members! 

Best Ships: Staterooms

1. Celebrity Edge - 4.72
2. Symphony of the Seas - 4.69
3. Odyssey of the Seas - 4.68
4. Celebrity Apex - 4.66
5. Wonder of the Seas - 4.65

Honorable Mentions:

6. Celebrity Reflection - 4.632
7. Norwegian Prima - 4.63
8. Disney Dream - 4.62
9. Oasis of the Seas - 4.61
10. Rotterdam - 4.60

What’s interesting to note in the top five of the best in the staterooms category is that we have some of the newest ships in the Celebrity and Royal Caribbean fleets represented. We also see these two lines’ ships coming from the same class of vessels - Edge Class for Celebrity and Oasis Class for Royal Caribbean. 

Celebrity Edge slightly nudged out the competition for the overall best staterooms category. Celebrity Edge and number four (and sister ship) Celebrity Apex offer 1,467 total cabins. These staterooms are some of the most spacious on the market, with 99% of rooms having a King-sized bed. A large percentage of cabins on these ships are Edge Staterooms with Infinite Verandas. These staterooms offer an extended balcony with great ocean views and increased extra cabin square footage - a win-win. In addition, both ships offer Celebrity’s AquaClass cabin class and suites with access to The Retreat.  

Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas respectively came in at numbers two and three. Symphony of the Seas has 2,759 cabins and 189 suites divided across ten ship decks. Odyssey of the Seas includes 2,105 cabins divided into 41 categories. Symphony of the Seas is slightly older than Odyssey of the Seas, but given the overall ratings are just a hundredth of a point difference, the age of the ship doesn’t seem to matter. 

Number five, Wonder of the Seas, debuted in March 2022, and with less than a year of sailings, it’s clearly made an impact in the category to place it high in the rankings. The vessel offers 2,868 cabins across 40 categories and several unique specialty suites. We will watch Wonder of the Sea’s impact in this category in future years as more of our members sail on and review the ship. As with other Royal Caribbean ships before her, we expect great reviews on Wonder of the Seas in the coming years.

More 2023 Member Choice Awards

Best Cruise Lines Overall

Best Cruise Lines Onboard Experience

Best Cruise Ships Overall