World's Best

Travel + Leisure Readers' 10 Favorite Intimate-ship Ocean Cruise Lines of 2023

Readers had effusive praise this year for many of these intimate-ship lines in our annual "World’s Best Awards" survey for 2023.

By

Paul Brady

Published on July 11, 2023

When it comes to truly luxurious vacations, it seems, the smaller the better. Travel + Leisure’s discerning readers had effusive praise this year for many of these intimate-ship cruise lines, defined as those operating ships with 150 cabins or fewer. Though feedback in the category concerns Lilliputian vessels, readers nevertheless gave these brands some of the best marks received in any World’s Best Awards voting. In fact, the No. 1-ranked brand registered a score of 99.29, just a few tenths of a point off what would otherwise be absolute perfection.

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. Nearly 165,000 T+L readers completed the 2023 survey, an increase of nearly 25 percent over pre-pandemic voting levels. A total of more than 685,000 votes were cast across over 8,500 unique 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. The intimate-ship ocean cruise line category is only for ships with 150 cabins or fewer. Some cruise lines may appear in multiple categories depending on the makeup of their fleet.

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.

A zodiac boat docked on the back of Silversea's Silver Origin ship — Courtesy of Silversea Cruises

What Readers Loved

This year’s list features a brand-new No. 2 in Ecoventura, an upstart cruise line that, like the winner, sails in Ecuador. The runner-up drew praise from readers for delivering a “fun, active, and enlightening experience,” as one voter put it. “I think the size of the Ecoventura ships is the sweet spot: big enough to be comfortable without too much wave movement, small enough to have a good ratio of guests-to-guides — and the right number of people to create a sense of community on board.”

The No. 3 line, Aqua Expeditions, is another brand that didn’t feature on the 2022 list but ranked highly in this year’s voting. “Everything was brilliant,” said one passenger, who traveled aboard the 15-suite Aqua Blu in the Raja Ampat islands of Indonesia.

Some well-known brands round out this year’s list, including Celebrity Cruises (No. 9), Silversea (No. 7), and Windstar Cruises (No. 6), all of which feature, among their bigger fleets, some vessels that qualify for the intimate-ship designation. Specialists like Overseas Adventure Travel (No. 4) and Variety Cruises (No. 5) also garnered high grades from readers. None could compete, though, with the resounding win for this year’s top line, Quasar Expeditions.

The Winner

Quasar Expeditions

This intimate-ship winner may have only two vessels, the 32-passenger Evolution and Grace, which accommodates 16, but it’s a perennial favorite of T+L readers. “We had an absolutely amazing trip aboard the Evolution,” said one voter, summing up the sort of feedback that readers love to share about Quasar. “I don't know how Quasar does it, but their crew, guides, and staff have extraordinary energy and motivation.” The line’s Galápagos Islands cruising grounds are one element of the score — who wouldn’t want the chance to sail around the wondrous archipelago? — but the crew of Quasar’s vessels are what really make all the difference, respondents say. “My mother is deaf and was personally assisted by the physician on board during our snorkeling expeditions. He learned a few signs and helped my mother feel more confident in her snorkeling skills,” one voter raved. As another respondent put it, “Quasar and their staff made this cruise a true trip of a lifetime.”