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CuiseReport.com is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2007 Editor's Choice awards for BEST Cruise Line. The award for Large Ship Cruise Line was designated for any cruise line operating a ship which was reviewed in 2007 with a passenger capacity of greater than or equal to 450. Ships with a capacity of less than 450 which were reviewed in 2007 were considered for the Small Ship Cruise Line award.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises - Best Large Ship Cruise Line
 Regent Seven Seas Cruises clinched the title for the fourth year since 2003. This cruise line continues to improve on an already excellent product. Our 2007 cruise aboard Seven Seas Navigator provided further proof that Regent Seven Seas Cruises deserves its place at the top of our picks.
Interestingly, since our last sailing, the cruise line has been acquired by Apollo Management L.P., the same company that operates Oceania Cruises. Eventhough Regent Seven Seas Cruises will remain a wholly independent brand under the guidance of Mark Conroy, president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we will be very interested to see what changes, if any, take place at Regent Seven Seas under the new ownership.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises currently sails two vessels that qualify for the large ship category:Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner, each with a maximum passenger capacity of 700. Seven Seas Navigator follows close behind with a capacity of 490 guests. We have sailed on both ships (three times on Mariner) and can confirm that both offer extremely high levels of service and attention to detail. The public areas and suites are so spacious that it is easy to forget that you are on a ship capable of serving 700 guests.
The suite accommodations aboard Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Voyager are second to none. Exquisite linens, large closets, marble-lined bathrooms, huge balconies, and massive amounts of interior footage combine to make these the nicest suites at sea.
Silversea Cruises - Best Small Ship Cruise Line
 After our 2007 Australia/New Zealand cruise aboard Silver Cloud it would have been almost impossible for any other cruise line to knock Silversea out of the top slot as our choice for Best Small Ship Cruise Line. And, we are not alone. Virtually every magazine or consumer group that gives out awards has at one time or another recognized Silversea as a premier cruise line. Like Regent, this is the 4th time in five years we have selected Silversea for this award. When it comes to pure pampering and out-of-this-world luxury, Silversea gets the nod. The feeling you get when you step aboard a Silversea ship is hard to describe, but easy to get used to.
Even though Silversea has four vessels that qualify in the small ship category, our recent Australia/New Zealand sailing aboard Silver Cloud is the one that won us over for the 2007 award. Silver Cloud has a guest capacity of 296, yet the service levels rival, and often exceed, those offered by ships carrying half as many guests.
The nearly all-inclusive value of Silversea is one of the cruise line's strongest attributes. Your cruise fare includes all soft drinks, bottled water, alcoholic beverages, champagne, beer and wine consumed during the cruise. Gratuities are also included in the fare.
Some Other Notable Picks
 Best River Cruise - Viking River Cruises
Viking River Cruises is not only the largest river cruise company in the world, but in our opinion they are the best. River cruising is all about getting up-close and personal with the destination and Viking River Cruises' staff does an excellent job of immersing its guests into he local culture of the regions to which they sail.
Read our review of Viking Europe
 Best American Cruise - Majestic America Line
If you are looking for a cruise right here in the good 'ole USA there is none better than Majestic America. Our Three Great Rivers cruise aboard Queen of the West and Alaska cruise aboard Empress of the North exceeded all of our expectations. Another plus is that Majestic includes shore excursions in your cruise fare!
 Best Alaska Cruise - Cruise West
Spirit of Oceanus
There are lots of big ships sailing to Alaska, but size does not count when it comes to seeing this majestic land "up-close and personal". No other cruise line can take you there like Cruise West. The Spirit of Oceanus is a beautiful vessel and the zodiac excursions will leave you breathless.
Read our review of Spirit of Oceanus Alaska
How cruise lines are judged and awards selected:
To be considered for a Editor's Choice award, a cruise line must have at least one of its ships reviewed by a CruiseReport.com editor during the fiscal year indicated on the award. Every cruise line has the opportunity to have its ship(s) reviewed. Reviews are granted on a first-come, first-served basis. To be considered for awards, the review must be conducted aboard a 5-night or longer regularly scheduled sailing of a vessel. We do not include ship inspections or overnight 'cruises-to-nowhere' in our awards program consideration. Any cruise line can qualify for CruiseReport.com awards. A cruise line is not required to be an advertiser with CruiseReport.com to participate in our review or awards programs. Typically, cruise lines do provide CruiseReport.com with complimentary cruise passage for editorial staff performing a review. However, this does not influence our editorial opinion or review process in any way. |
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