Condé Nast Traveler’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards ranked cruise lines across ship sizes, drawing nearly 800,000 votes, according to the publication. The results included categories for megaships, large ships, medium and small ships, and river cruise lines.
Princess Cruises placed first among megaships, defined in the awards as ships carrying more than 4,000 passengers. It received a score of 92.35. The publication said Princess entered the category with Sun Princess and Star Princess, launched in 2024 and 2025. Each can carry as many as 4,300 passengers, making them the largest vessels in the company’s fleet, according to Condé Nast Traveler.
Royal Caribbean International ranked second in the megaship category with a score of 86.45. Condé Nast Traveler said the cruise line operates the world’s nine largest cruise ships. Its largest vessels can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers at full capacity and measure nearly 1,200 feet, the publication reported. It also cited onboard attractions including water parks and live productions.
MSC Cruises finished third among megaships, followed by Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line. MSC’s ships in the category can carry between 5,300 and 6,700 passengers, according to the publication. Condé Nast Traveler noted attractions on Carnival ships such as an at-sea roller coaster, and described Norwegian offerings including water parks, go-kart racing and virtual-reality gaming.
The awards’ large-ship category covered vessels with capacity for 2,500 to 3,999 passengers. Virgin Voyages took first place with a score of 91. Disney Cruise Line ranked second, and Holland America Line was third. Celebrity Cruises placed fourth, with Princess Cruises fifth. The latter result put Princess among the top five in both the large-ship and megaship rankings.
The supplied account does not provide the names or scores for the top-ranked medium- and small-ship operators or river cruise lines. It also does not include the full top-five lists for the two categories described, beyond the rankings stated above. The results are rankings based on the magazine’s readers’ votes, rather than a reported assessment of ship safety, service standards or value.
