Cruisers Reveal The 8 Cruise Lines They Would NEVER Go With

I really believe that there is a cruise line – and a cruise ship – for everyone.

There’s no such thing as an average cruise holiday, because ships like Explorer of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) offer a completely different experience to Seven Seas Explorer (Regent).

Even within cruise lines, there’s a huge difference between MSC Armonia and MSC World Europa.

But, cruise guests are getting more savvy and are spending a lot of time researching cruises – as you should. This means they’re often picking up on the reputations of certain cruise lines and making pre-judgements, deciding that they’d never cruise with some companies based on the reviews.

I wanted to know which cruise lines were the ones people were most likely to avoid, so I asked my Facebook audience of over 60,000 cruisers.

I must admit, I was surprised by the results! So, let’s take a look at the cruise lines that people say they would NEVER book with…

1. Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival is one of the biggest cruise lines in the world, but I guess this one isn’t a huge surprise for coming top of the list.

That’s because it is not a cruise line that’s vague about what it offers – it’s a fun cruise, where everything is bold, loud, energetic and exciting.

This is perfect for a huge number of people – but also very off-putting for others, who want a more relaxing experience.

Carnival doesn’t try to please everyone. It may have Serenity Decks that offer a more peaceful, adults-only space, but those aren’t going to replicate the feel of other cruise lines that are aimed less at families and party cruisers.

2. Disney Cruise Line

This one did come as a bit of a shock, that so many people chose Disney as the one cruise line they would avoid.

But then I thought about it.

Of all the cruise lines, there’s one that primarily targets families rather than couples or solo travellers, and that’s Disney. So, it makes sense that any people falling into the latter groups might suggest this as the one cruise line they wouldn’t want to travel on.

Of course, many couples or solo travellers do go on a Disney cruise without kids. But they are typically Disney fans, rather than cruise fans.

And there’s another reason people would avoid Disney too, which is cost – when you ignore the ultra-luxury cruise lines, Disney is probably the most expensive of all cruise lines by some distance.

Read more: How Much is a Disney Cruise Compared to Other Cruises?

It’s not a bad cruise line by any means, and families (with the budget for it) will typically have an incredible time. But for a lot of people, it represents all the worst parts of cruising for them.

3. Costa Cruises

From one of the most expensive cruise lines to one of the cheapest, and therein lies the reason why a lot of people said they wouldn’t cruise with Costa.

It’s definitely a cruise line with a reputation for being budget-friendly, but that also has negative connotations too when you consider the quality of the experience.

I’ve always felt that a bad cruise is better than no cruise at all, but a few people did say they would rather avoid Costa altogether considering what they’d read about the food, or the rudeness of (some of) the crew.

I’ve tried it, and felt that while there were things that could be improved, it was still worth the cost. If there was a particularly cheap deal, I’d have no issues booking.

But it’s not my favourite, so I do see where others are coming from as well, and so Costa appearing high up on this list wasn’t a surprise really.

4. MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is another that I thought might appear on this list, as it’s another cruise line with a reputation for being cheap in more ways than one.

You can get some great deals on an MSC cruise, but a lot of people believe that means you won’t get a very good cruise either. And there are some people who find that the food’s not as good as on other cruise lines, or the range of entertainment isn’t as varied and polished.

Read more: Why Are MSC Cruises So Cheap?

This is another cruise line that I’ve sailed with on a mega-cheap deal and in my review I described it as a 10/10.

This was the cruise that made me realise you really can’t write off a cruise line based on reputation or on one bad experience (I’d cruised with MSC before in the aftermath of the global shutdown and it wasn’t great).

Again, I’m sure many people would prefer to pay more for other cruise lines, but MSC still offers a good option for lots of people who have to budget carefully for their cruises.

5. Norwegian Cruise Line

NCL was mentioned a few times as a cruise line people would avoid, and this was based more on past experiences rather than reputation.

The cruise line often gets a lot of positive mention for its variety of speciality dining restaurants in particular, but the food was one thing that a lot of people found to be lacking in quality.

The older ships could definitely do with some renovations too, according to some of the comments, and there have been some issues with service – not necessarily the onboard crew, but dealing with the cruise line and problems with unwanted upgrades, that sort of thing.

NCL does appeal to a lot of younger cruisers and the modern ships have some fun features to enjoy, but definitely read the reviews of the ship you’re looking at before you book with the cruise line.

Suggested read: Norwegian Cruise Line Ships Ranked Best To Worst

6. Royal Caribbean

What’s interesting about Royal Caribbean is how balanced the responses were. For everyone saying they would “never” cruise Royal Caribbean, there was one where someone was saying they would “stick to Royal” or would remain loyal to the brand.

So, what’s putting some people off?

A few people mentioned some problems they’d had, such as poor service onboard or a problem with their booking, which are individual and so don’t apply widely.

Some comments focussed on the family-friendly nature of the ships and the fact they had a lot of kids onboard, which is definitely true of the newer ships. But some older, smaller Royal ships tend to have fewer families onboard.

The main comment that was definitely bespoke to Royal was about the size of the ships – too big, and too overwhelming for some.

Royal Caribbean has the biggest ships in the world – and not everyone wants that experience. If you don’t need something different to do every couple of hours, and you hate crowds, it might be better to look at other cruise lines.

7. Virgin Voyages

Some of the cruise lines I’ve covered already are ones people want to avoid because of their family-friendly nature.

Virgin’s the opposite. It’s an adults-only cruise line, but definitely with more of an aim towards a younger adult audience.

Many people don’t like the atmosphere that’s tailored more towards drinking and partying, and some even described elements as “tacky”.

One person said that, having tried Virgin and spoken to others onboard, it seemed to be really popular with new cruisers and less so with people who’d cruised with other lines previously.

If you want a peaceful, relaxed and more traditional cruise experience, Virgin’s probably not for you.

8. P&O Cruises

The comments that mentioned P&O were more about bad experiences they’d had onboard, rather than the reputation of the cruise line.

P&O is generally seen as one of the better choices for UK cruisers, especially on the newer ships such as Iona and Arvia.

They’re family-friendly, but not packed with massive kid-friendly features. They have a relaxed vibe.

But because so many people like to cruise with P&O, there’ll always be some bad experiences for a handful of people, and those are what were mentioned in this discussion.

Suggested read: 20 Things That P&O Cruises Used To Offer That They No Longer Do

Other mentions

A handful of other cruise lines were mentioned but not as frequently as those above. Marella got a couple of mentions due to some poor service that was mentioned, although a couple of people said they’d always found the crew to be “fab”.

Some luxury cruise lines such as Regent Seven Seas and Azamara were mentioned but purely from a budget perspective – with one person saying it wasn’t a case of not wanting to, but they would never be able to afford them!

Overall though, I personally loved this response:

Remember that just because a cruise line appears on this list, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad cruise line. It’s just one that has a very particular market, and that might not be the right fit for you.

But you might be exactly the right person for a Carnival or a Disney cruise, or a Virgin voyage could be just what you need as a younger adult looking to have fun and cut loose.

This just reiterates why it’s so important to do your own research, read up on what each cruise line and each ship has to offer, and then try a ship to see what you think.

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