Cruise Australia's - Best Cruise Companies of the Year!

With Reuben Goossens

Cruise’n’Travel Journalist / Cruise Reviewer

& Maritime Historian

Please Note: Cruise-Australia is a non-commercial and privately owned cruise site and it is NOT associated with any cruise company or travel agency! Although the author has been in the passenger shipping industry since 1960 and is currently semi-retired, but continues to write cruise and ship reviews and articles in order to better to inform cruise and ship enthusiasts and provide information for those intending a cruise in the future. Please read my statement at the bottom of the page!

The Results Are In …

--The Best Cruise Lines of 2009--

These are the winners of Cruise-Australia’s

“Best Cruise Company of the Year”?

Cruise-Australia is happy to present the official results from our 2009 survey, which has been compiled from 32,758 entries received. Our survey instructions were as follows: "According to your cruise experience please list the best Cruise Line according to their Star rating. Please only rate the cruise line within the appropriate rating, and a company you have actually sailed with during 2009. See our extensive list of cruise companies associated with each rating."

Best Luxury Cruise Lines: The Best Cruise Line = Orion Expedition Cruises.

2. Silversea Cruises. A great runner up!

3. Crystal Cruises.

4. Seabourn.

Best 4/5 Star Cruise Lines: The Best Cruise Line = Holland America Line.

2. Royal Caribbean International. A great runner up!

3. Windstar Cruises. A great runner up!

4. P&O Cruises UK.

Best 2.5/3.5 Star Cruise Lines: The Best Cruise Line = P&O Cruises Australia.

2. Classic International Cruises. MV Athena - A great runner up & superb value for money!

3. Louis Cruise Lines (operating Adriatic and Mediterranean cruises).

“Orion Expedition Cruises” has won our survey for 2009! Congratulations CEO M/s Sarina Bratton!

MV Orion will be joined by the Orion II in 2011

* Remarks on each of the Categories:

Luxury: Congratulations to Australia’s own Orion Expedition Cruises, which is about to expand it’s fleet, as it currently operates the luxury MV Orion, however on November 26 it was announced that a new 100 passenger, all suite luxury expedition ship will join the fleet in May 2011 and she will be named Orion II. This fine ship was originally build as the ultra luxury yacht Renaissance Two and offers the ultimate facilities! 2 Silversea Cruises is well known to be the ultimate cruise line and is the author’s personal favourite! 3. Crystal Cruises came in third. 4. Seabourn Yachts came forth out of an extensive listing of luxury Cruise Lines!

Holland America Lines MV Oosterdam

4/5 Star: Holland America Line has long been a favourite amongst cruisers worldwide and now New Zealander’s and Australian’s have been enjoying the delights of this fine historic shipping line that offers some of the very best in the classic tradition of cruising! Royal Caribbean has proven to be popular worldwide and now the Rhapsody of the Seas is winning us over in droves! Windstar Cruises has brought a whole new kind of cruising to many as they enjoyed these grand white tall ships. P&O Cruises UK (England) offers New Zealander’s and Australian’s sector’s and whole or half World Cruises on the Oriana, Aurora and Arcadia, these are ships especially designed for such voyages and P&O Cruises UK has become very popular Downunder!

Classic International Cruises - MV Athena overcame other larger companies and came second!

Photograph by & © Alan-Hitchman

2.5/3.5 Star: P&O Cruises Australia has certainly become a new and a higher standard cruise product offering “Freestyle Dinning”, superb service and entertainment, yet at great value for money! Classic International Cruises became known to Western Australian’s with the superb ex classic liner and once the Portuguese Presidential Yacht, the MS Funchal. This fine ship became popular and she has gained the company many fans. Today this ship has been succeeded by the company’s flagship the MV Athena and soon she will be joined in Singapore by the magnificent Princess Daphne. The Maltese cruise company Louis Cruises has gained a unique reputation for some fine ships with a range of special services around the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean. The cruises have proven popular and great value for money. Louis Cruise Lines own many ships and charter them to various well known cruise companies around the world, but they do have an excellent reputation.

P&O’s latest addition to its fleet and based in Sydney - MV Pacific Jewel

Now the Worst!

* Remarks on the WORST CRUISE LINES Categories:

Many who completed the survey provided statements why they did not enjoy their cruise on the company they remarked on.

NCL Cruises by far received the vast majority of complaints. In fact NCL Cruises had 73.4% of the negative content of all the survey, which is amazing! Statements related to low staff morale, poor service, food and generally a bad experience! Rating given was 2 out of 10.

It was considered that the MSC Cruises ships were far too crowded and you had to line up everywhere. Also, the announcements drove you mad as they came in so many languages. In the Restaurants it was so noisy you simply could not hear yourself speak as the vast majority of passengers were either Italian or other European’s and they speak at the top of their voices, and the volume is beyond belief. Not a pleasant experience! Overall the rating given by Australian passengers was a 3 out of 10.

Princess Cruises Australia did not receive a great rap, for it seems as so many wrote “to be run by money grabbing accountants. Everything is based on making money and they spend so much time on draining your credit card, they forget how to look after you. I felt let down by my cruise experience!” Rating given was 3 out of ten, which is very poor for the so=called “Premier cruise line”???

The remarks about Costa Cruises were much like that of MSC Cruises regarding the noise levels and over crowding, as well as the problems encountered on Princess with the very high prices for everything and the never ending marketing on board, etc! Costa ratings were better due to the superiority of their ships and it rated at 4.5 out of 10.

Other complaints covered cabin cleanliness, toilets and air-conditioning not working and a list of other problems and that covered all the aforementioned companies, especially NCL and Princess Cruises. Princess has the worst smoking policy in cabins – “the hall always stank of stale smoke, and we lived right next door to smokers thus we lived in hell for it actually invaded our cabin!

* Please Note: The results above are not necessarily endorsed by the author, but I have been honest enough to provide the listings as the survey has placed each company, be it good or bad. Also I have made the relevant comments, which have been at large taken directly from the comment box and edited for readability.

Contact the Author …

When sending an email please name the ship or company you are commenting on!

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“2009 Cruise Agent of the Year” IS …

“The Cruise Specialists” - Established in 1982

The Cruise Specialists … Winner of the Cruise-Australia

“2009 Cruise Agent of the Year” Award!

“The Cruise Specialists” was Australia’s very first fully dedicated Cruise Specialist and they have been serving the Australian cruise passengers faithfully for 27 years. I have received countless reports regarding the ultimate service received from this agency, who also operate special cruises such as the Classical Concert / Opera and Theatre Cruises with Princess, and now also the very popular Rock and Roll Cruises with Royal Caribbean International. This Brisbane based agency has proved itself over the years and has served Australians from the West, Tassie and Darwin. These days with the Net and email’s distance is no longer a concern, also they offer a Toll Free Phone.

The agencies Director Corie Lisignoli looks forward to hearing from you and providing you with the kind of cruise service and experience you deserve! You will not only receive quality service, but also the latest and the best information and fares available!

Email Corie: info@cruisespecialists.com.au

Or Phone Toll Free

--1800 427 847--

www.cruisespecialists.com.au

Brisbane & International – Phone: +61 7 5546-6798

Fax: + 61 7 5546 6849

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Return to the - Cruise-Australia.com - INDEX

Who is the Author of Cruise-Australia & ssMaritime?

Commenced in the Passenger Shipping Industry in May 1960

Contact the Author …

When sending an email please name the ship or company you are commenting on!

Please Note: Cruise-Australia is a non-commercial and privately owned cruise site. The author has been in the passenger shipping industry since 1960 and is currently semi-retired, but continues to write cruise and ship reviews and articles in order to better to inform cruise and ship enthusiasts and provide information for those intending a cruise in the future.

However, if you are interested in a cruise, I am happy to refer you to a dedicated cruise agent in Australia, New Zealand or further afield on my recommended “cruise agents” page, for these are agents that specialise in cruising and they will be able offer excellent service you and the best fares available! Be assured, I do NOT receive any commissions or favours from these agents, and in the vast majority of cases these agents will not even be aware of my, or mu site’s involvement, as I provide the enquirer with the requested information of the agents (in their region) including their contact details. Reuben Goossens.

Cruise-Australia.com

& Cruise-Australia.net

Classic Liner enthusiasts visit

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Where the ships of the past make history the 1914 built MV Doulos Story

Visit our “Classic Ocean Voyages” Campaign Feature

Photographs on cruise-australia.net are: 1. By the author. 2. From the author’s private collection. 3. As provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there are photographs provided to me without details provided regarding the photographer concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images would be so kind to make them-selves known to me, that due credit may be given. I know what it is like, I have seen a multitude of my own photographs on other sites, yet they either refuse to give me credit and even refuse to remove them, knowing full well that there is no legal comeback when it comes to the net. However, let us show the charlatans up and do the right thing at all times and give credit where credit is due! Note: I do not credit those who send me photos as they are not the owners of the photographs concerned, unless the image is part of their private collection.

This notice covers all pages, although, I have done my best to ensure that all photographs are duly credited and that this notice is displaced on each page, that is, when a page is updated!

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