Activities

What activities do you want onboard? Nightlife? Quiet relaxation? Family fun? Something sporty?

Cruise ships, especially the larger ones, offer a wide range of activities for the wide range of guests who cruise. For example, even though Carnival wrote the book on party cruises, their ships also offer relaxed and even erudite pursuits including high tea, some of the best wine-and-food pairing classes at sea and luxurious spas.

That said, each line has its particular strengths. To get a rich sense for these, we recommend reading the Savvy Guide to each cruise line, and perhaps a few Cruise Journals.

In the meantime, we offer this overview of which cruises are particularly strong with which activity types.

Nightlife

Weekend and 7-night cruises to the Caribbean, Bermuda and Mexico are particularly attractive to people who want to party (as opposed to getting up early for shore excursions to museums). Carnival is particularly strong here; it is the only line where lounges and dance clubs are regularly going strong past midnight. Larger Princess ships are good (but smaller ones not so much). Considering its older demographic, Celebrity also has a remarkably active nightlife, especially on its 5 and 7-night cruises.

Family fun

During the summer months, most cruise lines' 7-night and shorter cruises do a decent job with children. Exception: families should avoid ships under that carry under 1,000 guests, as these rarely have adequate youth facilities. Carnival has a particularly well-regarded youth program, and Royal Caribbean's larger ships have facilities like ice rinks, rock walls and Johnny Rocket's burger joints (for an additional charge).

Sporty / active

Any ship over 1,000 guests should have a tennis and/or basketball court and a decent fitness center with exercise classes and personal trainers. But if you want a very sporty atmosphere, Royal Caribbean's rock wall (on all ships) and surf simulator (on Freedom and Liberty of the Seas) are fun in themselves, and help attract a more active demographic. (For those more interested in strolling or jogging than surfing, Holland America Line is the only large line with a covered promenade deck that wraps around the entire ship.)

Relaxation

Almost any cruise can be deliciously relaxing - in addition to the usual benefits of vacation, you have attentive crew, no driving, and effortless dining and entertainment options. That said, for a variety of reasons including pampering service, excellent spas, and particularly comfortably staterooms Holland America Line is the cruise line most often associated with relaxation in our member surveys. For some, cruises with sea days are especially relaxing thanks to their more leisurely pace. If you are a light sleeper, avoid cabins directly above or below public decks and especially nightclubs. Light sleepers may also wish to avoid cruises filled with children.

Cultured / intellectual

Higher-end lines tend to have more intellectual activities onboard. Cunard, Crystal, Azamara, Holland America Line, and to some extent Princess, stand out for this. Additionally, cruises to destinations that have a cultural focus (e.g., Europe, Asia, anything exotic) or a nature focus (e.g., Alaska), are much more likely to have an intellectual focus than Caribbean or Mexico cruises, which are more focused on fun in the sun.