What is the Difference Between a Mainstream, Premium, Luxury, and Ultra-Luxury Cruise? Understanding the 4 Cruise Line Categories
A lot of cruise travel terminology is fairly universal, and you'll find the same words and phrases used regardless of what cruise line you sail with or what size ship you're on: cabins, decks, dress codes, onboard credit, shore excursions, drinks packages, and so on. However, the terminology used to describe the actual cruise lines themselves can be surprisingly ambiguous, or at least flexible in a way that can easily lead to confusion. It doesn't help that cruise YouTubers and bloggers increasingly throw around words like "luxury" to describe cruise lines that no one in the industry would ever actually identify as such. (No matter how modern and elegant the design of a new Norwegian or Carnival ship might be, no travel agent or industry analyst would ever class Norwegian or Carnival as a "luxury line").
Put simply, different cruise lines operate with different business models, which include variations in terms of cruise ship size and design, atmosphere, entertainment, dining, service, destinations and itineraries, and perhaps most importantly their target market (i.e. the groups of customers they're trying to reach). While each cruise line aims to create its own distinct brand and approach to the cruise experience, these lines can nevertheless be generally classified by 4 main categories or types: mainstream, premium, luxury, and ultra-luxury. (In this way, we are echoing Gary Bembridge of Tips for Travellers who also identifies these same 4 cruise line categories.) There are also specialty cruise lines including river and barge lines and adventure and expedition lines, both of which offer particular, targeted experiences - and in terms of overall services and accommodations tend to rival the premium, luxury, and even ultra-luxury lines.
Both for clarity and consistency - and to help our fellow cruise travelers choose the type of line best suited to their tastes - Calling All Ports uses these terms when discussing the different cruise lines. We are basing these definitions on various travel industry sources, including tourist information experts like Fodor's and Frommer's.
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Mainstream cruise lines are designed to appeal to the broadest range of passengers, including families with young children. As such, they tend to be large vessels (many crossing over into "mega-ship" territory) that offer resort-type features like large pools with water slides, games and even rollercoasters, and multiple massive entertainment venues. They tend to focus on shorter itineraries (7 days or less) traveling to highly popular destinations (the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Alaska).
Mainstream cruise lines: Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, MSC, Costa, Marella, AIDA, Margaritaville At Sea, Ambassador, Celestyal Cruises, TUI Cruises
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Premium cruise lines offer a blend of the mainstream line and luxury line experiences. They are still mid-sized to large ships but less crowded than the mainstream lines, offering a more spacious feel and also more attentive service. The onboard décor tends to be more stylish and subtle (whether that means classic or modern depends on the line). Their target demographic is typically adults and couples, rather than families with children or singles, or at the very least they set aside adults-only areas. They are also more likely to offer longer itineraries.
Premium cruise lines: Celebrity, Princess, Cunard, Holland America, Disney Cruise Line, Viking Ocean Cruises, P&O, Virgin Voyages
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Luxury cruise lines emphasize elegance in their design and décor, as well as in their spaciousness and service - often with nearly as many crew members onboard as there are passengers. Luxury lines tend to utilize smaller ships, typically accommodating only a few hundred passengers per voyage. This smaller scale allows for a more intimate and refined experience, with the focus placed on more traditional elements of cruising like fine dining and educational "enrichment." Smaller ships also enables luxury lines to travel to less familiar ports, with a good amount of emphasis placed on the destinations themselves, including curated shore excursions and immersive cultural tourism.
Luxury cruise lines: Oceania, Windstar, Azamara, Hapag-Lloyd, Ponant/Paul Gauguin, Fred. Olsen, Saga
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Ultra-luxury cruise lines take the luxury cruise line experience and add even more sophistication and pampering. These tend to be all-suite ships that offer "all-inclusive" packages, meaning everything from the lodging to the dining, drinks, gratuities, many shore excursions, and sometimes even airfare and door-to-door travel accommodations are included in the fare price. Ultra-luxury lines offer highly personalized service and even butler service, as well as premium branded linens, toiletries, and the like.
Ultra-luxury cruise lines: Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Seabourn, SeaDream Yacht Club, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Crystal, Emerald
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River and barge cruise lines are specially designed to navigate rivers and inland waterways, most notably in Europe. By necessity, their ships have a capacity for no more than a few hundred passengers. Ships are generally well-appointed and range from premium up to ultra-luxury. Some river cruise lines like Scenic also operate ocean ships, which tend to be classed into the small ship adventure or expedition line categories.
River and barge cruise lines: Viking River Cruises, AmaWaterways, Uniworld, Scenic, Emerald Waterways, CroisiEurope, American Cruise Lines, A-ROSA, APT, American Queen Waterways, Luftner-Amadeus
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Adventure and expedition cruise lines offer exclusive experiences in remote destinations. They are also much smaller ships, usually purpose-built for travel to particular destinations like Antarctica or the Galapagos Islands. As mentioned above, some river cruise lines like Scenic also offer ocean expedition cruise ships. Likewise, some luxury and ultra-luxury cruise lines operate specialty expedition ships, including Ponant.
Adventure and expedition cruise lines: Hurtigruten, Lindblad Expeditions, Quark Expeditions, Scenic, UnCruise Adventures, Star Clippers, Alaskan Dream Cruises, Poseidon Expeditions
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While these cruise line categories can generally be distinguishable by price (i.e. on a per night basis, a luxury line can be expected to cost more than a mainstream line), it is a mistake to classify cruises based on cost alone. For starters, mainstream and premium lines offer a range of cabin categories, with the upper-tier options on the likes of Royal Caribbean far exceeding the average price of a standard cabin aboard a luxury line like Seabourn. Also, the base fares on mainstream and premium lines can be deceptive, since they more often than not lack even basic amenities like water and soft drinks. When the expenses of a cruise vacation are all added together, the different cruise lines are not always as far apart in cost as they initially seem (especially if you go on a "budget" cruise line and want to take advantage of all the extras like the specialty dining restaurants, the alcohol, the spa, the BOLT rollercoasters and FlowRider surf simulators, et al). It is not what you are paying but rather what you are paying for that is most distinct. That is, you are spending money either way, and it is the overall lifestyle experience that you are purchasing: Are you the kind of person that would rather spend your time and money on amusement park-style rides? Or popular entertainment like that offered by the likes of Disney? Or instead are you the kind of person that prefers fine dining or guided tours of local cultures?