I Ranked the Luxury Cruise Lines After My Friend Booked a $95,000 World Cruise

My friend Colette asked me last spring which cruise line was "the best." This was at her book club, the one she hosts in that ridiculous living room with the fireplace that's never been lit. She'd just retired from private equity. Early, obviously.

I told her Viking Ocean.

She looked at me like I'd suggested she fly Spirit.

"I don't want value," she said. "I want someone to unpack my suitcase and know which side of the bed I sleep on."

Which, okay. Fair.

Look, I've spent six years writing about luxury travel. I've argued about business class versus first until I lost my voice at a dinner party. I've compared Four Seasons to Ritz Carlton more times than I want to admit. I thought I understood how this whole tier thing worked.

Turns out there's a whole world above Viking that I'd been lumping together wrong. When people ask about luxury cruise lines ranked by actual luxury level, not value, the picture gets complicated fast.

There Are Tiers Nobody Mentions

So Colette's question sent me down this rabbit hole. Three weeks of research. Phone calls with Vittorio, this travel agent I know who works exclusively with, as he puts it, "UHNW clients." I hate that acronym but whatever.

The ultra luxury cruise lines sit in their own category. All-suite. All-inclusive. Butler service. Ships under 1,000 passengers. Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Seabourn, Explora Journeys, Crystal (they relaunched, did you know that?).

Then there's Viking and Oceania. Premium luxury. Still excellent. Not the same thing.

And expedition cruises are a whole separate conversation I'm not even getting into right now.

U.S. News keeps ranking Viking number one in "best luxury cruise lines 2026" but they're combining categories in a way that made sense to me until Colette said that thing about the suitcase. For someone who genuinely doesn't care about value optimization? The rankings are kind of useless. She once bought a $400 water bottle because her Pilates instructor had one.

Regent Is Probably the Most Inclusive

I'll just start with Regent because that's what Colette booked. Their website calls them "The World's Most Luxurious Fleet" and I don't know, maybe?

What got her was the all-inclusive thing. And I mean ALL inclusive. Round-trip airfare. Business class if you book Penthouse or above. A hotel night before the cruise for Concierge class. Shore excursions in every port, unlimited, no nickel and diming. Premium spirits. Specialty restaurants. Wifi. Gratuities. Laundry.

Vittorio told me it's the only cruise where you genuinely don't touch your wallet after booking.

Their entry suites start at 307 square feet. The Regent Suite on the Explorer is 4,443 square feet which is, I just checked, larger than my entire apartment. Six ships total. The newest three carry 750 passengers each.

Seven night Caribbean starts around $3,899 per person. That's $557 a night. Their 2026 World Cruise? $95,000 to $266,500 per person.

That's what Colette booked.

One hundred and fifty four nights.

I genuinely can't stop thinking about that number.

Silversea Has the Best Geographic Reach

Silversea is the one Vittorio recommends for anyone doing Antarctica or Galapagos. Twelve ships. Butler service for every suite category, even the smallest Vista Suite at 295 square feet.

The S.A.L.T. program, Sea and Land Taste, it's this whole culinary thing. Cooking classes. Market visits. The experiential food stuff that's everywhere now but they apparently do it well.

Entry-level runs around $2,750 for seven days. About $465 per night. They're European-influenced, Pratesi bed linens, the whole aesthetic.

But the real selling point, and I didn't know this until Vittorio told me, they're the ONLY ultra-luxury line with a dedicated Galapagos ship. If you want butler service while watching giant tortoises, there's literally one option.

Seabourn Is Smaller and Weirdly Specific

Seabourn is what Astrid books. She's a retired orthopedic surgeon Vittorio works with. Stockholm. Very particular about ship size.

Five classic ocean ships, two expedition vessels. 458-600 passengers on the classics. 264 on expedition. Yacht-like is their whole thing.

What's interesting, they include watersports from Marina Day platforms. Kayaks. Paddleboards. That sort of thing. And their signature experiences are oddly specific. Caviar in the Surf. Evening at Ephesus, which is apparently a private concert they do in the Mediterranean.

Thomas Keller does The Grill restaurant. Sir Tim Rice handles entertainment. Very curated.

The catch though. Shore excursions cost extra. So do spa treatments. Laundry. It adds up in ways people don't expect. Astrid didn't care but she also apparently argued with a vendor about the thread count of her surgery gloves once, so. Different priorities.

Seven days runs $3,800-$6,999. Their 2026 World Cruise has a Ring of Fire theme which sounds dramatic.

Explora Is for People Who've Never Cruised

This is the newest one. Explora Journeys launched 2023. Three ships by 2026.

Margaux, Colette's daughter, looked into this for a client trip. She works in sustainability consulting. Liked the hybrid diesel-electric engines. The modern minimalist design. The fact that it doesn't feel like a cruise ship.

Largest entry-level suites in the industry. 377 square feet. Every suite has a private terrace. Staff ratio is 1 to 1.3.

About $450-$500 per night. They're doing a Monaco F1 cruise in June 2026 which feels very specific to a certain type of person. Vittorio recommends it to clients who've never considered cruising but stay at Aman-level hotels. That's the demographic they want.

And Then There's Viking

Viking. U.S. News number one for five years. Condé Nast Traveler number one for rivers AND oceans.

I recommended them to Colette! They're excellent!

But here's what I got wrong. They're not technically ultra-luxury. Entry-level is a stateroom, not a suite. 270 square feet. Beverages only included at meals, not all day. No butler service. 930 passengers per ship. Comparing Viking to Regent is like comparing business class to first. Both are great. One costs a lot more. Whether the difference matters is entirely about who you are.

Laurent and Amélie, French-Canadian couple Vittorio works with, they're Viking loyalists. Both still working. Mid-50s. Want enrichment programs and destination focus. They don't need unlimited champagne at 2pm.

Seven night Mediterranean starts at $1,999-$2,299. They do free airfare promotions constantly.

The Actual Numbers

If you're comparing cruise lines ranked by price, entry-level, seven nights:

Viking is $285-$328 per night, partial all-inclusive. Silversea is $393-$465, high all-inclusive. Explora is $450-$500, high all-inclusive minus excursions. Seabourn is $543-$571, same deal with the excursions. Regent Seven Seas tops out at $557-$671 with basically everything included.

The $100+ per night gap between Regent and Silversea buys you business class airfare and unlimited shore excursions. If you weren't planning to do many excursions anyway? Different calculation.

What I Actually Did

Nothing.

I didn't book anything.

Colette left for her world cruise in January. She texts me photos sometimes. Private concert at Ephesus. Some temple in Cambodia I've never heard of. Her butler remembered she takes oat milk in her coffee.

Meanwhile I'm still flying commercial. Still writing comparison articles. Still genuinely unsure if the ultra-luxury tier is better or just more expensive.

I told Laurent to try Seabourn for their anniversary though. Thought the Thomas Keller restaurant might appeal. Haven't heard back yet.

What about you? Looking at ultra luxury cruise lines or does Viking's value thing make more sense for how you actually travel?

Honestly curious.

Pricing accurate as of January 2026. Cruise fares change constantly. Talk to a travel advisor or contact the lines directly.