Viking® has received a new set of accolades from the popular online cruise resource, Cruise Critic®, earning six First Place awards in the 11th Annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards. Cruise Critic presented First Place awards across Viking’s river, ocean and expedition offerings, including Best River Line for the second consecutive time. Viking’s ocean and expedition voyages also earned the top two placements in nearly every eligible category including Best Overall Line (Small Ship Category). In its first year of operation, Viking’s expedition voyages also claimed First Place in the Best Dining category.
Cruise Critic’s 2023 Cruisers’ Choice Awards
“We are honored to be recognized with top placements for our entire fleet by the Cruise Critic community, which represents some of the most experienced voices in the travel industry,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “For more than 25 years, we have welcomed guests on destination-focused voyages around the world, and it is a delight to see how well our approach resonates with such knowledgeable travelers. I would like to thank our guests, the Cruise Critic community and our entire Viking family, who make these awards possible.”
Classified by Cruise Critic in the small ship category—ships carrying between 400-1,199 guests—Viking’s ocean and expedition voyages took First and Second Place, respectively, across three categories: Best Overall Line, Best Cabins and Best Value for Money. Viking’s expedition voyages took First Place in Best Dining, with the company’s ocean voyages following in Second Place. Additionally, Viking’s ocean voyages were named the Best for First-Timers.
Cruise Critic is the world’s leading cruise reviews site and online cruise community, with more than 650,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 700 cruise ships across the globe. The Cruisers’ Choice Awards name the world’s most popular cruises, based entirely on reviews posted to the Cruise Critic website in the last 12 months.
During the review process for the 11th Annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards, Cruise Critic members and past Viking guests shared highlights of their experiences. Comments included:
Best River Line:
“Everything about this cruise and all the ports were so unforgettable … The local food dishes were well represented in all meals prepared onboard. All details were very well planned. The service was impeccable, the crew was absolutely lovely.” – Cruise Critic Member RoxanneM
Best Overall Line (Small Ship Category):
o First Place – Viking’s ocean voyages: “We may be getting spoiled with Viking’s consistently outstanding ships, crews, food & accommodations, but that is why we keep going back to Viking.” – Cruise Critic Member RHunt8218
o Second Place – Viking’s expedition voyages: “On the far edge of the world, you still have an incredible variety of sumptuous food, wonderful places to relax, a large and absolutely first-rate library with books of all sorts, and a captain and crew who are clearly at the top of their game. Our best vacation ever.” – Cruise Critic Member rgoodby
Best Dining (Small Ship Category):
o First Place – Viking’s expedition voyages: “Food was over the top great for every meal. Prepared to order in the grill and the special sit-down restaurants, and the buffets offered wonderful variety morning, noon and night.”– Cruise Critic Member ALLTHENAMESHAVEBEENTAKEN
o Second Place – Viking’s ocean voyages: “The food on board is OUTSTANDING and is like eating at a 5-star dining restaurant at each meal.”– Cruise Critic Member Dafongs
This announcement from Cruise Critic is the most recent milestone as Viking continues celebrating its 25th anniversary. In January 2023, the company had its most successful single month of bookings following recent years of strong growth.
Since 2020, Viking has welcomed 16 new ships to its fleet—including eight new Viking Longships on the rivers of Europe, new purpose-built vessels on the Mekong, Nile and Mississippi rivers; three new, identical ocean ships; and Polar Class expedition vessels.
Viking was also named both the #1 Ocean Line and #1 River Line by both Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler, making it the first line ever to simultaneously earn #1 in its categories from both publications.
