These Are the Best Cruises of 2024, According to T+L's Expert

Paul Brady
·4 min read
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The cruise lines and itineraries to consider in the year ahead, as selected by T+L news director Paul Brady.

<p>Courtesy of Virgin Voyages</p> Virgin

Courtesy of Virgin Voyages

Virgin's Scarlet Lady

Looking for the best cruises in 2024? Travel + Leisure's cruise expert picked the best sailings of the coming year, including traveling the Mediterranean on Oceania Cruises' newest ship, exploring French Polynesia aboard the legendary Paul Gaugin, and Holland America Line's adventure from Nova Scotia to Greenland and Scandinavia.

Atlas Ocean Voyages

Atlas Ocean Voyages, which launched its first food-focused itinerary in the summer of 2023, will offer more culinary voyages in the year ahead, including a 21-day adventure from Lisbon to Tromsö, Norway, that stops at numerous wine and spirits hot spots, including Porto, Bordeaux, Normandy, and Scotland.

Crystal

Crystal relaunched in 2023 with the refurbished ships Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity. The first will spend next summer in the Mediterranean, while the second will transit the Panama Canal in June on a voyage from Miami to San Diego before spending the summer in Alaska.

Cunard

Cunard’s much-anticipated Queen Anne arrives in May. The luxury liner will spend the summer sailing the British Isles and Scandinavia, among other European destinations.

Explora Journeys

Explora Journeys will welcome a second ship in August 2024, Explora II. Both will tour the Mediterranean next summer, visiting in-demand ports in Greece, Italy, and Spain.

<p>Courtesy of Oceania Cruises</p> The pool deck on Oceania Vista

Courtesy of Oceania Cruises

The pool deck on Oceania Vista

Holland America Line

Best known for its Alaska journeys, Holland America Line will have a 35-day “Voyage of the Vikings” itinerary next year that goes to Nova Scotia, Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia, all round-trip from Boston.

Lindblad Expeditions

Lindblad Expeditions will run a series of domestic trips on the Columbia and Snake rivers aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion, both of which have 31 cabins. The food-focused itineraries are organized in partnership with Food & Wine, which, like T+L, is published by Dotdash Meredith.

Oceania Cruises

<p>Courtesy of Oceania Cruises</p> Red Ginger, one of Vista’s in-demand dining rooms.

Courtesy of Oceania Cruises

Red Ginger, one of Vista’s in-demand dining rooms.

Oceania Vista, the line’s first new ship in 11 years, will spend next summer in the Mediterranean. One highlight will be an epic 24-day journey from Venice to Athens that calls in at iconic cities such as Rome, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, and Istanbul.

Paul Gauguin

A favorite of T+L readers, the Paul Gauguin will spend Christmas and New Year’s going round-trip from Tahiti to the Society Islands.

Ponant

In January, Ponant kicks off the first of 12 expeditions in partnership with the Explorers Club, the science-minded nonprofit. The series begins with a 30-day “half-circumnavigation” of Antarctica aboard the luxury icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot, starting in South America and wrapping in New Zealand.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

The new Regent Seven Seas Grandeur is headed for the Caribbean and then Europe, but will return to the U.S. in the fall for a series of scenic New England cruises that also hit New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec.

Scenic

Scenic’s latest expedition ship, Scenic Eclipse II, will head for New Zealand in late 2024, where it will do two-week itineraries that navigate the fjords and offer plenty of pulse-quickening adventures like jet-boat and helicopter tours along the way. 

Seabourn Pursuit

The line's Seabourn Pursuit will be sailing the South Pacific come 2024. In April and August, it will offer itineraries that focus on the history of World War II, with visits to islands involved in the conflict, including Chuuk and Guadalcanal.

Silversea

The latest Silversea ship, Silver Nova, will spend the summer cruising the Inside Passage between Vancouver and Seward, Alaska. In the fall it heads to Asia for trips that include a 16-day Tokyo-to-Singapore swing.

<p>Courtesy of Silversea</p> The Marquee restaurant aboard the Silver Nova

Courtesy of Silversea

The Marquee restaurant aboard the Silver Nova

Viking Cruises

Viking Venus, the line’s newest ocean vessel, will spend the first part of 2024 chasing the northern lights in Scandinavia, with stops in places such as Bergen and Tromsö, Norway.

<p>Courtesy of Virgin Voyages</p> The Aquatic Club on the Virgin Scarlet

Courtesy of Virgin Voyages

The Aquatic Club on the Virgin Scarlet

Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages will hit some in-demand Mediterranean destinations next summer, including Cannes, France, and the Balearic islands of Ibiza and Mallorca, on a series of sails on the Scarlet Lady. 

Windstar Cruises

A longtime partner of the James Beard Foundation, Windstar Cruises has two chef-led itineraries on the books for 2024: one goes around the Iberian Peninsula to France and Ireland, and the other cruises the Dalmatian Coast and western Greece.

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