A FEW ESSENTIALS

EXACTLY WHO ARE WE?

The Traveltruth Media Group is owned by Churchill & Turen Ltd., one of the nation’s most respected luxury vacation planners. We have been in business for 39 years and we have won more “World’s Best Travel Specialists” Awards than any other travel firm in the United States.

As with any “online claims,” we urge you to check us out thoroughly. You will discover that we have been named the Top Producing Advisors in the $27 Billion Worldwide Virtuoso Organization a total of four times.

Our Managing Director is the Senior Editor at Travel Weekly, the travel industry’s most trusted source for news.

We have devoted the past four decades to providing worldwide luxury travel planning to clients in 46 States on a “No Fee” Fiduciary basis. One of our Media Sites, www.traveltruth.com, for instance, is totally devoted to truthful Q&A on a wide variety of travel-related subjects. Our sites are open-source and available to all.

WHY DO WE FEEL THERE IS A NEED FOR STILL ANOTHER TRAVEL SITE?

Let’s imagine that a bus pulled up in front of your house and you and your friends were all driven to the largest shopping mall in the state. We get out and we approach the first 1000 people we see with one simple survey question:

“Based on available professional criteria, which cruise line is currently rated the best in the world”?

How many of the 1000 people we surveyed do you suppose would know? We would guess no more than 2 or 3 – if that. This, simply stated, is why we feel the need to talk about travel and the real top-ranked products in a way that is both truthful and unique.

HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR RANKINGS AND YOUR OTHER CONSUMER TRAVEL SITES? WHO ARE YOUR SPONSORS?

We do not earn any income from any aspect of our growing number of consumer-dedicated travel websites. Our ratings are based on our own independent inspections, reports from our specially-trained team of CSI Inspectors, and the best quality evaluations available worldwide from both the consumer and industry trade press in the United States and Abroad.

Our rankings are updated regularly to include new products, policies, and product enhancements. Cruise lines, tour operators, and hotels do not know when they are being inspected and we do not accept advertising or compensation in conjunction with our product ratings. All evaluations originate from sources known to us. All are filtered for accuracy. We do not use materials from self-appointed “critics” and we never use AI-generated materials.

We are told that ours are the only evaluation sites online that do not accept advertising in any form, promotional dollars, or free travel in exchange for kind words. (That is the formula used for 90% of the “reviews” the consumer sees online.) You cannot book anything on our sites. Ours is a highly successful luxury travel consultancy and we have absolutely no interest in trying to convince you to leave any professional agent with whom you enjoy a professional relationship. Quite frankly, we don’t need the business and you would have to reach out to us to see if the fit was good.

THE WORLD’S TOP TEN CRUISE LINES

 

CURRENT RANKINGS OF THE WORLD’S TOP TEN CRUISE LINES

 

Evaluations based on data from www,cruisetruth.com, the nation’s most respected ad-free, hype-free, purchased reviews-free, consumer cruise site.

Protected by copyright. Release date 1.1.24

# 1 – HAPAG-LLOYD Think crystal, glass chandeliers, and fine European service. But this is a German Line so speaking German would be useful. # 2 – SILVERSEA CRUISES Now owned by Royal Caribbean. The best in terms of personal service and fine dining options. All staterooms come with butler service. More formal than its competitors. # 3 – REGENT SEVEN SEAS The most inclusive five-star line afloat. Cruises outside North America include Free Business Class Air. Shore excursions are also included, as are all specialty restaurants. On cruises of less than 16 days, there are no formal nights. Owned by Norwegian Cruise Holdings. # 4 – SCENIC ECLIPSE YACHTS This Australian company has leading-edge riverboats and a large escorted tour operation. Its new Exploration Yachts have very quickly become industry leaders in some of the world’s most exotic destinations. Think exquisite food and service along with onboard helicopter and submarine. American guests will normally be in the minority. # 5 – SEABOURN CRUISES The star of the Carnival fleet, Seabourn features some of the industry’s most creative itineraries. They tend to do more longer itineraries than competitors. Guests are more international. # 6 – CRYSTAL CRUISES The new Crystal, using two refurbished Crystal ships, is now owned by Abercrombie & Kent. A&K has made a long-term commitment to the line and the results already show. We were anticipating that our inspection reports might reveal that Crystal has caught up with its former, impressive self. But with 80% of the crew returning, and A&K redesigning land program packages, we are, instead, seeing reports that now rank Crystal higher than it did under its previous ownership. This is the line that deserves watching as its place in the rankings can quickly escalate. Smallish cabins are still an issue but cuisine ranks among the world’s best. We detect a surprising number of shorter one-week sailings which could indicate that management in London is concentrating more on the potential European market. # 6 – RITZ CARLTON YACHTS New, luxurious, with outstanding spa facilities, this is as close as one gets to a floating five-star hotel at sea. Full reviews are not yet completed but they will be quite favorable. The major issue with Ritz Carlton’s venture on the high seas is its collection of “too short” sailings to fairly typical large-ship ports. The itineraries seem designed, in part, to support occupancy at the brand’s hotels at either end of many itineraries. # 7 – SEA DREAM YACHT CLUB Owned by a Norwegian shipping family, these identical yachts are inclusive and carry just 100 guests when full. Given their size, they often visit ports the larger vessels can’t. Rooms are yacht-like – translate – smaller than normal in the five-star category. Food wins raves. # 8 – PONANT CRUISES This is a line owned by the wealthiest family in France. It is best to book one of the full or partial charters for American guests operated by Tauck or Abercrombie & Kent. Regular Ponant sailings have a high concentration of European, primarily French-speaking, guests. # 9 – PAUL GAUGUIN CRUISES (PONANT DIVISION) Purchased by Ponant, the Gauguin is based in Tahiti which translates to beach-oriented itineraries. Longer 10-12 day sailings to places like The Cook Isloands provide a better experience than the standard seven-night itineraries out of Papeete. # 10 – OCEANIA CRUISES The four-star plus line belongs to Norwegian Cruise Holdings. Oceania cuisine is as good as what you might experience on a five-star ship. Itineraries are often excellent, but these tend to be higher-density vessels.

WORTHY OF MENTION

EXPLORA CRUISES Our evaluations are not sufficient to properly evaluate Explora. It is well-funded by the Aponte family, owners of the huge Italian shipping and passenger line MSC. The new Explore brand is on an ambitious building program and the new ships are bright and beautiful with just under 1000 guests. This is a line that will have to compete with Crystal, a line with similar-sized vessels. MSC tends to market worldwide so how comfortable Americans will be aboard these ships remains to be seen. Initial; reports are positive and the Italian vibe of the cuisine appeals to most first-time guests. WINDSTAR CRUISES Sailing Yachts and a small fleet of former Seabourn yachts make Windstar a brand worth watching. They do itineraries that make the best use of their size and guests love the “perfect size” of these vessels. Bathrooms are tight and shore excursion options are, by necessity, limited. Outdoor dining is usually possible and the food, in recent years, has come to match the quality of the scenery. Windstar is not inclusive but the entry-level pricing is attractive. VIKING CRUISES Technically, the largest upscale line, Viking is not inclusive. The ships are beautiful – if you love contemporary Scandinavian design. They pledge more time in port and the ships do not have casinos. They often have excellent onboard lecturers. Food and service is quite good but it does not match the top-ranked five-star lines. Children are not allowed.

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