Ranking the Cruises of 2025

My 2025 Cruise List

2025 has been a great cruising year. I have been lucky enough to go on five cruises, all with their positives and negatives but I think it is enough to rank. Back in 2016-2022, if you told me I would be going on five cruises in a single year, I wouldn’t have believed you. I have been extremely blessed to enjoy this many vacations and I have loved all of them in their own way. I have cruised so much that my favorite cruise line is solidified, I got to travel with five different groups of people, and had a great, different experience every time. That is why I love cruises so much, it is always a different experience, no matter what.

Last on the list is Liberty of the Seas. This was my last cruise of this year, and it was the worst one of the year. It was still a fun cruise, and a strong cruise but I just liked the other ones so much that this one had to be on the bottom. I just didn’t do enough activities, and it was mostly a booze cruise. Fort Lauderdale hassle was enough to keep me away from them, no matter what ship is in port. Still a fun cruise, especially enjoying all of the audience participation events. There was one “Dance if you know it” where we all got drunk and all danced the macarena. Before that it was the funniest game show because it was the entire song that played and the lights were extremely bright as they awkwardly danced in the middle of the room. I have been on some incredible cruises this year that this one drops in comparison.

Coming in number four is the Utopia of the Seas in September. This was a perfectly fine cruise, I loved it. This was also my third time on the Utopia of the Seas, so it was nothing new. The top three of the year were new experiences and fantastic cruises. The Utopia of the Seas was great, but it wasn’t very memorable. Ice show, diving shows, all the entertainment was excellent. One miss on the ship is the karaoke venue. It is much too small for a ship that size. The Liberty of the Seas had several venues during overlapping times too. Laser tag was a fun addition, and everything was good. Hardly anything bad to say.

At number three is the Disney Wish. This was my first Disney Cruise Line experience in 20 years, and it was on one of the newest ships in the fleet. The ship sparkled, it was clean, it was filled with Disney and it was basically my first Disney cruise experience. I also went with my parents for this one as I got a discounted rate at my job, and my fiancé was out of town. This was a great throwback cruise, it reminded me of the cruises I used to go on. The cabin was cleaned twice a day, there was a towel animal on the bed each night with chocolates on the pillows. The private island immediately shot up to second on my private island list as Castaway Cay was extremely fun, and not as crowded as Coco Cay. The dining rooms on this cruise were fun, with two out of three of them were themed, and even had some character moments. I wish there was an option to go to the boring restaurant more for those adults that aren’t interested in the Marvel Superhero billboard with food involved. The kids loved it. The dinner show of Arendelle was a fun dining experience and much better than the Marvel dining room. The 1923 dining room was my favorite meal by far and was the “boring” option. The food was the best, and it was surrounded by history of the Walt Disney company. This dining experience was more my speed than the IP overload of the other two. The Marvel dining room is the biggest offender of IP overload. The rest of the ship was heavily themed, clean, great on-demand options on stateroom TV, and fireworks at sea were awesome! The AquaMouse was a fun baby version of the water coasters in Orlando water parks, and if you go on it the last night right before it closes you can just keep doing laps on it with no wait. Aladdin was one of the best shows I have seen onboard any cruise. One of my favorite nightly rituals on any cruise ship is a late-night chicken tender snack while watching the movie they had on their funnel. Funnelvision movie with chicken tenders and fries was a nightly occurrence. Those types of moments on cruising pop up every once in a while, when you are completely at peace, relaxing, and enjoying the moment. The entertainment in the theater was great, but the crowd entertainment offerings were lacking.

Utopia of the Seas in April is my second favorite cruise of the year. This was a big family group cruise where we got to enjoy our favorite ship with the family. It had its ups and downs. Plenty of drama but overall, it was a fantastic cruise. This was the first big family vacation that we went on, and I was glad to experience it with everyone. A highlight was watching the diving show on the front row with my girlfriend’s cousin’s daughter as she tried to hide from the water. Another highlight was playing laser tag with the family and just overall experiencing the madness, fun, and happiness to travel as a big group. The Utopia of the Seas is always a fun time, but enjoying it with family made it even better.

My top cruise of the year might be a small case of recency bias but it was the five-night sailing on the Disney Magic. This was once again, a family cruise and it was the first Disney cruise that my niece and nephew were able to go on. This was actually my second time on the Disney Magic, as the first time I went on was 2005 so it was nice to see it again. This was the smallest cruise ship of the year and it was definitely an experience from getting off the Utopia and hopping aboard the Magic in less than a month. Buffet on deck 15 compared to deck 9 on the Disney Magic. This buffet was always packed too, as one thing the Magic was lacking were multiple options for grab and go meals for breakfast. One place that was almost a ghost town, and a place where I was able to get into a hot tub on a cruise without feeling like tourist soup was the adult area. My fiancé and I spent a lot of time in this area, relaxing on the pool chairs, getting a drink at the empty bar, swimming in the pool, and an empty hot tub. A group of live performers also came out and sang a small set on one of the days as well. Castaway Cay was excellent once again, as I swam, did the 5k, and explored the island with almost no one there. The Magic was a small ship and with it being the only ship in Port it made Castaway Cay was a ghost town. The other private island, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point did not rise to the top… This was a very underwhelming experience. Nassau was once again, just a sea day. I got to trick or treat with my nephew. See him dressed up as a pirate, and my niece dressed up as a parrot. Experiencing this cruise with my niece and nephew was the most important part of the vacation. I got to experience the magic and wonder of Disney through the eyes of a three-year-old who loved every second. One of the biggest memories that I will always remember and bring up multiple times when he is older is after the “Let it Go” part of the show, and everyone got quiet, my nephew blurted out, “LET IT GO, LET IT GO” and the crowd all laughed. Apparently, that is his favorite song, and he just couldn’t help himself. Add all of this to the nightly funnelvision chicken tenders, and room service tenders and mickey ice cream bars. This cruise made it to the top almost easily.