Simon Says… Know Your Ship Ratings

There are six different levels of cruise category, similar to a star rating for hotels - only rating ships is a lot more complicated because of the increased number of factors involved, including things like entertainment and shore excursions. Here is how I rate all the main ships of the world in the six categories……

• Standard - the basic entry level of cruising, mainly older ships with few frills. (**NOTE - Dreams Unlimited does not currently offer any ships in the standard category)
• Superior - older ships that have been well maintained or others built more recently that don't quite keep up with modern service and facility levels
• Premier - the most popular category, nearly all new or nearly-new vessels, most of them quite large and with an excellent range of facilities
• Premier Plus - the best of the Premier ships, with the very newest ships offering a more stylish range of amenities, service and cuisine
• Deluxe - an exclusive range of ships where service levels and cuisine are distinctly raised from the Premier level
• Ultra-Deluxe - the handful of true luxury cruise operators who do everything with genuine five-star style