Cruise Industry Awards Explained
Who runs each cruise award, who votes or judges, and what a win really tells you.
Sell Award-Winning CruisesCruise Industry Awards, Program by Program
Cruise industry awards come from very different places: trade magazines whose readers are travel advisors, industry events judged by panels, the cruise lines’ own association, review websites and consumer travel magazines. A trophy from one is not the same thing as a trophy from another. This site lays the main programs side by side so you can see who decides each one, roughly when results appear, and how much weight a result can carry.
It is written for people who sell cruises — agents who want to quote an award accurately, or who hope to win one — and it is just as useful to anyone who has seen “award-winning” on a brochure and wondered what it meant.
| Program | Run by | Who decides | What it rewards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel Weekly Readers Choice | Travel Weekly (U.S. trade press) | Readers, largely travel professionals | Suppliers, including cruise lines, as rated by the trade |
| Magellan Awards | Travel Weekly | Judges scoring entries | Marketing, design, products and services, with a Cruise Lines segment |
| Seatrade Cruise Awards | Seatrade (Informa Markets) | An independent industry panel | Ports, destinations, shore excursions, products, sustainability, people |
| CLIA awards | CLIA regional offices | Nominations and judging set by each region | Travel agencies and agents, plus Hall of Fame honours |
| Cruise Critic awards | Cruise Critic | Traveler reviews, or its editors | Cruise lines and ships by category |
| Condé Nast Readers’ Choice | Condé Nast Traveler | Reader survey | Ocean and river cruise lines and ships |
| World Travel Awards | World Travel Awards | Votes open to professionals and consumers | Cruise lines, ports and more, by region and worldwide |
Trade Awards and Consumer Awards Are Different Animals
A trade award is decided by people inside the travel business: advisors voting in a trade magazine poll, or a judging panel at an industry event. It tells you how a cruise line treats the agents who sell it, or how a port or product impressed experts.
A consumer award is decided by travelers: magazine readers, or guests posting reviews. It tells you what passengers enjoyed. Both are useful; neither is a ranking of everything. The pages for each program explain the method in more detail.
Who decides?
Readers, reviewers, judges or the industry itself. The answer changes what a win means.
Who is eligible?
Some programs consider every line; others only companies that enter or are nominated.
Which year?
Awards are annual. A 2019 win says little about a ship in 2027.
Which category?
“Best large-ship line” and “best line” are not the same claim.
For Agents: Using Awards Honestly
Awards help a client feel confident in a recommendation, but only if they are quoted carefully — program, year and category, every time. Our page on citing cruise awards sets out a simple house style, plus what to check before you repeat a supplier’s claim. If you would like to be selling those lines yourself, Be a Travel Agent helps new sellers get set up, and Cruise Selling explains why cruises make a strong specialty.
For Travelers
An award is a starting point for choosing a cruise, not the finish line. For what is new, New Cruises tracks new ships; for live offers on the lines you shortlist, see Wave Season; and when you are ready, our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise can price it through the Official Cruise Directory quote form. The Mister Cruise newsletter sends cruise special offers by email.
Cruise Industry Awards: Quick Answers
What are the main cruise industry awards?
Among the best known: the Travel Weekly Readers Choice and Magellan awards in the U.S. trade press, the Seatrade Cruise Awards for ports, destinations and products, CLIA’s regional awards for travel agencies and agents, Cruise Critic’s review-based and editor-chosen awards, Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards and the World Travel Awards.
Are cruise awards paid for?
Programs work differently. Some are voted by readers or reviewers, some are judged by panels, and some require companies to enter. Read each program’s own description before relying on a result.
Does Cruise Industry Awards give awards?
No. This site explains other organisations’ awards. It has no award of its own and takes no entries.
Cruise Industry Awards is part of the Smart Traveler network, led by Mister Cruise. He has sold travel since 1972 and worked full-time in the industry since 1977. He has sold or originated more than $500 million in cruises and has trained more than 500 travel agents.
If you want to sell cruises with his team, begin at Be a Travel Agent. Meet Mister Cruise →
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