T&C Travel Announces First-Ever Cruise Awards

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 06, 2016) - T&C Travel, Town & Country magazine's bi-annual travel issue, today announced its first-ever Cruise Awards, anointing the crème de la crème of ships and experiences. The winning cruises are grouped into five categories -- mainstream luxury, classic luxury, contemporary luxury, river cruises, expedition cruises -- and broken down into sub-categories including best for design, food, families, activities, suites, and more. Whether you fancy a suite that can sleep 14, a vessel with a Michelin-starred chef on board, are traveling with family or are looking for a solo adventure, you will find the best cruise for you in this Awards guide.

"With this feature, we sought to answer the following question for every reader of T&C, whether they've never cruised before or have many times: What is the best way for me to cruise now?" says Klara Glowczewska, Executive Travel Editor. "As with hotels, so with cruises -- there is always an appetite on the part of people who travel for a carefully curated, editorial take on this vast world of possibilities. How, and where, is the best way to spend your travel dollar -- and acquire indelible memories?"

To help us select these top-rated vessels, T&C commissioned Carolyn Spencer Brown, Editor-in-Chief of Cruise Critic, who has been on every ship out there multiple times. Not only does she know the industry like no one else, she will always tell it like it is. A roundtable of eight experts known for years of experience booking cruises for their customers weighed in as well on the choices T&C made.

T&C Travel's Cruise Award winners include:

Mainstream Luxury:

• Norwegian Cruise Line (Best Overall, Best for Food)
• Royal Caribbean International (Best for Active Travelers, Best for Families, Best for Suites)
• Cunard's Queen Mary 2 (Best for Pet Lovers)
• Cunard (Best for Onboard Activities)
• Celebrity Cruises (Best for Design)

Classic Luxury:

• Crystal Cruises (Best Overall, Best for Onboard Activities, Best for Families)
• Seabourn (Best for Design, Best for Food, Best for On-Shore Activities, Best for Active Travelers)
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises (Best for Suites, Best for Not Nickel-and-Diming)
• Paul Gauguin Cruises - The Paul Gauguin (Best Match of Ship and Destination)
• Hapag-Lloyd Cruises: Europa 2 (Best Ship You've Never Heard of)

Contemporary Luxury:

• Viking Ocean Cruises (Best Overall, Best for Design)
• Oceana Cruises (Best for Food, Best for Suites, Best for On-Shore Excursions)
• Crystal Esprit (Best for Active Travelers)
• Windstar Cruises (Best for Families)

River Cruises:

• Amawaterways (Best Overall, Best for Food, Best for Onboard Activities)
• Viking River Cruises (Best for Suites, Best for Design)
• Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection (Most Distinctive Ambience, Best for Active Travelers)
• Amawaterways (Best for On-Shore Activities)
• Adventures by Disney (Best for On-Shore Activities)
• Scenic (Best for Independent Travelers)

Expedition Cruises

• Abercrombie & Kent/Ponant (Best Overall, Best for On-Shore Activities, Best for Food)
• Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic (Best for Families, Best for Onboard Activities)
• Aqua Expeditions (Best for Suites, Best for Design)
• REI Adventures (Best for Active Travelers)
• Silversea Expeditions (Best for Adventure Newbies)

For more information on the T&C Travel Cruise Awards and to read the feature, visit www.townandcountrymag.com/2016cruiseawards.

About Town & Country
Town & Country (www.townandcountrymag.com) has chronicled American life since 1846, always putting an emphasis on people of style and accomplishment who give something back to the world, whether in service, philanthropy or creative endeavor. Combining the highest level of reporting with the very best photography, Town & Country is an acute observer of the broader social landscape, documenting notable weddings and parties, chronicling the pastimes and passions of leading figures and families everywhere, and casting an anthropological eye on the lives of the rich and powerful. The magazine is a trusted source of privileged information, taste and unpretentious fun -- in short, an irreplaceable guide to the very best that the world has to offer. Town & Country Weddings, established in 2003, and the newly revived Town & Country Travel, are published biannually. Follow Town & Country on Twitter at @TandCMag.