The world's most popular cruise destinations of 2019, according to Cruise Critic
Need inspiration for your next sea voyage? Cruise Critic may be able to help.
On Wednesday, the cruise-review site and community named the world’s most popular cruise destinations for 2019 — and the top lines by destination — based on user ratings and reviews. The annual Cruisers' Choice Destination Awards are based on ratings submitted over the past year.
The French city of Avignon, located on the banks of the Rhône River, was the most popular port overall as well as the top European river cruise destinations.
Avignon, the former seat of Catholicism during the 14th century, is home to the Palais des Papes (Popes’ Palace) cathedral as well as the Pont Saint Bénézet bridge, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site named in 1995.
If France isn't your scene, Cruise Critic has plenty of other options. The site also recognized the best port cities for other regions around the world as well as the top large- and small-ship cruise lines serving each.
The site broke the Caribbean into three regions: east, south and west.
King's Wharf, Bermuda, was named the best port in the eastern Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda category, which Cruise Critic users said was best served by Disney Cruise Line, in the large-ship-line category, and Windstar Cruises, for small-ship lines.
Disney, whose Castaway Cay was named the world's top cruise-line-owned private island, was also named the top large-ship line for the western Caribbean and Riviera Maya, where Regent Seven Seas Cruises won top honors for small-ship line and Cozumel, Mexico, was named the top port.
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Cruise Critic users rated Celebrity Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line the top cruise lines for the southern Caribbean and the island of Bonaire, a Dutch municipality, as their favorite port in the region.
In the U.S. and Canada category, Quebec City was named the favorite port while Princess Cruises earned top honors for large-ship line and Crystal Cruises was the most popular small-ship line. American Queen Steamboat Company was named the best river line.
Holland America Line was rated the top large-ship line serving Alaska — home to the top port of Glacier Bay — as well as the Mexican Riviera, where the favorite port was the Pacific coast enclave of Huatulco. Lindblad Expeditions earned top small-ship line honors for Alaska, and no small-ship line was named for the Mexican Riviera.
Carnival Cruise Line was named the top large-ship line serving Hawaii and its most-popular port, Honolulu.
Scroll through the gallery at the top of this story for the top 10 destinations and visit CruiseCritic.com for the full list of winners.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Best cruise destinations of 2019, according to Cruise Critic users
