Revealed: The Most Family-Friendly Cruise Lines in the U.S.

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Article courtesy of Croatia Cruises,

• Cunard is the most kid-friendly cruise line in the U.S., with an average rating of 4.35 out of five based on family reviews.

• Celebrity Cruises secures second place with a rating of 4.27, while Royal Caribbean completes the top three with 4.22.

• Carnival Cruise Line has the highest number of family reviews at 16,667, demonstrating strong popularity and landing in sixth place.

A new study by Croatia Cruises has identified the most kid-friendly cruise lines for American families traveling this summer: Cunard.

The research examined 41,713 reviews from families traveling with children across eight major cruise lines operating from U.S. ports.

Cunard takes the top spot with a 4.35 average rating out of five, with 53.8% of its reviews being the maximum five stars and no one-star reviews recorded among the 65 family reviews analyzed.

Celebrity Cruises comes in second place with a 4.27 rating,

with 614 of its 1,145 family reviews (53.6%) being five stars. The cruise line demonstrated strong satisfaction levels, though it received 25 one-star reviews.

Royal Caribbean places third with an average rating of 4.22. The cruise line received 6,233 five-star reviews – accounting for 48.4% of its 12,885 total family reviews – but 223 one-star ratings affected its overall ranking.

Holland America Line lands in fourth place with a 4.18 average rating, with 47% of its 561 family reviews at five stars and only 14 one-star ratings.

Princess Cruises rounds out the top five with a 4.12 rating and 42.8% five-star reviews. The cruise line received 780 five-star reviews from a total of 1,822, indicating steady satisfaction across a larger fleet.

Top five kid-friendly cruise lines in the U.S.:

The study also found that Carnival Cruise Line and MSC Cruises secure the sixth and seventh positions with ratings of 4.07 and 3.92 respectively. At the bottom of the rankings is Norwegian Cruise Line (3.77), which received the highest number of one-star reviews at 4.8% of its total feedback.

Anastasia Tretjakova, senior travel advisor at My Croatia Cruises, commented on the findings, “American families clearly value quality experiences when traveling with children, as shown by the strong ratings for premium cruise lines like Cunard and Celebrity.

“What stands out in our analysis is that some smaller fleets consistently receive better family reviews. Many parents appreciate the more attentive service and manageable ship size that allows them to enjoy a stress-free vacation with their children.

“Carnival’s massive review count demonstrates its popularity with US families, even though its average rating places it sixth. This suggests that families consider more than just review scores when choosing a cruise – factors like onboard entertainment, ship variety and price points also play key roles.”

Methodology:

The cruises that are the most kid-friendly were calculated and ranked based on review data. Cruiseline.com was analyzed for ships that depart from American ports, and the ratings of reviews from the following traveler types were gathered: 

• Family (young children) 

• Family (older children)

The reviews were grouped by cruise line and the average rating per cruise line was calculated and ranked from highest to lowest. Only cruise lines with at least 20 reviews were included in the rankings.

America’s most kid-friendly cruise lines: