Start Your SearchLuxury and ultra-luxury
Luxury cruising, tier by tier
Fourteen lines sit at luxury or above on this site. The gap between the two tiers is wider than the brochures suggest, and it is mostly about what stops being a decision once you are aboard.
What the category actually covers
Luxury, in the tier sense, usually means a smaller ship, a higher crew-to-guest ratio and a fare that already covers most of what you would otherwise be billed for. The ships still feel like ships: there is a main dining room, a show of some sort, and a daily programme.
Ultra-luxury is where the ship stops behaving like a resort. Suites rather than cabins, often a butler, frequently all-suite and all-ocean-view, and an itinerary built around long stays in port rather than sea days between them. The fare is higher and the bill at the end is usually nothing.
The practical test is not the fare, it is what is included. Ask what you would be charged extra for, and the answer separates the two tiers faster than any star rating.
Who this genuinely suits
Anyone who has done a mainstream cruise and remembers the queue for the buffet more clearly than the ports. Removing that friction is most of what the higher fare buys.
An anniversary, a significant birthday, a retirement: an occasion where the ship itself should be part of the holiday, not just the transport between excursions.
Anyone who would rather know the true cost before they leave than face a bill at the end. Ultra-luxury in particular removes the running mental tally almost entirely; you are not totting up drinks, specialty dining and excursions as you go.
14 lines
394 UK departures between them
Silversea
All-inclusive ultra-luxury that actually goes somewhere.
17 UK departures from Southampton, Belfast
Regent Seven Seas
The one where all-inclusive survives contact with the invoice.
36 UK departures from Southampton, Dover, Edinburgh
Seabourn
Small-ship luxury that quietly sails from Dover.
36 UK departures from Southampton, Dover, Belfast, Greenwich, Edinburgh
Viking
Strictly adults, deliberately no casino, and the reviews back up the reputation.
122 UK departures from Tilbury, Belfast, Greenwich
Oceania Cruises
Ask a foodie which luxury line to book, and this is usually the answer.
38 UK departures from Southampton, Belfast
Saga Cruises
White-glove convenience for the strictly over-50s, with a door-to-door start most lines only promise.
64 UK departures from Dover, Portsmouth
Azamara
You're paying for the shore clock, not the onboard glitz.
23 UK departures from Dover, Portsmouth, Edinburgh
Windstar
Half the fleet genuinely sails; the other half just looks like it should.
4 UK departures from Edinburgh
Explora Journeys
Contemporary ultra-luxury built to welcome the whole family.
43 UK departures from Southampton
Crystal
If you liked the old Crystal, this one earns the name back.
5 UK departures from Portsmouth
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
Pick the ship, not just the line, before you book.
1 UK departure
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
The name sets the right expectation. The launch didn't help it.
3 UK departures from Greenwich
Paul Gauguin
The undisputed French Polynesia specialist, and only one ship to prove it.
No UK departures, fly to join
SeaDream Yacht Club
Barefoot is the wrong word. Uncrowded and unstructured is the right one.
2 UK departures from Portsmouth
A waived single supplement is a promotion, not a policy
Solo travel is where this tier's marketing and its ordinary pricing diverge furthest. Nearly every luxury and ultra-luxury line runs a solo promotion at some point in the year, and the wording ("no single supplement", "reduced supplement") makes it sound like standing policy.
It is not. The ordinary state, outside those promotions, is a single supplement of roughly 10 to 25% on top of the double-occupancy fare. Silversea publishes exactly that range and runs occasional waived-supplement sailings on top of it; Regent's reduced-supplement offers are explicitly "select sailings", not every departure. So if travelling solo is what actually decides whether this works for you, the date you can travel matters as much as the line you pick: the same ship can be a very different price the following month.
Worth asking about directly when you enquire, rather than assuming the brochure's headline offer applies to the week you want.
When you'd be better off elsewhere
If you want a big ship with a lot going on, this is the wrong tier entirely. The entertainment budget goes on the crew here, not the stage, and a guest expecting a West End production will feel short-changed.
If you are travelling with children, read the family page instead. Several lines in this tier carry children perfectly happily, but several others have no kids' club worth the name and, in practice, almost no children aboard.
Ready to narrow it down?
Tell us what you're after
Answer in plain English and we'll match you to the line and ship that fit, judged on fit, never on who pays us more.
Find my cruise