12-02-2025
Celebrity, Silversea and more: These cruise ships earned Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards
Celebrity, Silversea and more: These cruise ships earned Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards
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Take a tour around the eco-friendly Silver Nova cruise ship
The eco-friendly Silver Nova is one of the most spacious cruise ships ever built, able to host up to 728 guests.
Forbes Travel Guide announced its 2025 Star Award winners, including over a dozen cruise ships.
Ships from various cruise lines, including Celebrity Cruises, Seabourn, and Viking, received Four-Star or Recommended ratings.
For the first time, the awards recognized outstanding cruise ship restaurants, with several earning Four-Star and Recommended designations.
More than a dozen cruise ships earned Forbes Travel Guide 2025 Star Awards, the independent rating system announced on Wednesday.
This year's winners range from large ships accommodating thousands of guests to smaller, yacht-style vessels. Cruise ship restaurants also made the list for the first time.
Five-Star, Four-Star or Recommended ratings are issued following rigorous evaluations by anonymous inspectors. The list also includes hotels, restaurants and spas.
'Forbes Travel Guide's Star Award winners exemplify excellence in hospitality,' Amanda Frasier, the rating system's President of Standards & Ratings, said in a news release. 'This year's list reflects the changing landscape of luxury with properties setting the standard for authentic experiences, unparalleled amenities, enhanced well-being and the delivery of unforgettable moments.'
What do the ratings mean?
Five-Star ratings go to properties that 'deliver an outstanding experience and consistently offer a highly customized level of service,' according to the Forbes Travel Guide website.
Four-Star winners are 'exceptional,' with equally high levels of service and facilities, while Recommended denotes 'excellent properties with consistently good service and facilities.'
Which cruise ships earned 2025 Star Awards?
Vessels from Celebrity Cruises; Seabourn; Silversea Cruises; Oceania Cruises; Regent Seven Seas Cruises; the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection; SeaDream Yacht Club; Windstar Cruises and Viking all made the list. The following cruise ships earned Four-Star ratings:
Celebrity Ascent
Celebrity Millenium
Seabourn Ovation
Seven Seas Splendor
Silver Origin
Silver Shadow
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection's Evrima
The other entrants were listed as Recommended:
Celebrity Apex
Celebrity Flora
Oceania Insignia
SeaDream II
Star Pride
Viking Neptune
Viking Sky
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Which cruise ship restaurants made the list?
Among the ratings system's inaugural cruise ship restaurant ratings, these onboard eateries received Four-Star awards:
Dining Room on SeaDream II
Fine Cut Steakhouse on Celebrity Ascent
S.E.A. on Evrima
The other three earned Recommended status:
Candles on Star Pride
The Grill on Silver Origin
Fine Cut Steakhouse on Celebrity Apex
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@
