Rating of Ships and Cruise Lines is always somewhat subjective. Everyone has their preferences, likes and dislikes and enjoys different entertainment, food and activities. Numerous times I have seen people eat the same meal or watch the same show and the opinions vary greatly.

Each cruise line has their strengths and weaknesses and try to differentiate themselves from each other.

Below is our view of the New York cruising scene. You experiences and like may vary from our opinion, but here are our choices.

Hands Down Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) wins this category. With their Freestyle dining and multiple specialty restaurants, there is something for everyone. Just recently NCL made a major investment in improving food quality and presentation offering a larger selection and better quality food. In addition, NCL has eliminated the idea of a traditional buffet and has now gone to freshly prepared food stations where food is cooked to order.

Royal Caribbean has won this category hands down. rock climbing walls, inline skating, ice skating rink, miniature golf, spa facilities, pools and gymnasium.

A second runner up in this category in NCL's Norwegian Gem. This ship has a bowling alley, rock climbing wall, twisty slide at the pool, Spa facilities and gymnasium.

Carnival Cruise Line's 4 and 5 Day cruises to New England Canada are the best value for first time or budget conscious cruisers. These sailing are priced competitively for those who want a cruise vacation, but have a limited budget. For the money, it is a good value.

Royal Caribbean (RCCL) with all of the activities mentioned above combined with a great kids program and arcade are sure to please young cruisers.

Both Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival have extensive programs which will surely please young travelers but the ships do not have more of the "over-the-top" activities found on RCCL

Crystal Cruises with it's oversized cabins/penthouses, high staff to passenger ratio, fine food and entertainment is popular with the affluent travelers.

Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is in a league by herself. The ship carries significantly less passengers than a ship her size could carry. The QM2  has a feeling of grandeur not found on any other ship afloat today. On board,  the QM2 everything feels "bigger-than-life".

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 is sophisticated and grand. She caters mostly to adult travelers.

Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean. Cunard sails from New York until January when ships embark on a world cruise.

Celebrity Cruises Constellation has been consistently highly rated by passengers. Ship has great atmosphere, food, crew and entertainment.

Norwegian Cruise Line's 7 day sailings to Bermuda.

Royal Caribbean's 5-day itinerary to Bermuda is good as well, but the general consensus is that the 5 days cruise does not provide enough time ashore.

Princess Cruises has a number of transatlantic repositioning cruises which make multiple stops in Northern Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Eastern Canada and the Northeast US.

Bermuda, St. Thomas (although congested), St. John and St. Kitts,