Celebrity, Silversea And More: These Cruise Ships Earned Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards

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.”

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.”

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

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@usatoday.com.