On my cruise aboard the Celebrity Apex, I jumped into the lift to head to my room shortly after boarding and couldn’t help but over here somebody who had obviously never cruised before state that ”it’s like a giant floating hotel”, and well yes, it is.

That got me thinking about the hotels that I have stayed at whilst on holiday, including small and remote boutique ones, resort style complexes and huge towers in city centres and just how they compare with the ship that I have sailed on.

For me, a cruise ship is basically a giant hotel with the added advantage of you waking up in a new destination each day of your holiday and that always gives them a big edge over their land-based rivals, but there are some lines that offer ships that rival the best hotels I have stayed at.

It is those that I look at in this list as I look to answer what are the top 10 cruise lines that might ruin hotels for you forever.

Our Top 10 Cruise Lines That Might Ruin Hotels For You Forever

Royal Caribbean- Taking Resorts To A Whole New Level

If your preferred getaway is to head to a giant holiday resort style of hotel, you can expect to have certain things including large swimming pool, a range of restaurants, some entertainment and lots of chances to soak up the sun.

What you will also get is a well out of the way location, where you are stuck to the same resort each day and where you will likely not be able to tell which country you are in.

Am I in the middle of nowhere Turkey or am I in the middle of nowhere Spain- I don’t know.

If you sail with Royal Caribbean, you can get so much more choice than you would get with a land-based resort holiday, have you ever seen an ice skating and high diving show in a costa?

A alongside that, you can also actually explore some great destination, add some local culture to your holiday and have the feeling of been abroad rather than been in a compound.

Virgin Voyages- Corporate Pandering Boutique Hotel But With Travel

There are plenty of hotels on land that are owned by giant corporations but will try to give the impression of been a young upstart offering something different.

These are usually boutique chains that offer a trendy name, will include some fashionable facilities and will change the name of things, such as reception, to something like the hub but aside from a passing intrigue, who really cares.

It’s the same thing, it does the same thing and your money goes to the same faceless giant corporation and there is one cruise line that has taken that style of cringe marketing and pandering towards those with lots of disposable income that they would rather have than you keep and that is the Virgin Cruise Line- sorry Virgin Voyages.

Viking Cruises- Taking Upscale European City Centre Hotels To The High Seas

There are lots of different types of hotels to enjoy in European cities, but where most cities tend to really excel, it with compact city centre hotels that offer an upscale offering in terms of the service you receive, the hotels décor and the food at breakfast.

That is something a number of different lines can easily match or even surpass and one to excel at doing that is Viking Cruises.

The line have long brought Scandinavian style and service to the rivers of Europe but they have now taken to the high seas and bring that relaxed sense of style and immaculate service to cruise ships allowing you an upscale hotel style stay whilst visiting many of the most popular destinations on earth.

Disney Cruise Line- Theme Park Hotel Without The Miles

From Universal to Disney and from Legoland to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach, theme parks and hotels go together and that is for good reason.

They are somewhere people are willing to travel to go to, people want to have a full day of enjoying themselves and people are also willing to spend multiple days there making sure they get everything on offer.

What they also tend to mean is that you travel along way to get to a destination and never get to see it and it is often the case that kids have the time of their life whilst parents pick up the cost.

Once again, a cruise line brings you that experience with some added travel and even some adult only places and that is the Disney Cruise Line.

If your kids love Disney, and the chances they will, it won’t take much for them to have a great time, but the line offer so many great touches that it will be almost impossible for them not to have a time to remember.

There’s lots of things for kids and adults to do together, things for kids to do on their own and things for adults to do on their own which means you can have the holiday you want, in the way you want.

Alongside that, you are not stuck to the same holiday park and having to constantly pay for overpriced food and drink as you are still on a cruise ship with everything you need included and you can still head ashore to mix up your holiday.

Celebrity Cruises- Premium Beach Hotel To Remember

Something that I love about the Celebrity cruise line is that they never miss on adding those little touches that maybe not highlights of a holiday, they do really add to them.

That includes things such as chocolates on your pillow waiting for you when you return to your room on a night, works of art on the walls of corridors and a huge variety of seating.

All of that and so much more just adds to the premium nature of the ships and it is those small touches that you would expect from a quality premium hotel at a seaside holiday resort.

Onboard a Celebrity ship, you also have lots of sunlounges to soak up the sun, waiter service bringing you drinks where you lay and a choice of pools and hot tubs to relax in.

What you will likely not get in a premium beach hotel is the incredible entertainment you get on a Celebrity ship, the vast array of activities, incredible musicians playing day and night and the chance to visit a range of different incredible destinations.

Carnival Cruise Line- Budget Family Resort With Bonuses Galore

If you want to have fun in the sun, a getaway the whole family can enjoy and you are on a budget, you have two main options.

One is to book a package holiday where you need to run the airport gauntlet of stresses, waiting and delays before often needing a long transfer to your hotel which will be far from anything and you are stuck in the one spot for your week away before doing the transfer once more and then running the same airport gauntlet.

On a cruise holiday, you can arrive at your departure terminal at your own preferred time, will have far less security and waiting to deal with and even if your departure is delayed, you have started your holiday, and you will barely notice.

It is often thought that a cruise holiday is a luxury one and something that comes at a luxurious cost but it doesn’t need to be and one line that bring great value and fun for the whole family is the Carnival Cruise Line.

Norwegian Cruise Line- Large Resort Without The Schedules

Something that has always frustrated me about staying at big holiday resort is that you were often tied into the hotels schedule rather than your own.

If you are on an all-inclusive getaway you have paid for the food and drink on offer, so you won’t want to miss out on having it and that ties you to either staying in the grounds of the hotel, or the area around it.

In my experience, dining times were always quite limited and even drinks were only often offered at certain times, in certain bars.

As someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, you also never got included cafes or anything such as that, which is often offered on a cruise line.

With all of those restrictions on your time, it made for a repetitive holiday and one where you often missed out on exploring the things you wanted to as you are almost trapped to the resort- and that is by design of course.

There are of course similarities to cruising and that style of holiday but onboard a ship, dining times will often be a lot more varied and on the better lines almost unlimited from dusk till midnight.

You can also pick and choose between self-service outlets, grabs and go spots and traditional sit-down dining, when you can also choose when to eat.

Ships offer many more bars and more flexibility all around and when you couple that with all of the other great aspects you get form cruising and a cruise holiday is just head and shoulders above a resort holiday.

One line that excels at mixing a relaxed holiday where you can do things at your own pace coupled with a great cruise getaway is the Norwegian Cruise Line.

MSC Cruises- A Mediterranean Resort With A Twist

MSC Cruises are a Swiss-owned, Italian facing line that offer a Mediterranean resort style getaway no matter where you are sailing in the world.

If you love the food, culture and style of a Mediterranean holiday but you want to see more of the world, you can do that by booking with MSC and heading away from southern Europe.

No Mediterranean hotel stay will also allow you to explore Asia, North America or even farther afield making this MSC the best of both worlds for many.

Silversea Cruises- Exclusive Boutique Resort With Extra Adventure

If you love to indulge in luxury whilst on holiday and you tend to stay at 5 boutique hotels that go over and above what you get at a regular hotel, you may feel that that type of service just cannot be matched on a cruise ship.

That is true for many lines but there are some luxury lines, such as Silversea Cruises, that cannot only match that level of service, style and luxury but they go above it.

Starting with an all-inclusive getaway, where everything is taken care for you from the moment you book to the moment you get home, ultra-luxury lines make a holiday special.

When you compare them to a luxury hotel, you just get so much more included, including things such as your own butler to make everything is taken care of, the way you want it taken care of.

Once you have tried this type of getaway, you will never want to go back to a land hotel and that not even taken into account that these smaller ships can go places others can’t and therefore taking you on dream getaways away from the hustle and bustle of major cities and holiday resorts.

Regent Seven Seas- A Luxury All-Inclusive Resort To Rival Anything On Land

If you are looking to celebrate a special occasion, are looking to enjoy a bonus from work or just fancy living like a celebrity for a week the chances are that you will have looked at a luxury all-inclusive resort in some of the most upmarket holiday resorts around the world.

Luxury resorts tend to be wonderfully simple as they offer accommodation, food, drink and activities rolled into one package and all with a focus on quality.

A ultra-luxury cruise line, such as Regent Seven Seas takes that concept further by offering everything you get at the best land-based hotels but with the added sense of adventure and travel that comes from been on a cruise ship.