We've been in the cruise industry for over 30 years. In that time, we've seen trends come and go, ships get bigger and then smaller again and traveller expectations shift in ways nobody predicted. What's happening right now is one of the most interesting periods we've seen. That experience gives us a clear view of where the industry is heading and right now it's heading somewhere good.
New ships are coming
There are currently over 74 new cruise ships on order globally, worth more than $90 billion, with deliveries scheduled through to the end of this decade. Some of these are enormous. The average new ship on order carries around 2,770 passengers and the largest are essentially floating cities with multiple restaurants, theatres, waterparks and shopping centres on board.
That's one side of the story. The other side is what excites us most. Alongside the mega-ships, a new generation of smaller expedition and luxury vessels is coming, and the standard they're setting is genuinely impressive. New small ships are arriving with heightened safety features, larger cabin spaces, upgraded facilities and innovative onboard programmes that simply weren't possible before. One example is Citizen Science: guests actively contribute to real scientific research during their voyage, collecting data on marine life, weather or wildlife alongside expedition experts. It turns a cruise into something more meaningful.
Regent Seven Seas is bringing out Seven Seas Prestige in December 2026. It's their first entirely new class of ship in over ten years. It carries 850 guests, which keeps things personal and every suite is all-inclusive: flights, meals, drinks and shore excursions are all part of the price. The suites themselves are the largest ever built for a luxury all-inclusive ship.
Oceania launched Allura in 2025 and has Sonata arriving in 2027. Both are smaller ships with around a third of the rooms being suites. Oceania also moved to adults-only across its whole fleet in 2026, a decision that reflects exactly who's travelling with them.
Celebrity Cruises keeps raising the bar for what a modern cruise can look and feel like. Their Edge class ships have changed what people expect in terms of design and experience and they continue to attract travellers who are new to cruising as well as loyal returners.
Going smaller, going further
Small ship and expedition cruising is the fastest growing part of the industry, up 42% in recent years. The reason is straightforward: people want a trip that feels personal and goes somewhere different.
Ponant has built a fleet designed specifically for remote places. Their ships reach the polar regions, the fjords, hidden Pacific islands and coastal ports that bigger ships simply can't get into. The itineraries are genuinely off the beaten track.
Paul Gauguin has been sailing French Polynesia for decades and knows those islands better than almost any other operator. The ship is small, the crew to guest ratio is high and the focus is entirely on that part of the world.
Aranui Cruises is something else entirely. It's a working cargo and passenger ship that travels between Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands, delivering supplies to remote communities and taking guests along. The villages it stops at are rarely visited. If you want to see a side of the Pacific that most people never do, this is the way to do it.
Themed cruises built around shared interests and passion
Something else worth mentioning is how themed cruising has grown. More and more sailings are now built around a specific passion or area of interest, whether that's wildlife, history, photography, food or archaeology. The idea is simple: you travel with people who care about the same things you do and the whole experience is shaped around that.
Ponant has partnered with Smithsonian Journeys to do exactly this. Smithsonian experts travel on board as guest lecturers and expedition guides, giving talks, leading excursions and bringing a level of knowledge that changes what you take away from each destination. These aren't generic tours. They're sailings designed for people who are genuinely curious and want to go deeper into what they are seeing. Destinations covered include Antarctica, the Arctic, the Pacific and remote parts of Asia and Africa.
Silversea takes a similar approach through its expedition voyages, where scientists, naturalists and cultural experts join the ship and become part of the experience. On an Antarctic sailing, for example, you might have a marine biologist on board who has spent years studying the region. That kind of access changes the trip completely.
At Ultimate Cruising, we're seeing more clients drawn to this kind of travel. People who want to come home having actually learned something, or who want to share the experience with others who feel the same way about a particular part of the world. We work with Ponant and Silversea directly and can help you find the right sailing based on what interests you most.
Spending more time in the right ports
The old approach of fitting as many stops as possible into a single voyage is fading fast. What we're seeing now is a real shift toward itineraries that go deeper into fewer places, including destinations that were rarely on cruise maps before.
More overnight stays mean guests can see a port by day and come back to it at night, which completely changes the experience. It also means more time for excursions. Regent Seven Seas includes unlimited shore excursions in the fare so when a ship stays overnight, guests can do one excursion during the day and another in the evening rather than having to choose. That's a significant difference.
Silversea and Oceania have both been building itineraries that reflect this slower pace and we're seeing it across the lines we work with. It's the kind of travel that gives people a genuine understanding of a place, its people and its culture, rather than a brief impression from a tender dock.
Wellbeing at sea is becoming a priority
This is something that's shifted noticeably in recent years. Cruising is no longer just about how many places you visit or how many passengers are on board. The conversation has moved to space, quality and experience.
Higher passenger space ratios mean more room per guest. Higher crew-to-passenger ratios mean better service and more personal attention. And on expedition and special interest voyages, the people leading experiences on shore are genuinely expert in their fields, whether that's a marine biologist, a volcanologist, a food historian or an award-winning nature photographer. These aren't tour guides reading from a script. They're specialists who are passionate about what they do, and that comes through in every excursion.
At the quality end of the market, the goal is to live well on board and get the very best out of every destination. That combination of comfort, expertise and access is what sets luxury expedition cruising apart.
Food on board has become a real point of difference
This is an area where things have changed a lot. Oceania is widely regarded as having the best food at sea in the mid to luxury range and they've worked with chef Jacques Pepin for over 20 years. It shows.
Silversea has gone further with its SALT program, which stands for Sea and Land Taste. The idea is that the food on board connects to where the ship is going. At each destination there are shore excursions built around local markets, producers and restaurants, and what guests experience on land shapes what they eat on the ship. It gives a voyage a much stronger sense of place.
Not sure where to start?
The cruise lines we work with are all moving in directions we believe in. Smaller ships, more time to explore each place, better food and real access to destinations that are hard to reach any other way. These aren't new trends for us. They're what we've always looked for when choosing the lines we recommend.
If you're thinking about 2027 or 2028, we can walk you through what's out there and help you find the right fit.
