The best family cruise lines – as voted by Cruise Passenger readers

While Australians can now book a wide variety of cruise itineraries on over 60 ships sailing our waters, a classic family cruise remains the number one favourite. 

In terms of bringing together adventure with convenience to make the ultimate family, cruising simply can’t be beaten, and hundreds of thousands of Aussie families agree. Carnival Cruise Line estimates that it hosts about 600,000 cruisers on Australian shores each year, which comes out to around half of all cruisers in Australia. 

Cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian continue to dominate the Australian cruise market and for good reason: the experience is tailor-made for families and everything is packaged together to ensure there’s something for everyone in the family. 

While youngsters are at the kids club and mum and dad are at the pool, grandad and grandma might be playing bingo.

But who offers the best family experience? Almost 5000 Aussie cruisers came together to vote in our Readers’ Choice awards.

We’ve found the best family cruise lines for you to pick your next holiday together.

Why take a family cruise

• Many parents will highlight the convenience of cruising. You pack once, and then you don’t cook or you don’t clean. It’s a true getaway for parents, not just moving their day-to-day responsibilities to another place. It might sound cliche but many parents do describe cruising as one of the few types of holidays that truly feels like a holiday. 
• It’s hard to beat the inclusions of cruise. While these days cruises aren’t exactly all-inclusive, having inclusions like food and entertainment makes a huge difference. Eating out at a restaurant three times a day and finding daily activities in a place like the Gold Coast or Byron Bay will run you up thousands of dollars, but on a cruise, it’s already taken care of.
• Parents can enjoy the uniqueness of the kids club. While the family spending time together is a great part of any holiday, cruising is one of the few holidays that also gives you a bit of a break as a parent! You can leave the kids in great hands, where they can socialise and make friends, and enjoy some time by the pool or in the spa and be truly free of responsibilities for a couple of hours. 
• There’s something for everyone! Family cruises are designed to make sure there’s something for the whole family. There are kids clubs for kids as young as three, all the way up to activities catered particularly for the elderly! Your kids can be at the kids clubs while you take a dance class, or the family can watch a movie under the stars altogether, there are endless things to do for the whole family.

Which family ships sail out of Australia

Anthem of the Seas & Quantum of the Seas

• Anthem of the Seas is fairly new to Sydney but looks set to be a long term guest in Sydney Harbour. Quantum will sail in Australia for the 2026/27 season and then be replaced by Voyager of the Seas for the following summer. They both sail about six months of the year.
• These are sister ships and very similar in a lot of ways, highlight by the fact that they’re the biggest ships sailing in Australia and there’s lots to do onboard.
• Guests can enjoy everything from laser tag to bumper cars, roller skating, pickleball, basketball, an arcade, a surf simulator, rock climbing wall, skydiving simulator and more.
• While Royal Caribbean certainly has newer ships, these are some of the newest and most modern ships sailing in Australia and have endless things to do.

Carnival Adventure & Carnival Encounter

• Carnival Adventure sails out of Sydney, and Encounter out of Brisbane, for now both ships are year-round, but from 2028, Adventure will only sail half the year in Australia.
• These ships are grouped together as they’ve both come over from P&O cruises and still largely maintain the venues and atmosphere of a P&O ship.
• The thing to note about these ships is to expect a bit less in perks, such as 24/7 free pizza or free soft serve, but they might even have an edge on the other Carnival ships in terms of things to do.
• A highlight for kids on these ships is the Edge Adventure Park, which boasts a zipline, rock climbing, a ‘walk the plank’ activity, waterslides, high-speed drops and more.
• These ships are a bit older, but provide great value and their strength is in the amount of family activities available.

Carnival Splendor

• Carnival Splendor sails year-round out of Sydney.
• Everyone of course has their opinions but Splendor is often considered the best Carnival ship out of Australia, as well as the most ‘pure’ Carnival experience, given that the other three Carnival ships in Australia are converted from other lines.
• Splendor has the WaterWorks water park, which is filled with all kinds of activities, as well as mini-golf, an arcade, basketball, extra waterslides and more, making it a great ship for kids.

Carnival Luminosa

• Carnival Luminosa sails about half the year out of Brisbane.
• The first thing that has to be noted about Luminosa is that it has no waterslides, all the other Carnival ships in Australia do. In general, Luminosa has a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than other Carnival ships in Australia.
• However, activities wise there’s still plenty to do such as different sports, the arcade, the kids clubs and more.
• Luminosa is a unique ship with a slightly different flavour to more classic Carnvial ships like Splendor, it’s great for a family vacation with the intensity tuned down just a notch compared to other Carnival ships.

Norwegian Spirit

• Norwegian Spirit sails an Aussie season of about five months each summer, sailing out of Sydney, with some one-way sailings between Sydney and Auckland as well.
• It offers more varied itineraries than other family ships in Australia, making it a good pick if the destination is your focus.
• Onboard kids can enjoy a splash pool, arcade, an entire sports deck and more, with the ship striking a bit more of a balance between adult and kid facilities compared to the other family ships in Sydney.

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1. Norwegian Cruise Line

Perhaps a surprise to some, Norwegian Cruise Line stole the top spot in the Readers’ Choice survey for family lines. NCL doesn’t quite have the presence of Royal Caribbean or Carnival in Australia, generally only sailing the Norwegian Spirit over the summer months, but the line has spent tens of millions of dollars recreating the Spirit, and it appears to be paying off.

It’s worth noting that while in some markets NCL is closer to a budget cruise line, but in Australia it is closer to premium in price.

However, NCL’s Aussie sailings do offer some great advantages to Aussies. The first thing to note is that the atmosphere on board is more relaxed than that of Carnival or Royal Caribbean. It’s more of a resort-style holiday, where there’s plenty to do and still partying to be found, but it’s not quite the full-on intensity of a Royal or Carnival cruise. 

NCL also has great local itineraries, regularly visiting ports like Eden, Burnie, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and more, which are often neglected by other lines. They also offer lots of sailings to New Zealand each summer, which are becoming increasingly hard to find with Carnival and Royal Caribbean. 

NCL also has its great ‘Free at Sea’ offer, which offers a cheap way to package together a drinks package, a wifi package and some specialty dining, making for something much closer to an all-inclusive experience. 

While NCL may not see hundreds and thousands of passengers each summer like the major lines in Australia, it has a fantastic and unique offering, which is deserving of the number one spot and clearly appreciated and loved by Aussie cruisers.

2. Royal Caribbean 

Royal Caribbean is the absolute classic family line and family vacation, and they’re extremely popular for a reason in Australia. In terms of the pure amount of things to do and unique experiences, such as surf simulators and simulated skydiving, you just can’t beat Royal Caribbean. 

Royal Caribbean sails the biggest ships that you’ll find in Australia, packing up to nearly 5000 passengers at a time. The prices are definitely a tier up compared to Carnival, but you are receiving a more refined experience, although some of the best activities do require paying extra. 

In terms of entertainment, Royal Caribbean can’t be beat, and your experience is catered from beginning to end to be the perfect family vacation. 

It should be noted that Royal Caribbean’s offering in Australia is set to change dramatically from the end of 2027, as they open a private destination in Lelepa. From that moment onward, nearly all itineraries will either head out to the South Pacific, or be a shorter cruise to nowhere. This means Royal Caribbean will no longer be a line where you can easily find a cruise around Australia or to New Zealand, but it will rather focus itself more around South Pacific sailings, with regular visits to the new beach club at Lelepa. 

3. Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line is both the most popular and divisive cruise line in Australia. You could look up comments from cruisers online and read that it’s the best value holiday in Australia, or that the the ships are poorly maintained, the food is not up to scratch and the experience is not good. 

Perhaps the best advice for a Carnival cruise in Australia is to know that the online comments are often a negative and very vocal minority. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Australians cruise with Carnival each year and come home with only extremely positive things to say.

It’s also worth a mention that Carnival offers by far the lowest cruise fares of any lines in Australia, and is the only line still offering cruises in the range of about $100 per person per day. While the overall experience is maybe a step down from NCL or Royal Caribbean and the ships are a bit older, the holidays provide incredible value and there are many people who prefer Carnival to other lines due to the liveliness of the experience, endless things to do and well organised activities and party nights. 

While you shouldn’t expect a five-star holiday with Carnival, it can also become exaggerated how budget the line really is, in reality you should still expect top service and great amenities onboard, and they almost definitely offer the best value family vacation in all of Australia. 

4. Disney Cruise Line

While Disney Cruises has sadly moved on from Australia, it’ll remain in many Aussies hearts as one of the best family cruise lines and it can still be enjoyed in Singapore with a quick flight over the Indian Ocean. 

The deal with Disney is quite simple, the quality of entertainment and immersive experience is the best you’ll find on a family cruise line anywhere in the world, however, this is reflected in the price. 

Disney seemed to not quite work out in Australia because the fares were a bit steep for Aussie families who generally look to cruising as a value holiday. However, for those who did go onboard, it was almost impossible to find a negative review and everyone raves about the experience and how much their children love it. 

While the experience is of course enhanced for kids (or adults) who are fans of Disney, you can expect so many types of entertainment and fun onboard that any child will love it. It’s one of the few cruise lines where entertainment is even integrated into dining time as famous characters come past and break into impromptu plays and skits. 

The Disney experience can’t be matched, but you are often looking at fares at least double or even triple that of other family lines such as Carnival. However, if you’re ready to splurge and want a cruise line that you can reliably know will blow you away, Disney is a great bet. 

Disney Adventure is sailing now out of Singapore and is Disney’s newest and biggest ship, with a whole range full of new features and entertainment waiting to be enjoyed.

5. MSC Cruises

MSC is a bit different to the other cruise lines in that it doesn’t sail in Australia, and has never homeported here, it’s only stopped by as part of longer itineraries. However, many Aussies have of course cruised with MSC while in Europe or other parts of the world and rate it amongst the best family lines.

MSC certainly leans into its European heritage, most crew members generally speak at least four languages and from the furnishings to the dining onboard, everything carries a European vibe. 

On an MSC ship you shouldn’t expect the non-stop action of Carnival or Royal Caribbean, while there are still plenty of family activities, it’s generally all a bit more laid back. It’s a great option for a family with older children or a family that generally is just looking for something entertaining, but still relaxing. 

MSC is definitely worth considering if you head to Europe, the Caribbean or other destinations where they sail, and they’re generally very competitive on pricing, more or less in the range of Carnival and a tick below Royal Caribbean.

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