Carnival Cruise Line’s first Excel-class cruise ship has come out on top for the third time in the Annual Cruise Ship Awards by also winning Best Cruise Ship of 2021. This includes not just new ships but every cruise ship out there!
Mardi Gras Voted Best Cruise Ship of 2021!
The Carnival flagship, which debuted in July 2021, has officially been voted Best Cruise Ship of 2021 in the annual Cruise Ship Awards from Cruise Hive. Mardi Gras was up against every other vessel, with readers being allowed to vote for any cruise ship they liked. She received more votes than other popular vessels from Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Mardi Gras has been the cruise ship in demand in 2021 as she’s a new class vessel for the fleet and features the first roller coaster at sea named BOLT. The vessel has already won Best New Cruise Ship and Best Cruise Ship Feature in this year’s awards. Mard Gras was officially named in October 2021 after debuting on July 31 from Port Canaveral in Florida.
The vessel is 180,800 gross tons and is fully powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), taking Carnival Cruise Line into a new era of environmentally friendly cruise ships. The vessel has six themed zones, offering different experiences and fun, including new dining venues such as Shaquille O’Neals Big Chicken restaurant. Mardi Gras has a guest capacity of 5,282 at double occupancy, along with 1,735 international crew members.
The Carnival cruise ship was up against many other vessels across multiple cruise lines worldwide. It’s the first time this category has been a part of the awards and is one of the only fully open awards in the industry.
Read Also: Carnival’s Mardi Gras Cruise Ship: Everything You Need to Know
There were seven categories in total, and readers have only been allowed to vote once in each. Voting opened in mid-September 2021, just months after cruise lines first started to return to service following the industry-wide pause on operations.
Second and Third Places
Coming behind Mardi Gras with the second-highest number of votes was Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, currently the world’s largest cruise ship. However, that title will soon be handed over to sister ship Wonder of the Seas in 2022.
Symphony of the Seas is one of the most innovative vessels in the fleet and has tons of onboard features, including the Ultimate Abyss aft slide. She’s 228,081 gross tons with a guest capacity of 5,518 at double occupancy.
In third place came Carnival Horizon, despite the vessel currently undergoing an urgent dry dock in Italy, Cruise Hive readers think she is one of the best cruise ships out there. She is the second Vista-class ship, and major highlights include the Seuss at Sea Waterpark, SkyRide, and an IMAX theater. The ship is 133,500 with a passenger capacity of 3,934.
So far in the 2021 Cruise Ship Awards, the results have already been announced for Best new Cruise Ship, Most Anticipated New Cruise Ship for 2022, Best Cruise Homeport in the US, and Best Cruise Ship Feature. Still to come are Best Cruise Line Private Island and Best Cruise Line, so do keep checking Cruise Hive for more results.
