Welcome 2025! 2024 was an amazing year for Byte Size Cruises and we are excited to look back in this post at our top cruise experiences. If this is your first time here, we are happy to have you along for the journey! We are a travel agency out of Philadelphia, PA and we specialize in all things cruising. If you enjoy cruise vacations, or if you are interested in learning more about cruising, you're in the right place. Our only goal here is to give you the best and most up to date information so you can go on a fantastic vacation. To check out this post on our YouTube channel, click here.
Overall, the majority of our experiences in 2024 were amazing. Keep in mind that this review is only based on our point of view and thoughts on all the things that go into a great cruise (food, entertainment, etc.) Let's get into it!
8. Carnival Venezia
This cruise comes in at the bottom of our list only because there were events that occurred while we were there that we did not enjoy. Some positives first though! The ship itself is beautiful. It is a newer ship and the space is very nice.
We did have some red flags right out of the gate. We understand that Carnival is a party brand and they advertise party ships. This was a short cruise for us, only 4 days, and we should have known that on shorter Carnival cruises, most people party hard for a straight 72 hours. We left out of Manhattan and getting on the ship there were all the proper checks for illicit items (drugs, weapons, etc.) However, once we got on the ship, there seemed to be marijuana everywhere (so we aren't really sure what the point of all the checks were.)
There is a huge security presence on board, which we were not expecting, but we were grateful for once we witnessed just how necessary it was. There was a lot of fights, bad behavior, and drunkenness on part of the passengers on board. The staff seemed to have low energy having to deal with so much negativity by the passengers.
Overall for us, this was a weird 4 days. The entertainment wasn't great although we did have good food experiences. We would love to try this ship again on a longer cruise out of a different port to see if our experience was negative really on part of the passengers or if something else was going on.
7. NCL Breakaway
We had a great experience on the NCL breakaway. We sailed on this ship out of New Orleans in March. We had a really fun time in New Orleans the day before leaving for the cruise. Our only complaint is that the day we were getting on the ship to embark on our cruise, the process was a bit disorganized. There were some signs that took us in the wrong direction and the weather definitely did not help. Other than that, no complaints. The food was excellent and the entertainment that we saw was good. There weren't a lot of entertainment options on Breakaway and what was available was packed out, but again, what we saw was good.
6. MSC Meraviglia
We were on this ship just a few weeks ago and we had a great time. We cruised out of Brooklyn, New York and enjoyed everything from the food to the entertainment. The Carousal shows are really spectacular, the cruise staff was very good, and the itinerary was perfect. We sailed from Brooklyn to Cape Canaveral to Nassau and we were supposed to go over to Ocean Key, but because of bad weather we were rerouted. Overall, a really great time.
5. Norwegian Joy
We were on this ship in July of last year and we had a wonderful time! For us, this was a redemption cruise. We were on this ship back in 2023 and we did not have the best experience. This cruise, however, was a complete 180. We left out of Manhattan, New York, and we just had a blast. The food was great, the entertainment was good and. the ship looked beautiful. The new refurbishments they had done to the ship really made a difference.
4. MSC Seashore
We really like this class of ship with MSC. We have been on both the Seascape and the Seashore and both times our experience was great. One of the things we really loved about this ship is that you can find unique entertainment at almost any hour of the day. There is a theater in the back of the ship called La Cabaret Rouge where they have a variety show that starts around 8pm and goes past midnight. These are shorter acts that go back to back so you can pop in for a bit and head out when you're ready, making it more flexible that most other entertainment options.
The food on this ship was excellent, the staff was amazing, and we overall just had a really great time.
3. NCL Encore
We were on Encore on February out of Florida and we had a great time. Ironically, after we cruised on this ship, it was put into dry dock for upgrades. NCL added Spice H2O and expanded the space in the most popular restaurants.
The entertainment on this ship is spectacular, especially the show Choir of Man. If you sail on Encore, we highly recommend you check it out!
2. Carnival Jubilee
We were on Jubilee all the way back in January of 2024 (nearly a year ago) and this cruise earned the #2 spot in our lineup. We loved this ship. The food was amazing, the technology with the cruise app made our experience seamless, and the cruise staff truly made this vacation fun.
Drum roll please....
Number 1 for the year: Symphony of the Seas.
We were on this ship twice last year and both times we had an incredible experience. All the things were top notch and the overall environment was really great. The aqua theater show was incredible, Hairspray (the Broadway musical) was on board, and the ice shows were equally awesome. There were fun activities for everyone on board and the food was great.
That is our list of our top cruises from 2024. We have a bunch of fun cruises planned for 2025, so stay tuned!
Are you cruising in 2025? We would love to hear where you're traveling to! Comment below.