I Compared Prices on Every New 2025 Cruise Ship. Here Is the Ranking.

December 11, 2025 Randy Young

Sailing on a new cruise ship during its inaugural season always comes at a premium. Cruise lines know people are willing to pay extra for the latest and greatest, so they price accordingly. But just how do all the new ships compare when it comes to pricing? I took a look at the ships that debuted in 2025 to see the price difference, and the results may surprise you.

The New 2025 Ships

I looked at the newest ships that launched in 2025 and are sailing out of North America. This year, there were no new first-in-class ships, but many new iterations of an established design launched as sister ships.

2025 Ships

My Methodology: Comparing Apples to Apples

For this analysis, I tried to choose a scenario that would provide the most even comparison. To do that, I looked at March 2026, because that is when all the ships would be sailing in the Caribbean, offering itineraries that are similar but not identical. March is also a sweet spot that is between the lowest prices (typically seen in January and February) and the highest prices (seen in June and July). Also, because Easter is late this year, it does not directly coincide with most grade school spring breaks.

All sailings are 7 days, except for Disney Destiny and Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady, which do not have any 7-day sailings in March. So I broke down the costs to cost per day in order to make a fair comparison.

Because some cruise fares offer more inclusive packages, I looked at a basic cabin with no extra add-ons, and then a package with Wi-Fi and an alcoholic drink package (if one is not available at booking, I added the cost you would eventually pay for both). I also included the daily gratuities from each cruise line (if not already included).

For cabins, I chose the cheapest ocean-view balcony that lets you pick your own room (not guarantee rooms). I booked through the cruise line websites (not a travel agent) and used promotions available only to the general public on 12/7/2025. The two scenarios I looked at were an adult vacation (two adults) and a family vacation (two adults and two children under 12).

So now I can look at which new ships are the most expensive and which are the best deals.

Scenario 1: An Adult Cruise With Drinks and Wifi

The first scenario I looked at is two adults going on a relaxing holiday vacation with a drink package and Wi-Fi package.

Most Expensive: Disney Destiny and Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas

In something that will likely surprise no one, the highest cost would be the Disney Destiny. The short 5-night sailing would come in at $1,219 per night. That includes Wi-Fi and, since Disney does not have a drink package, I allocated 5 drinks per person each day, which is usually the break-even point for drink packages on most cruise lines.

Would two adults enjoy the Disney Destiny? There are plenty of adults who enjoy the Disney experience, and it is hard to argue that they do not provide a high-end experience with some of the best customer service. The ship also has unique themed bars like the Haunted Mansion Parlor and Cruella DeVil’s Piano Bar.

The second runner-up is Star of the Seas, which comes in at $1,066 per night. While that is 13% cheaper than the Disney Destiny, it is still a huge premium over the other new ships. It is 39% more expensive than the average of all new ships and rivals the prices commanded by Disney.

While the ship is marketed as the Ultimate Family Vacation, adults can enjoy this ship with venues like a swim-up bar, a dueling piano bar, and top-notch entertainment.

Least Expensive: MSC World America and Star Princess

No one should be surprised to see MSC World America as the lowest-priced new ship. MSC positions itself as a budget cruise option offering aggressive pricing, especially for North American sailings. For World America, the price is only $540 per day, half the price of Star of the Seas. Still, World America is charging a premium compared to MSC’s older ships.

World America is MSC’s second World Class ship that follows many of the design principles in Royal Caribbean’s Oasis and Icon Class ships, including a split superstructure design with interior facing cabins, a waterpark onboard, and distinct neighborhoods or districts. The ship was also tailored more to the North American market, with features like an American-style sports bar, American-oriented entertainment like Dirty Dancing Live, and an American Cruise Director who previously worked for Carnival.

Surprisingly, MSC is not the cheapest of the new ships. That title actually goes to Princess Cruises’ Star Princess. It comes in at just $532 per night, also half the price of Royal Caribbean’s new ship. It is even more shocking considering that Princess Cruises positions itself as a Premium Cruise Line. This price includes the Princess Plus package, which also covers casual specialty dining, a drink package with drinks up to $15, Wi-Fi, OceanNow delivery with food and drinks delivered anywhere on the ship, and daily gratuities.

It is not clear why the pricing on the Star Princess is so low. The ship is Princess Cruises’ largest ship yet, and that did not resonate with some of their long-time loyal fans who prefer the smaller, easier-to-navigate designs of Princess’ older ships. Originally, the ship was supposed to target families more with an expansive activity area and ropes course at the top of the ship, but because of design issues, those plans were scrapped for the whole class. Still, many guests have loved the new design, but the fact that Princess decided not to order any more Sphere Class ships may show that it is not succeeding as they had hoped.

Scenario 2: A Family Cruise for 4 with Drinks and Wi-Fi

For my next scenario, I looked at a family of 4 with the adults in the cabin getting drink packages and Wi-Fi. The results are actually similar in terms of the most and least expensive sailings.

2025 cruise ship pricing for family of four

Most Expensive: Disney Destiny and Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas

By far, the most expensive family vacation is on board the Disney Destiny. This new ship costs $1,851 per day for a family of 4. While it is not surprising that it is the most expensive, the cost difference is surprising. For a family of 4, the Disney Destiny is 50% more expensive than Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas. That is a big difference compared to two adults, where the Destiny is only 14% more expensive than Star of the Seas.

What do you get for $9,257? You get 5 nights of Disney’s highly curated experience, with character meet and greets, some of the best kids clubs at sea, and their patented Disney magic. The ship is dedicated to Heroes and Villains and will be a hit with kids of all ages, with a focus on Marvel characters as well as Disney classics.

But Star of the Seas is also great for families. The Surfside Neighborhood is designed specifically for families with kids 10 and under, with a dedicated dry playground, carousel, splash park, pool, and dedicated buffet. For older kids, Star of the Seas has the Category 6 Waterpark with 6 waterslides, a FlowRider surf simulator, mini-golf course, and climbing wall.

Least Expensive: Star Princess and MSC World America

Again, the cheapest of all ships is the Star Princess. At $618 per night, it is 66% cheaper than the Disney Destiny.

Princess Cruises is not known for being child-friendly, and a sailing usually has only a few hundred children compared to thousands on Disney and Royal Caribbean. Star Princess does not have water slides or huge arcades, but they do have a kids’ club and a small splash pad. Some kids actually prefer the kids’ club on Princess ships because the low number of children means they get more personalized attention.

The runner-up is MSC World America again. This ship comes in at $913 per night, 27% cheaper than Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas. For a savings of almost $3,000, a family can enjoy many of the amenities also featured on Star of the Seas, like a plethora of pools, a full waterpark, splash park, and things like bumper cars, roller skating, and an 11-story dry thrill slide.

Scenario 3: No Drinks or Wi-Fi

For cruisers who want a barebones cruising experience on a budget, any of the new ships can be booked without a Wi-Fi or drink package. Not getting those packages can save you 11% to 26% per sailing, depending on the ship.

Surprisingly, when I removed the drink and Wi-Fi packages from the numbers, it did not impact the most and least expensive new cruise ships.

Mid-Range Options

The middle options for the new ships were pretty consistent with Norwegian, Celebrity, and Virgin Voyages coming in the middle in all scenarios. I did learn a few things, though.

Norwegian’s Cheap Drink Packages Offset by Higher Fares

Norwegian Cruise Line has always positioned itself as having Free at Sea fares that include Wi-Fi and drinks, but they actually come at an additional cost and a higher cruise fare. So even though it only costs 11% more to get a drink package on Norwegian sailings, the higher base fares offset the discounted drink packages.

Celebrity, a Premium Brand, Is Cheaper Than Royal Caribbean

Looking at the mid-priced options, I see that the Celebrity Xcel is cheaper than Royal Caribbean. That is particularly notable because Celebrity is owned by the same parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, and is typically positioned as the premium offering, while Royal Caribbean is more of the mainstream option. But for the new ships, it is not that way. Two adults who want a week-long getaway will spend 33% less to sail on Celebrity Xcel versus Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas, and that is with Wi-Fi and a drink package. It is a steal if you do not need all the bells and whistles of Royal Caribbean’s Icon Class because even with that price difference, you get better food options, higher quality drinks, twice a day cabin service, and a better crew-to-guest ratio.

You Don’t Have To Pay More For an Adult-Only Option

virgin voyages aft view — Brilliant Lady

Also in the middle of the pack is Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady, but what makes it stand out is that it is the only adult-only cruise in the list. For those looking to get away with absolutely no children on board, Brilliant Lady offers a more adult cruise experience at $638 per night (adding streaming Wi-Fi and drinks). That is cheaper than Norwegian Aqua, which will have potentially a thousand children onboard, and cheaper than Celebrity Xcel, which will have fewer children but costs 13% more.

Want to Save Money? Don’t Sail on a New Ship

The biggest takeaway from this story should be that if you really want to save money, do not sail on a new ship. Almost as soon as a new ship comes out, the previous one’s prices drop considerably. While sailing on the latest and greatest hardware might be important and give bragging rights to established cruisers, if you are someone looking to just get away a bit, you can save a lot by booking a ship that is just slightly older.