Adult only cruises

An adults-only cruise can mean three very different things: a whole line with an 18+ rule, a single child-free ship inside a family brand, or a pool deck on a family ship that kids are not allowed into. The price gap between them is large, and so is the experience. Below we explain each type, rank the lines, and use the fares we capture every day to show what you will actually pay. The comparison table, fleet list and cheapest upcoming sailings sit further down the page.

What "adults only" means on a cruise

Before comparing prices, check which kind of adults-only product you are looking at. A ship with no children at all and a ship with an adults-only pool are not the same holiday, even if both appear in the same search results.

Fully adults-only cruise lines

Virgin Voyages is 18+ on every sailing, with no family weeks. The fleet is four sister ships of about 110,000 tons and 2,770 guests: Scarlet Lady, Valiant Lady, Resilient Lady and Brilliant Lady. Most sailings on our tracker leave Miami, with smaller programs from San Juan, Barcelona, Piraeus and Seattle. Fares include Wi-Fi, gratuities and basic drinks, and the tone is lively rather than quiet.

Viking is also 18+ across its ocean and river fleets. Its ocean ships are small, around 930 guests, with no casino, no kids' club and an included excursion in most ports. The crowd is older and the evenings are quiet. We do not track Viking fares yet, so it has no rows in the table below; see river cruises for its river side.

Adults-only ships inside family lines

Some lines that welcome children keep one or two ships child-free. P&O Cruises (UK) has long run Arcadia and Aurora as adults-only ships from Southampton; older ships do leave fleets, so confirm the current line-up before planning around one. Marella Cruises runs Marella Explorer 2 as adults-only, with Marella's usual all-inclusive fare. Ambassador Cruise Line, a small UK line with Ambience and Ambition, is aimed at grown-ups and most of its sailings are adults-only, but check the age rule for your specific departure. Saga is different again: the minimum age is 50 (40 for a travel companion), on Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure.

None of these lines are in our price database, so they do not appear in the data blocks.

Adults-only areas on family ships

This is where most "adults only" search results end up, and the labels are often misused.

• NCL The Haven is a suite complex with a private courtyard, pool deck, restaurant and concierge. Families can book Haven suites, so children can be there. NCL's actual adults-only spaces are Spice H2O and the paid Vibe Beach Club, on many of its ships.
• MSC Yacht Club works the same way: a ship-within-a-ship with its own lounge, restaurant, pool and butler service, open to anyone booked in a Yacht Club suite, children included. For adults-only sun, MSC sells passes to its Top 18 Exclusive Solarium on many ships.
• Celebrity The Retreat is the suite class: a private lounge, sun deck and the Luminae restaurant. Again, a family in a suite can use it. Celebrity's adults-only space is the Solarium, the glass-roofed pool area on most ships, included in the fare.
• Carnival Serenity is a free 21+ outdoor retreat on most ships. It is a deck area, not a separate class.
• Royal Caribbean Solarium is a free adults-only pool area on most ships. The rest of the ship is a family resort.

These options are cheaper, but they only give you a quiet deck. Kids will still be in the corridors, dining rooms and theater.

Best adults-only cruise lines, ranked

1. Virgin Voyages. The only big-ship line that is 18+ everywhere, with an inclusive fare and many restaurants on board. It is also the most expensive line in our database per night, so it suits people who want energy and nightlife without children.
2. Viking. Best for a calm, destination-focused trip in Europe and beyond. No children, small ships, and a lot included in the fare.
3. Celebrity Cruises. Not adults-only, but its ships attract more couples than families, the Solarium is adults-only, and longer itineraries carry few children. It is the most balanced choice if you want big-ship variety at a mid-range price.
4. P&O Arcadia/Aurora, Marella Explorer 2 and Saga. The strongest options for UK travelers who want a fully child-free ship from a home port or on a package holiday.
5. NCL and MSC. Lowest fares among the big brands, with paid adults-only areas and suite enclaves. Pick these if price matters most and you can live with a family atmosphere outside the quiet zones.
6. Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Good adult sun decks, but these are the most family-focused ships at sea. Only consider them outside school holidays.

For premium and all-inclusive lines more broadly, see our luxury cruise lines ranking.

Adults-only cruises: Caribbean or Mediterranean?

On every line we track for this page, the Caribbean is cheaper per night than Europe. Virgin Voyages has a median of €329 per night in the Caribbean against €459 in Europe. On Celebrity the medians are €173 against €230, on NCL €145 in the Caribbean against €240 in the Mediterranean, and on MSC €107 against €173.

The seasons are different too. The Caribbean sails all year, with winter as the busy season and US school holidays bringing the most families. Mediterranean sailings are concentrated from spring to autumn, with July and August as the family peak. Shoulder months on either side are usually the best value for adults; check the seasonality charts on our Caribbean cruises and Mediterranean cruises pages before you pick a month.

Adults-only cruises for couples, solo travelers and groups

Couples looking for quiet should start with Viking or a Celebrity itinerary of 10 nights or longer. If you want nightlife, Virgin Voyages is designed for it. On a family line, a suite enclave gives you a quiet restaurant and sun deck, even though it is not strictly adults-only.

Solo travelers usually pay a single supplement, often close to the full double fare. Virgin Voyages sells cabins designed for one person, and NCL has studio cabins with a shared studio lounge on many ships. For singles over 40 or 50, Saga is known for its single cabins, and Viking's quieter crowd suits travelers who prefer conversation to clubs.

Groups of friends do well on Virgin Voyages, where everyone is an adult and the fare already includes tips and basic drinks, which keeps shared costs simple. On family lines, a short sailing from Florida is the cheapest way to get a group together, but those are also the sailings families choose (see the next section).

How to avoid family-heavy sailings on family ships

You cannot ban children from an NCL or Royal Caribbean ship, but you can choose dates when there are few of them.

• Avoid school holidays. US summer break, Christmas and New Year, Thanksgiving week and spring break in March and April. If you sail from the UK, also avoid Easter, the late-July to August holidays and the half-term weeks in February, May and October.
• Be careful with short sailings. Three- and four-night trips from Florida to the Bahamas are the cheapest fares, but they attract families and large party groups, especially at weekends.
• Choose longer and unusual itineraries. Ten nights or more, and repositioning crossings in spring and autumn, carry the fewest children. They are also good value: our transatlantic medians are €120 per night on Celebrity and €88 per night on NCL.
• Choose the ship as well as the line. The newest, largest ships with water slides and big kids' areas fill up with families first. Older and mid-size ships on the same line are often quieter.

How much does an adults-only cruise cost?

These are the fares we captured for the four main lines on this page, cheapest cabin, per person:

• Virgin Voyages: median €366 per night; from €1,023 per person for a four-night sailing from Miami in an inside cabin. We currently capture Virgin fares from the US market. See Virgin Voyages deals.
• Celebrity: median €215 per night; from €248 per person on a short Bahamas sailing.
• NCL: median €165 per night; from €183 per person on a short Bahamas sailing.
• MSC: median €160 per night; from €53 per person on a short South America sailing.

The gap between Virgin and the family lines is smaller than it looks. Virgin includes gratuities, Wi-Fi and basic drinks, which on Celebrity, NCL and MSC you either pay for separately or buy as a package. Adults-only extras on family ships, such as Vibe Beach Club or the MSC solarium, also cost extra. The table below shows the current median and cheapest fare for each line, and the sailings table lists the cheapest upcoming departures with the date each price was captured.

Booking tips for adults-only cruises

• Track the exact sailing. Cruise fares change often, and the cheapest inside cabins sell out first. A price alert emails you when the fare drops below your target; Basic covers five alerts for $0.99 a month.
• Check the price history. Each sailing's chart shows how the fare has moved over the past 30 days for free, 90 days on Basic and 12 months on Pro. If the price is at the bottom of its range, book; if it has just jumped, wait.
• Compare booking markets. The same cabin is often priced differently in the US, UK, EU and Australian markets. Pro shows you the cheapest market for each sailing.
• Search by length and month. Use find a cruise to look for longer sailings outside school-holiday months, then save the search and come back to it.