AmaWaterways Tops First U.S. News River Cruise Ranking
For the inaugural list, traveler ratings and expert scores carried the most weight, but U.S. News did not release point totals or exact criterion weights.
U.S. News & World Report has introduced its first Best River Cruise Lines ranking for 2026-2027, placing AmaWaterways first, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises second and Viking River Cruises third. The inaugural list evaluates 10 river cruise operators across seven criteria, with traveler ratings and expert scores carrying the most weight.
The new category adds a dedicated river-cruise list to the publisher’s travel rankings, which already include hotels, vacations and cruise lines. U.S. News said the ranking is designed to help travelers compare operators on service, inclusions, onboard amenities and itinerary breadth.
Traveler and expert ratings drove the scoring
The methodology combines overall traveler ratings with averaged expert ratings from U.S. News editors and industry panelists. Other factors include industry awards, all-inclusive pricing, included shore excursions, onboard amenities and itinerary diversity.
Nicola Wood, senior editor of travel at U.S. News, said the evaluation is built around “expert analysis with traveler sentiment.”
U.S. News did not release individual point totals, score differentials or the exact weight assigned to each of the seven criteria. The publisher said each of the 10 lines on the list met its criteria for inclusion in the river-cruise ranking.
What separated the top three
AmaWaterways ranked No. 1 after receiving strong traveler and expert assessments. U.S. News cited onboard spas, pickleball courts and the line’s twin-balcony stateroom design, which pairs a French balcony with a separate walk-out veranda.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises placed second. U.S. News cited more than one complimentary shore excursion per port and a staff-to-guest ratio of one crew member for every 2.4 travelers. Uniworld’s ships average about 130 guests, and its programs span Europe, Egypt, India, Peru, Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Amazon.
Viking River Cruises took third place after earning the highest average expert score among the 10 lines evaluated. U.S. News also cited six major industry awards in 2025 and 2026, a river fleet of more than 80 ships, broad European availability, Mississippi River sailings and an adults-only onboard product.
All three top-ranked lines were described by U.S. News as fully or nearly fully all-inclusive and active in multiple regions worldwide.
The 2026-2027 river cruise list
The 10 cruise lines in the inaugural ranking were listed in this order:
- AmaWaterways
- Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
- Viking River Cruises
- Avalon Waterways
- Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours
- Riverside Luxury Cruises
- American Cruise Lines
- Tauck
- Emerald Cruises
- CroisiEurope
U.S. News did not include comments from AmaWaterways, Uniworld or Viking in the release. It also did not give a date for the next update to the river-cruise ranking.
