NCL asks: How can cruise companies make it your perfect holiday at sea?
I've been on only one cruise. That was with Hurtigruten. I believe they got it about right.
Briefly, I travelled on the 12 day classic round voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes and back, stopping at different ports on each leg of the journey. This was in December. Highlights were seeing the Northern Lights, optional shore excursions such as husky dog sledding, midnight concert in the Arctic Cathedral and on board talks and presentations. The food was excellent, locally sourced and picked up at stops en route. The dinner menus provided details of the family firms supported in this way. Ships were small, from approx. 200-300 cabins max. Crew were Scandinavian. There was a no tipping policy. Hurtigruten's declared aim is to operate on the smallest footprint possible. The company has recently made history by becoming the first operator to remove all single use plastics from their ships.
Those are the kind of green credentials that get my vote.
My only negative, and it's one that all cruise ships would do well to address, is the lack of availability/increased cost of single cabins. There are a lot of single travellers. Ignore us at your peril 