I have news for you. The people who truly belong, 'elite' according to you, can smell wantabe mile away.
There's a correlletion between quality and price. But the difference isn't proportionate. Once you go above a certain price range, the quality improves dramatically. But you'll never get there while you are shopping in Carnival, Princess or even Celebrity. There are great bargains among real primium lines such as Silversea and Seabourn, but you need to first get used to paying that kind of prices before you recognize it as bargain in terms of quality received. Did you know rich always gets the best deal? You need to stop shopping in Walmart.

The nicest person I met on Celebrity was a "harley" guy and his wife with long hair and a tee shirt.

Let us not be snobby.

No doubt.....new money

Take it from THIS white collar professional (a term that isn't so easily defined)..there IS NO cruise line of choice..never has been and never will be.

A lot of folks would tell you that cruising is so lowbrow regardless of how some companies tart it up with "amenitites" that it isn't even worth discussing.

Personally, I've sailed on a number of different cruise lines including RCCL, NCL, Princess, SunLine, Windjammer, and once even on Carnival and pretty much enjoyed them all.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to meet people who share your interests..and sometimes the more you spend, the more stuffed shirt/full of themselves boring the passenger list will be.

I understand and even share your concern but spending a lot of money is no guarantee...sorry.

For value:
2 thumbs up for Radisson
2 tumbs down for Crystal.

You don't meet real elite on a cruise ship. They sail on their own yacht or friends'.

Elite is that is elite does!

I sailed with Crystal one fall and with Orient the next. Both times I met travellers: teachers, clerks, rich "new" money, and people who inherited their money. A cruise is not the venue for shopping for a new and richer spouse or friend.

also depends on the ports you will be going, European and Alaska cruises will not be as bad as the ones to the Caribbean

Sea Cloud Cruises has 80 passenger yachts which are often booked by the Metropolitan Museum for European trips. See arrangementsabroad.org.

National Geographic uses her, too. But it'll break travelerquestion's budget.

i won't weigh in on whether you're a snob, wanabe, or anything else. I'll just answer your question: You might want to look into Oceania cruises - they're new but fantastic. Less than 700 passengers on the ship with a fairly mixed group of mostly 40-60 year olds. I would guess that the majority fall into the middle/upper class range, but really hard to tell. In any case, they were ALL friendly, intelligent, and tattoo-free. The cruise line is more casual than some of the other cruise lines - if that's a plus for you! Great group of people - plus great food and service.

Viking Europe is great for river cruises. Same crowd as Oceania, except perhaps a little older - and the ship is a tad more formal.