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Passenger capacity numbers may vary between maximum number of passengers and double occupancy capacities so should only be treated as estimate. The majority were taken as the maximum number of passengers on board, but some figures included double occupancy figures, which are slightly lower. After dinner, guests can enjoy a leisurely stroll on the Volare Skywalk, the tallest area of the cruise ship. It has a futuristic exterior and interior design with a 295’ long promenade. There are 2,633 staterooms, and each passenger deck has the name of an international city.
The 30 Largest Cruise Ships in the World Ranked
There were believed to be 323 cruise ships by the end of 2022 and another 15 were added in 2023, but it’s not clear how many were sold or scrapped. A total of 323 cruise ships are currently in operation globally. In February 2023, Royal Caribbean was home to the world’s longest cruise ships, with Harmony of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Symphony of the Seas, each exceeding 1,180 feet (360 meters) in length. "They're the best," said one traveler, who recalled a trip on the Seabourn Encore.
Hotels With Cruise Shuttles For Every Major Port in America
Among cruise lines, some are direct descendants of the traditional passenger shipping lines (such as Cunard), while others were founded from the 1960s specifically for cruising. Queen Mary 2 was for a time the largest passenger ship before being surpassed by Royal Caribbean International's Freedom-class vessels in 2006. Royal Caribbean is the largest cruise lines in terms of number of cruises ships with a total of 26 ships and a combined passenger capacity of 112,993. Ocean liner services aimed at passengers almost ceased in the 1970s and 1980s. The Rotterdam was put on permanent cruise service, as was the France, albeit modified and renamed Norway in 1980, as part of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas
As mentioned by Travel Weekly, "large ships have far greater potential for onboard revenue than smaller ones, with more space for bars, restaurants, and bigger casinos and spas." With more space comes more restaurants, public areas, activities, and cabin types. MSC Bellissima is yet another member of MSC's Meraviglia-class to make our list. It first set sail in 2019 and has 18 decks (15 available to guests) and 2,217 cabins. AIDA Cruises AIDAcosma, the second in the Excellence-class, was first released in December 2021.
Its preliminary focus was on festive fun for all guests (hence the name), which was unlike any other cruise ship at the time. The unique onboard ambiance continues today on the most recent Mardis Gras, which was launched in 2021, and has 17 passenger decks, 2,641 staterooms and a rollercoaster. Keep in mind that this list of biggest cruise ships in the world changes annually, as cruise lines update their fleets. While Royal Caribbean continues to dominate the top (and the bottom) of the list, new entries may surprise you. For example, Princess Cruises has a new ship on the list (the largest ever for that fleet), barely missing the top twenty. Many of the world’s leading cruise lines are reporting record-breaking passenger counts for 2023, and those numbers are not showing any signs of slowing down as the year ends.
Likewise, if a vessel fulfilled another role before becoming a cruise ship, the first entry for the vessel will occur when the vessel began its career as a cruise ship. In 2023, the worldwide cruise industry’s ocean-going vessels had an average passenger capacity of ~701,490, with projections indicating a rise to over 764,000 by 2025. For cruise companies and passengers, there are a number of benefits to larger cruise ships.
Here Are the 14 New Cruise Ships Entering Service in 2024 - Cruise Industry News
Here Are the 14 New Cruise Ships Entering Service in 2024.
Posted: Tue, 02 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Cruise Port and Destination Statistics
Given the recent troubles the industry has faced it may take some time to replace those older, smaller ships with larger vessels. But there's no question that the trend definitely is moving that way. The Port of Galveston (the busiest cruise port outside of Florida) anticipates welcoming an Oasis-class vessel in the future, but first has to work with Royal Caribbean to build a new terminal that can accommodate ships of that size.
From luxury ocean liners to "megaship" cruising
It contains 11 restaurants plus snack bars and 19 bars and lounges. Modern cruise ships are tall but remain stable due to their relatively low center of mass. Most cruise ships sail the Caribbean or the Mediterranean.
Costa Cruises Costa Toscana
This made the Norway, by then the largest passenger vessel in the world, the first "mega-cruise ship". International celebrities were hired to perform acts on board, along with cabarets, and with the addition of a casino and other entertainment amenities, the crossing was advertised as a vacation in itself. Carnival Cruise Line is the second largest cruise line in the world right now in terms of the number of passengers that take cruises on their ships every year. Their parent company (Carnival Corp.) owns eight other cruise lines including some of the more popular ones like Princess Cruises and Holland America Line. As of November 2022, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas was the world’s most expensive cruise ship, with a construction cost of ~$1.43B. It’s the fourth-largest cruise ship globally, with a gross tonnage of 225,000.
While the number of cruise ships in the world varies year to year as old ships are scrapped and new ones are launched, we have worked out the current total with a full breakdown for each cruise line in the table below. Just seven years ago, the average capacity of a cruise ship was half of what it is today. With advances in engineering and technology and the continual drive to be bigger and better than the rest, the number of guests a cruise ship can accommodate has doubled. The sixth largest ship is Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas at 6,680 passenger capacity. It is 1,188’ in length and 238’ in height and weighs an impressive 228,081 gross tonnage.
Water parks, huge entertainment spaces, dizzying restaurant options, and a wider variety of cabins are all part of how the largest cruise ships are filling all that space. Since most cruise lines had more vessels than they needed, the shipbuilding industry also saw a significant decline in activity. With all that said, the post-COVID-19 recovery period has seen a massive spike in passenger demand, so many cruise lines are expanding their fleets. This explains why the number of operational cruise ships is set to increase substantially into 2024 and beyond. As of 2023, Royal Caribbean has 26 fully operational cruise ships, which is set to grow to 27, with the arrival of the world’s largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas.

There are 51 ocean and 27 river cruise lines in the world. Viking led June 2023’s midsize-ship cruise line ratings by Condé Nast Traveler with a score of 94.98. In 2022, the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda topped the list of global cruise destinations, attracting approximately 9M passengers.
Friends of Bill meetings on cruise ships may also be attended by members of similar support groups such as Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). Most passengers will arrive in a port city at least one day before they embark on a cruise. During this time, they spend an average of $385 per person on things like accommodation, food and transport.
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