Largest Cruise Ships

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   November 26, 2015 ,   Ships and Lines

See here the world's largest cruise ships list (including vessels under construction) owned by the best cruise line companies. This article is also integrated with our ship dimensions, passenger capacity, and old cruise ships surveys.

Largest Cruise Ships - CruiseMapper

CruiseMapper's list of biggest cruise ships includes all vessels with gross tonnage/volume over 150,000 GT-tons.

Each one of these behemoth ships is an engineering marvel produced by our contemporary age of fun and super technologies. Kudos to their builders and double kudos to their proud owners who have invested so much in these newbuild projects!

Note: In the following table, all links are internal (CruiseMapper) and redirect to the liner's itinerary schedule where you can compare dates and prices per person (double occupancy cabin rates).

ShipsTonnageLengthWidth (waterline)Max Capacity (Passengers)Cabins
Icon Of The Seas, Star Of The Seas250800 t365m / 1,198 ft65m / 213 ft76002805
Utopia Of The Seas228081 t362m / 1,188 ft47m / 154 ft79582874
Wonder Of The Seas228081 t362m / 1,188 ft47m / 154 ft69882874
Symphony Of The Seas228081 t362m / 1,188 ft47m / 154 ft63702759
Harmony Of The Seas226963 t362m / 1,188 ft47m / 154 ft63142745
Allure Of The Seas225282 t360m / 1,181 ft47m / 154 ft63142745
Oasis Of The Seas225282 t360m / 1,181 ft47m / 154 ft63072742
MSC WORLD (Europa, America, Asia, tbn)215860 t333 m / 1,092 ft46m / 151 ft67822633
Disney Adventure/fka Global Dream208000 t342 m / 1,122 ft46m / 151 ft47002350
(P&O) Arvia, Iona184700 t345m / 1132 ft42m / 138 ft62642610
AIDAcosma183900 t337m / 1,106 ft42m / 138 ft66002500
AIDAnova183900 t337m / 1,106 ft42m / 138 ft66002500
Costa Smeralda183900 t337m / 1,106 ft42m / 138 ft65182612
Costa Toscana183900 t337m / 1,106 ft42m / 138 ft65182612
Carnival Jubilee183900 t344 m / 1129 ft42m / 138 ft66312641
Carnival Celebration183900 t344 m / 1129 ft42m / 138 ft63382641
Carnival Mardi Gras183900 t344 m / 1129 ft42m / 138 ft63382641
MSC Grandiosa, MSC Virtuosa, MSC Euribia181541 t331m / 1,086 ft43m / 141 ft63342421
Sun Princess (2024), Star Princess (2025)177900 t345m / 1132 ft47m / 154 ft51892162
MSC Bellissima, MSC Meraviglia171598 t315m / 1,033 ft43m / 141 ft53862244
MSC Seashore, MSC Seascape170400 t339 m / 1112 ft41 m / 135 ft58772270
Odyssey Of The Seas169300 t348m / 1,142 ft49m / 161 ft48051922
Spectrum Of The Seas168666 t348m / 1,142 ft49m / 161 ft48192095
Norwegian Bliss168028 t326m / 1,070 ft42m / 138 ft49032043
Anthem of the Seas167800 t348m / 1,142 ft49m / 161 ft48252098
Ovation Of The Seas167800 t348m / 1,142 ft49m / 161 ft48192095
Quantum Of The Seas167800 t348m / 1,142 ft49m / 161 ft48192095
Norwegian Encore167800 t326m / 1,070 ft42m / 138 ft52182174
Norwegian Joy167400 t326m / 1,070 ft42m / 138 ft46201925
Norwegian Escape163000 t326m / 1,070 ft42m / 138 ft52182174
(TUI) Mein Schiff Relax, Mein Schiff 9161000 t326 m / 1070 ft42 m / 138 ft41002050
(NCL-Norwegian) Aqua, Luna, TBN3, TBN4156300 t326m / 1,056 ft44 m / 144 ft42241760
Norwegian Epic155873 t329m / 1,079 ft40m / 131 ft50742114
Freedom Of The Seas154407 t338m / 1,109 ft56m / 184 ft45411892
Independence Of The Seas154407 t338m / 1,109 ft56m / 184 ft43561815
Liberty Of The Seas154407 t338m / 1,109 ft56m / 184 ft43561815
MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview152050 t323m / 1,060 ft43m / 141 ft49612067
Genting Dream151300 t335m / 1,099 ft39.7m / 130 ft34001686
World Dream/Aroya Manara151300 t335m / 1,099 ft38m / 125 ft34001686

The world's largest river cruise ship is Victoria Sabrina. The 2020-launched riverboat is China-built, owned by Victoria Cruises China and deployed year-round on Yangtze River. The vessel has the impressive volume of 17000 GT-tons, LOA length 150 m (492 ft), width 22 m (72 ft), 7 decks (5 with cabins), 270 staterooms, max capacity 690 passengers plus 195 crew/staff.

Oasis-class - biggest cruise ship in the world ever built

World's currently largest cruise ship class is produced exclusively for RCI-Royal Caribbean andin 2 sub-series - Oasis-Class (Allure OTS, Oasis OTS) and Oasis-Plus (Harmony OTS, Symphony OTS, Wonder OTS). These are sisterships from the fleet of the second-largest cruise shipping company in the world - RCCL-Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (as shipowner) that follows only Carnival Corporation (as shipowner).

As to vessels' dimensions, each boasts the unimaginable weight of 227,000-230,000 GT / gross tons, LOA length 362 m (1187 ft) and waterline width 47 m (154 ft). The extreme breadth is over 60 m (198 ft). As the GT is a volume measurement, the ship's actual mass (called displacement) is approx 100,000 tons (the hull alone weighs about 54,000 tons). Surpassing all passenger ship standards, building cost and all previous ship travel vacation concepts, the Oasis-class ships are currently the only passenger shipping vessels of such immense size.

Other interesting numbers are the above waterline height (72 m / 236 ft), depth (23 m / 74 ft below waterline), 16 passenger decks, draft/draught (9,3 m / 31 ft), cruising/service speed 23 knots (26 mph / 42 kph), capacity 5400 passengers at double occupancy (max 6296 / 6870) and officers+crew capacity 2165.

The world's biggest cruise ship propulsion system guarantees the perfect maneuverability by 3 rotatable Azipod thrusters (suspended under the ship's stern), each with a huge electric motor and a 6 m (20 ft) propeller. The ship offers great stability due to its enormous size. And in times of need - there are 18 lifeboats, each with a capacity of 370 people.

Oasis-Plus class is also currently the world's most technologically advanced and energy-efficient cruise vessel ever built. It is equipped with a new-generation exhaust gas cleaning system (multi-stream scrubbers) and with a hull lubrication system allowing the ship to float on air bubbles (created around the hull) thus reducing drag and increasing fuel efficiency.

Regarding cruise accommodations, this class of vessels has some of the largest suites at sea - measuring 150 m2 (over 1600 ft2, balcony included). Another signature feature is the 7 "neighborhoods" (theme-park-like areas), 5 large swimming pools, a huge casino, a full-size volleyball/basketball court, large-capacity bars, and lounges. Oasis-Plus ships additionally have waterslides (created by Aquatic Design & Engineering) and a total of 23 "water fun" areas (swimming pools, large-size outdoor jacuzzies, waterslides, flowriders/surf simulators). The stern-located Ultimate Abyss water slide is 150 ft (45,70 m) above sea level. It features 31 sections, two 360-degree circles, 27-degree slide incline, 28 m (92 ft) serpentine-like drop, 13,14 seconds average sliding time (top to bottom), around 300 small LED lights and graffiti artworks throughout.

These phenomenal ships were manufactured by STX Europe (shipyard Turku Finland / Oasis-class) and in by STX France (shipyard Saint-Nazaire France / Oasis-Plus). The new Oasis ships are 2,15 m (7 ft) longer.

Biggest Carnival cruise ship - "Carnival Pinnacle" class

Watch this amazing YouTube video about the "Carnival Pinnacle cruise ship". The project was designed by the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri as their biggest ever passenger ship - GT tonnage 200,000 tons, capacity 6000 passengers, length 380 m (1246 ft), The "Pinnacle Project" was initiated by Carnival Corporation in 2004 to tip the scales in the "Carnival vs Royal Caribbean" competition.

 

Carnival Pinnacle was never built as the project was officially canceled (mainly due to the vessel's incredible cost at that time). However, many of the project's elements and innovative design features were later adapted for other large-sized cruise liners built for rival companies.