Cruise FactsTop 10 Largest Cruise Ships in the World

Top 10 Largest Cruise Ships in the World

With cruise lines building larger cruise ships every year, the list of the top 10 largest cruise ships in the world is constantly changing.  In the past 12 months, two new ships have joined the list.  Out of the top 10 largest cruise ships, all 10 are from Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruise ships are measured by gross tonnage which is a figure calculated from the total enclosed volume of the ship.  For a good comparison of how large today’s cruise ships are, the Titanic was an estimated 46,000 gross tons in size.

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1. Harmony of the Seas: The largest cruise ship in the world made her debut this past week and comes in at 226,963 gross tons. Royal Caribbean’s newest ship carries up to 6,360 passengers in 2,747 staterooms and is one foot longer than her sister ships, Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas.

2. Allure of the Seas: The 2nd largest cruise ship in the world is Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas coming in at 225,282 gross tons.  Allure went into service in 2010 and held the title as world’s biggest ship until this past week. The ship is 1,187 feet long and is able to hold over 6,000 passengers.

3. Oasis of the Seas: The 3rd largest cruise ship in the world is the Oasis of the Seas, the sister ship to the Allure.  Although the Oasis is technically the same size as the Allure, the Allure is a couple inches longer.

4-6. Quantum of the Seas/Anthem of the Seas/Ovation of the Seas:  Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, and Ovation of the Seas are the most technologically advanced cruise ships ever built and come in at 168,000 gross tons in size.  Features included on the Quantum class ships include virtual balconies on all inside staterooms, robotic bartenders, a wave pool, and a skydiving simulator.

7. Norwegian Escape: The first Breakaway Plus class ship from Norwegian Cruise Line, Norwegian Escape comes in at 164,600 gross tons and can carry 4,248 passengers.

8. Liberty of the Seas: Liberty of the Seas recently came out of dry dock and was the first Royal Caribbean ship to feature waterslides.  After the drydock, Liberty of the Seas now comes in at 155,889 gross tons, slightly larger than her two sister ships and Norwegian Epic.

9. Norwegian Epic: Coming in 9th is Norwegian Epic at 155,573 gross tons.  This was the first 4,000+ passenger ship from Norwegian Cruise Line and is 1,081 feet long.

10 (tie). Freedom of the Seas/Independence of the Seas:  The two Freedom Class ships from Royal Caribbean are tied for the 10th spot and come in at 154,407 gross tons.  Freedom of the Seas was the largest cruise ship in the world when she was completed in 2006.  The ships are 1,112 feet long and can carry up to 4,375 passengers.

Cruise Ships Under Construction/Ordered

1. 4th Oasis class ship from Royal Caribbean (227,700 GT)
2. Two ships from Star Cruises will be 201,000 GT (2019, 2020)
3. Two World class ships from MSC Cruises will be 200,000 GT (2022, 2024)
4. Carnival Corp. has four ships on order (two each for Costa and AIDA) that will be 183,200 GT. These ships will carry 6,600 passengers, the highest capacity passenger ships in the world.

Although Carnival Cruise Line has the most cruise ships out of all the cruise lines at 25 (tied with Royal Caribbean), they do not have any cruise ships in the top 25 in size.  They were however the first cruise line to build a ship (Carnival Destiny, now the Carnival Sunshine) over 100,000 gross tons in 1996.

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Ben Souza
Ben Souza
Ben is a world traveler who has visited 40+ countries, taken over 80 cruises. He is one of USA TODAY's experts for their 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. His writings have appeared and been cited in various media outlets such as Yahoo News, MSN, NPR, CNN, Fox, and ABC News. Ben currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Follow Ben on Instagram. Visit Ben Souza on Linkedin. You may email Ben at [email protected].
Cruise FactsTop 10 Largest Cruise Ships in the World
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