Your guide to the world’s biggest cruise ships
Today’s cruise ships are more like luxury hotels than ships. With multiple restaurants, theatres, swimming pools, spas and more fun facilities, these floating pleasure palaces have reached new heights of entertainment and relaxation.
And with so much to do and so many people to accommodate, it may come as no surprise that some of these ships are enormous. Here’s our guide to the world’s biggest cruise ships.
The world’s top three biggest cruise ships
The biggest cruise ship in the world is Allure of the Seas, run by Royal Caribbean. It’s 362m long and carries 6230 passengers and 2380 crew members. And with 21 heated pools, 24 lifts and 16 decks, it certainly has enough space to put them all. In addition, there are 22,000 species of plants and trees on board the Allure, as well as a zip wire, an outdoor AquaTheatre, designer shops and over 20 different eateries.
Just 5cm shorter than the Allure is its sister ship, Oasis of the Seas. With the same capacity and facilities, the Oasis is one of the best family cruise ships out there and, like the Allure, counts DreamWorks characters – including Shrek and Kung Fu Panda – among its passengers. If you’re keen to get on board the Oasis, your chance is coming soon: in October 2014, it stops at Southampton. And from summer 2015, the Allure will be based in Barcelona from where it will make a series of one-week Mediterranean cruises – so book fast if you want to secure a once in a lifetime fly cruise deal on this exquisite liner.
Rounding out the top three is the Norwegian Epic, run by Norwegian Cruise Line. Voted Best Cruise Ship for 2011 and 2012 by Travel Weekly, it holds 4100 passengers and 1750 crew members, and is 329m in length. With 20 different restaurants, an aqua park, fitness centre, climbing and rappelling wall, and plenty of family entertainment, this is the ultimate in luxury for European and Caribbean cruises.
More large cruise ships
Next on the list are Royal Caribbean’s Freedom Class ships – Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas. Each of these ships are equal in size at 339m long and carry 3630 passengers.
Longer in length at 344m but smaller in tonnage is Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, a beautiful liner with a 3D cinema, planetarium, theatre, spa and several restaurants. The best way to enjoy the luxurious QM2 is on its signature voyage between Southampton and New York; the ship makes its 10th anniversary Westbound Transatlantic Crossing in May 2014.
Also of note are the Norwegian Breakaway, Royal Princess and MSC Divina, but there are loads more large cruise ships to discover too. For more details on the world’s biggest cruise ships, CruiseCritic.co.uk has a list of the top 25 ordered by tonnage and you can find cruise packages for many of these liners throughout the year.


Latest posts by Sally - Silversurfer's Editor (see all)
- Will you watch the Sussexes’ Oprah interview? - March 4, 2021
- Funeral plans versus personal savings - March 3, 2021
- Think smaller! A guide to downsizing - March 3, 2021
- Win a pair of Cosyfeet footwear of your choice - March 3, 2021
- Win a Unisex Integrated Electric Mountain Bike worth £999! - March 1, 2021
Leave a Comment!
Log in to comment
You need to be logged in to interact with Silversurfers. Please use the button below if you already have an account.
LoginNot a member?
You need to be a member to interact with Silversurfers. Joining is free and simple to do. Click the button below to join today!
JoinCommunity Terms & Conditions
Content standards
These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.
You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.
Contributions must:
be accurate (where they state facts); be genuinely held (where they state opinions); and comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.
Contributions must not:
contain any material which is defamatory of any person; or contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory; or promote sexually explicit material; or promote violence; promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; or infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person; or be likely to deceive any person; or be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence; or promote any illegal activity; or be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety; or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person; or be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person; or give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case; or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
Nurturing a safe environment
Our Silversurfers community is designed to foster friendships, based on trust, honesty, integrity and loyalty and is underpinned by these values.
We don't tolerate swearing, and reserve the right to remove any posts which we feel may offend others... let's keep it friendly!
I have taken 2 days to get through Biscay instead of the normal 26 hours
...a wonderful experience with the bridge"open all hours".
On a months round trip to Israel the evening meal was always different and chips were only served once.
On one ship which ran aground on the coast of Spain at 4am we three passengers refused an offered flight home to UK but opted to stay with the ship on the voyage in ballast to northern Europe.
Sunrises,sunsets,whales and dolphins are all part of the deal.
Those memories will be with me for ever and there is no dressing for dinner.
Independence 2
Mariner 1
Splendour 1
Arcadia 1
Ventura 1
Oriana 1
The smallest, the Island Escape was the friendliest but with the poorest entertainment. The Independence with its theatre and Ice shows in my view had the best entertainment though they win by only a small margin over the others. I found that on balance I preferred the Arcadia (I think it was the smallest after the Island Escape) over all the others. In cruising biggest means more choice but not necessarily a better holiday.
9 " Q.M.2
9 " Queen Vic
3 " Queen Eliz,
Cunard are tops when it comes to cruises.