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BIGGEST OF THE BIG
PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE LARGEST PASSENGER SHIPS 1974 - 2020 PAGE ONE |
Symphony of the Seas
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October 1974 marked a turning point in the passenger ship industry. The ocean liner SS France, the world's largest operating passenger ship, was withdrawn from service and mothballed. Jet airliners had all but killed demand for transatlantic service. Ocean liners, which had dominated the passenger ship industry for more than a century were now dinosaurs.
From now on, passenger ships would be used primarily for cruising. Cruising was still a niche business and the prevailing thinking was that small ships that could dock in shallow Caribbean ports were best suited for cruising. It looked like the day of the big ship was over.
Yet, that is not the way it worked out. Cruise ships have gotten bigger and bigger and now far surpass the size of the great ocean liners of the past. In this article, we look at the evolution of large ships by looking at the ships that were the largest of the large over the last five decades. *
From now on, passenger ships would be used primarily for cruising. Cruising was still a niche business and the prevailing thinking was that small ships that could dock in shallow Caribbean ports were best suited for cruising. It looked like the day of the big ship was over.
Yet, that is not the way it worked out. Cruise ships have gotten bigger and bigger and now far surpass the size of the great ocean liners of the past. In this article, we look at the evolution of large ships by looking at the ships that were the largest of the large over the last five decades. *
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The departure of the France left the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), then 65,863 gross tons, as the world's largest passenger ship. She was an ocean liner. However, in building her Cunard Line had envisioned her as doing cruises as well as transatlantic crossings and she was designed as a dual purpose ship. During her service career, her schedule included cruises to the Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada/New England, the Bahamas, Norway, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean. This provided the first evidence that a big ship could successfully do modern cruises.
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In 1979, Norwegian Cruise Line decided to see whether a ship the size of QE2 could succeed if she were dedicated to cruising full time. Therefore, NCL purchased the SS France and transformed her from an ocean liner into a very big cruise ship. The next year, she was renamed SS Norway (66,343 gross tons) and she embarked on a career of cruising.
The popularity of the Norway proved that modern cruising could be done successfully on a regular basis with a large ship. |
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Seeing the success of the Norway, Royal Caribbean decided to order a purpose-built cruise ship that was the size of the great ocean liners. Indeed, when Sovereign of the Seas, (73,192 gross tons) which entered service in 1987, only the legendary ocean liners Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Normandie exceeded her in size. Inasmuch as none of these liners was still in service, Sovereign became the world's largest cruise ship.
Interestingly, although the industry and the public were stunned by Sovereign's size when she entered service, she was often referred to as a "small" ship towards the end of her career. |
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Pleased with the success of Norway, NCL decided to make the ship even larger. In 1990, the addition of another deck to Norway (above) brought her gross tonnage to 76,049 thus surpassing Sovereign.
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Other cruise lines were also seeing the virtues of building larger ships. As a general rule, the larger the ship, the more passengers it can carry and due to economies of scale, it is less costly to build and operate a large ship than two smaller ships. Furthermore, the larger the ship, the more features can be packed into it and more features attract more customers. Also, some features are revenue producing.
Accordingly, in 1995, Sun Princess entered service for Princess Cruises, then a subsidiary of P&O. Like Sovereign, she was purpose-built for cruising. At 77,499 gross tons, she narrowly exceeded SS Norway in size. |
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Not to be left out, Carnival Cruise Line had also been building larger ships but none were the world's largest until Carnival Destiny entered into service in 1996. At 102,853 gross tons, she was the first passenger ship to exceed 100,000 gross tons.
The ship is still in service, sailing under the name Carnival Sunshine. In 2013, the ship underwent a massive refurbishment and was given most of the features of Carnival's newest cruise ships. Thus, while she is no longer the largest ship in the Carnival fleet, she is one of the most modern. |
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Princess Cruises regained the record for the largest passenger ship with the 109,000 gross ton Grand Princess in 1998. The ship had a futuristic shape that included a nightclub running the width of the stern perched high above the sea. The distinctive "shopping cart handle" has since been removed.
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(Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International).
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Royal Caribbean decisively captured the record with Voyager of the Seas in 1999. Her attractions included features that had never before been considered for inclusion in passenger ships such as an ice skating rink and an indoor mall that ran along the centerline.
At 137,276 gross tons Voyager was much larger than the previous record holder. However, she only held the record for less than a year, when her sister Explorer of the Seas (below left) squeaked past her at 137,308 gross tons. In 2002, sister Navigator of the Seas (below) became the largest cruise ship at 139,999 gross tons. 
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In this article, we use gross tonnage as the criterion for determining which was the largest ship at the time. Gross tonnage is the traditional way of measuring the size of a passenger vessel. Note that it is a measure of revenue producing volume, not weight or displacement. (See article). Also, we are only looking at ships in service. Thus, if there was a ship with a higher gross tonnage at the time but it was not in service, it would not be considered.
Cruise ship information - Pictorial History of the Largest Passenger Ships - page 1