101 Incredible Cruise Ship Facts

Every single cruise ship in operation today is the result of incredible feats of engineering – all offering awe-inspiring sights as they propel across the seas. Almost every aspect of cruise ships is packed with unbelievable stats, technology and facts – here we have a look at 101 of the most incredible.

1. The world’s largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, measures in at 226,963 gross tonnes.
2. …and it’s only 11.811 inches longer than sister ship Allure of the Seas.
3. The largest ships are the same height as 16 storey buildings.
4. There are more than 25 commercial cruise ships currently being built around the world.
5. Most cruise ships miss deck 13 – due to passenger superstitions.
6. Similarly, Italian cruise line, MSC, tend to omit deck 17 – due to Italian superstitions surrounding the number.
7. More than 23 million people took a cruise in 2015.
8. The cruise industry has grown year-on-year at an average of 7% since 1980.
9. The world’s total cruise ship capacity is almost 500,000 guests.
10. The number of cruise passengers per year is expected to reach 28 million by 2018.
11. The cruise industry is the fastest growing sector of the leisure travel market.
12. The Caribbean/Bahamas is the world’s most popular cruise destination – accounting for more than a third of all cruises.
13. The Mediterranean is the second most popular cruise destination.
14. Mainland Europe, Australasia and Alaska make up the rest of the top five destinations.
15. 24% of US citizens have taken a cruise holiday.
16. Cruises account for roughly 1 in 8 holidays in the UK.
17. More than half of all UK passengers who booked a cruise holiday in 2012, in fact chose to book two cruises.
18. The average age of cruise passengers is 50+.
19. 86% of cruise passengers are college/university graduates.
20. 62% of cruise passengers are married and work full time.
21. The UK cruise industry provides 70,000 jobs.
22. The industry creates roughly 4,000 new jobs every year.
23. Additionally, the industry contributes roughly £2.5bn to the UK economy every year.
24. 40% of passengers report they return to a destination they originally sampled during a cruise holiday.
25. More than 80% of passengers believe cruising is an essential method to visit new lands.
26. A cruise ship can sail more than 73,000 nautical miles every year.
27. The average cruise speed of 20 knots is the same as 23mph on land.
28. A number of retirees are choosing to spend their retirement living permanently aboard cruise ships.
29. An Australian billionaire is planning to build a replica of the Titanic, called Titanic II.
30. The original Titanic would be barely half the size of most modern cruise ships.
31. Docked Cruise ships have served as hotels for major sporting events including the FIFA World Cup and The Olympics.
32. Students in New Orleans were educated aboard a cruise ship following Hurricane Katrina.
33. Futuristic cruise ship amenities include robot bartenders and skydiving simulators.
34. Finland’s first ever cruise ships, Boheme, is now called Freewinds and is owned by the Church of Scientology.
35. Salvador Dali regularly frequented cruise ships with his pet ocelot, Babou.
36. Passengers aboard a single cruise ship can consume more than 5,000 eggs in a single day.
37. As well as 2,000 steaks and 1,000 baked potatoes.
38. And 400 bottles of champagne are drunk every week aboard a cruise ship.
39. The Meow Meow Cruise is a trip dedicated to cat lovers.
40. During a world cruise – more than 840 bottles of vodka, 312 bottles of gin and 285 bottles of scotch will be drunk.
41. A number of cruise ships were used during World War One, World War Two and other major wars.
42. Cruise ships often perform rescue missions when smaller boats get in trouble.
43. The most expensive cruise holiday could cost you millions. The Silver Whisper from Silversea Cruises offers packages costing a cool £1m.
44. Russian cruise ship, Lyubov Orlova broke free from its permanent docking and is now contentedly floating around the North Atlantic.
45. The most expensive ship in the world cost almost £1bn to build.
46. Some ships have more than 2,000 members of crew.
47. Cruise ship godmothers include the Duchess of Cambridge, Julie Andrews and the Queen.
48. More than 150 cruise holidays are booked every hour in the UK.
49. The World is a luxury cruise ship, exclusively designed for permanent residents.
50. It is a common superstition that it is unlucky to bring flowers aboard a cruise ship.
51. Alternatively it is considered good luck to spill wine on the deck.
52. Many cruise ships contain hundreds of unique pieces of art.
53. Many of these pieces of art are available in on-board auctions.
54. The P&O Britannia’s £1million art collection includes more than 8,000 individual pieces.
55. The fish on the décor of the Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Jewel all point towards the front of the ship.
56. Cruise ships are roughly the same size under the surface of the sea as they are above.
57. Crew members tend to sleep below the surface of the sea.
58. Many of the kitchens are also located under the water’s surface.
59. Many ships used to have topless sunbathing decks for a more even tan.
60. Existing themed cruises include the Zumba Cruise and the Country Music cruise.
61. There are a number of music festivals held on cruise ships including Sea N’ Beats and the Weezer cruise.
62. Star Clipper cruise ships still use huge wind sails for propulsion.
63. Passengers aboard Southampton to New York cruise may enjoy 25 hour days – when crossing through time zones.
64. There are more than 2,000 ports which can be visited by cruise ships.
65. Almost half of all major cruise ship itineraries depart from a Floridian port.
66. The Port of Miami is the world’s busiest homeport.
67. However, Nassau in the Bahamas is the busiest overall port.
68. Seven days is the average cruise holiday length.
69. All of the ships in the Holland American Lines fleet are named for compass points.
70. Cruise cabins are constructed away from the ship and then slotted in place.
71. An average cruise cabin manufacturer can produce 12,000 cabins per year.
72. The Royal Princess took 3 million man hours to build.
73. The Blue Riband is an accolade awarded to the ship which completes the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
74. The Monarch of the Seas was the first ship to have a female captain, Karin Stahre Janson.
75. The P&O Britannia’s hull proudly displays the world’s largest Union Jack flag, painted using 420 litres of paint.
76. Celebrity chefs with restaurants aboard cruise ships include Jamie Oliver, Atul Kochhar and James Martin.
77. The upcoming Harmony of the Seas will include a ten deck slide for guests to enjoy.
78. More passengers travel through Copenhagen that anywhere else in Europe.
79. Carnival Cruises account for 21.3% of all cruise passengers.
80. Whilst second largest line, Royal Caribbean accounts for 16.67%.
81. Many cruise ships undertake world cruises which can take in more than 100 days at sea.
82. The Queen Mary 2 features an extensive Planetarium so guests can explore the stars.
83. The QM2 was also used to transport the first edition of Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince to the USA.
84. And the QM2 operates a kennel club so cats and dogs can cruise with their owners.
85. Many cruise ships undertake ‘Repositioning Cruises’ wherein they move to a new homeport – guests can typically book a cabin on these cruises at a reduced price.
86. The MS Gabriella’s main task is transporting cheap alcohol between Helsinki and Stockholm.
87. P&O Cruises is the world’s oldest cruise line – tracing its history back to 1837.
88. More than 100 cruise ships have sailed for Cunard Cruise Line.
89. However, only three currently sail for the line.
90. Prince Charles was the first civilian passenger aboard the QE2 – one of history’s most famous cruise ships.
91. Cruise ship spas feature treatments including hot lava stone massages and Ashiatsu massages.
92. Famous cruise fans include David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Sharon Stone and Meryl Streep.
93. Cruise ship anchors can weigh more than 15 tonnes.
94. A number of cruise ships have virtual balconies – huge screens streaming live footage of outside the ship.
95. Some ships have on-board morgues.
96. Almost all ships have on-board jails for any criminals caught doing the naughty.
97. Any ship with more than 50 passengers must have a hospital.
98. The Norwegian Epic has an on-board ice bar where guests can enjoy cocktails in sub-zero conditions – even when sailing through the Caribbean.
99. Many ships can legally marry guests – providing a wedding and honeymoon in one.
100. A number of cruise ships offer AA meetings to ensure those on the 12 step programme don’t give into temptation on the high seas.
101. Unusually, Hitler may have saved the cruise industry. The industry was struggling in the 1930s and Hitler offered subsidised holidays on the seas to all German workers.

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Images Sourced via the Royal Caribbean Press Center and Flickr Creative Commons. Credits: kees torn, Cliff, Zeevveez, Kabacchi, Eva Rinaldi, John Anes, Hunter Desportes

and thanks to cruisedeckplans.com, cruisemarketwatch.com, Florida Carribean Cruise Association, listverse, KickassFacts, royalcaribbeanbeddingcollection.com, BBC, Hillman Wonders, cruising.org and cruisemiss for helping us collect these fantastic facts and stats.