Here are the Largest Cruise Ships in the World available to sail in 2025, ranked from biggest to smallest. These are absolute units. If you're a fan of big ships, you'll want to copy and paste the following directly onto your bucket list.
Let's first get an idea of just how big these things are. As a society, we don't typically deal with such large measurements. It's tough to conceptualize these huge numbers. The chart below compares the size of the Symphony of the Seas (spoiler... that's the largest cruise ship in the world) to popular monuments around the world.
Many of us have stood at the base of the Empire State Building and gazed up in astonishment. Pulling up to a cruise ship provides the same "wow factor."
Check out the size comparison chart below!
Here's a fun exercise. Picture 177 Lebron James's lined up from head to toe. What would that represent? If you said, "$8 billion dollars in NBA salaries" then you're not wrong. 177 Lebron James's also equals the size of the largest cruise ship in the world!
Cruise Ship Size Increase Over Time
The trend is clear. The largest cruise ships in the world today measure roughly 8x the size of vessels 40 years ago! Cruise lines proudly boast their biggest and newest ships. Each is guaranteed headlines when breaking the previous record for "biggest ship."
Look at the chart below. We've analyzed nearly 300 ships over the past 50 years. The graph represents average ship size (in gross tonnage) for the included periods.
Historical Average Cruise Ship Size
It's interesting to look at the average ship length versus tonnage. While new vessels today are nearly 5x the gross tonnage as decades ago, ship length has increased roughly 2x. What does that mean? Ships are getting significantly "beefier." These massive gains are found in both height and width. Some of the largest ships in the world have 20 total decks and span 167 feet from side to side (later measured in the "beam" metric).
Historical Average Cruise Ship Capacity
Cruise lines are well aware that more passengers equals more profit. Using "economies of scale," these companies have been able to grow revenues disproportionately to the associated increase in costs. In nerd speak, the marginal returns can increase at a rate greater than marginal costs.
Why aren't cruise ships even bigger?
If bigger ships equals bigger profits, why not grow even larger even faster? Great question! One major deterrent to growth involves docking logistics. The largest cruise ships in the world are limited to ports able to accommodate these behemoths. Cruise terminals can't grow fast enough to facilitate these ships. You'll notice the biggest ships all visiting the same ports.
Consider this. Royal Caribbean decides to add their magnificent Central Park feature. That's a fixed cost and occupies a fixed space. Whether the vessel has 100 guests or 1,000, the marginal expense is essentially $0 for each additional passenger taking advantage of that space. Adding more passengers adds a clear impact to the bottom line. RC is going to optimize for the greatest number of people feasible in the available space.
Largest Cruise Ships in the World in 2025
Below we highlight the 20 biggest cruise ships in the world. Feel free to click through to find a bunch of helpful metrics included with each. Take some time to explore statistics like beam, capacity, passenger decks, draft, year built, cost, and much more.
#1 - Icon of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
250,800 G.T.
#2 - Star of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
250,800 G.T.
#3 - Utopia of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
236,857 G.T.
#4 - Wonder of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
236,857 G.T.
#5 - Symphony of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
228,081 G.T.
#6 - Harmony of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
227,700 G.T.
#7 - Allure of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
225,282 G.T.
#8 - Oasis of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
225,282 G.T.
#9 - MSC World America
MSC Cruise Line
215,863 G.T.
#10 - MSC World Europa
MSC Cruise Line
205,700 G.T.
#11 - Costa Smeralda
Costa Cruise Line
185,010 G.T.#12 - Aida Nova
AIDA Cruise Line
183,900 G.T.
#13 - Carnival Celebration
Carnival Cruise Lines
183,521 G.T.
#14 - Carnival Jubilee
Carnival Cruise Lines
183,521 G.T.
#15 - Costa Toscana
Costa Cruise Line
183,000 G.T.
#16 - MSC Euribia
MSC Euribia
181,541 G.T.
#17 - MSC Grandiosa
MSC Cruise Line
181,541 G.T.
#18 - MSC Virtuosa
MSC Cruise Line
181,000 G.T.
#19 - Carnival Mardi Gras
Carnival Cruise Lines
180,800 G.T.
#20 - MSC Bellissima
MSC Cruise Line
171,598 G.T.
#21 - MSC Meraviglia
MSC Cruise Line
171,598 G.T.
#22 - MSC Seascape
MSC Cruise Line
169,500 G.T.
#23 - MSC Seashore
MSC Cruise Line
169,400 G.T.
#24 - Odyssey of the Seas
Royal Caribbean
169,379 G.T.
#25 - Norwegian Encore
Norwegian Cruise Line
169,116 G.T.
If you like big ships, we hope that there's a satisfying option in the list above.
Here are some of our most frequently asked questions about the largest cruise ships in the world.
Today, the largest cruise ship is Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. It's also the biggest cruise ship ever built. The Icon Class ship is 250,800 gross tons and spans 1,196 feet in length. The vessel has 2,805 cabins with a capacity of 7,600 passengers. See our chart above for more stats and fun facts about the Icon of the Seas.
The Icon of the Seas has a maximum guest capacity of 7,600. The vessel also houses roughly 2,350 crew members. The total passenger capacity of this ship is 9,950 people on board during operation.
Due to port restrictions, the biggest ships typically operate in the Caribbean. The region offers the most port destinations able to accommodate these huge vessels.
Royal Caribbean dominates the leader board when it comes to size. The brand has 8 of the 10 biggest cruise ships in operation, as seen from the list above. MSC comes in with a strong 2nd place with 9 ships in the top 25 list.
The Carnival Celebration is the cruise line's biggest. It measure 183,521 gross tons and spans 1,130 feet (344 meter) in length. On our list of 20 biggest ships, the Celebration ranks 15th.
We hope that the above is extremely helpful in answering, what are the largest cruise ships in the world?
If you enjoyed this, feel free to check out our post, How much does a cruise ship cost to build?.
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