What is the world’s largest cruise ship, or, if there is more than one, what are the world’s biggest cruise ships? This is one of the those questions that, for whatever reason, people seem to be deeply interested in. The impulse to know the world’s largest cruise ship is surely related to our drive to learn of the tallest building, the largest animal, and the beer with the highest alcohol percentage. Perhaps it has to with the human tendency to seek the grandest example of any given thing, be it human, beast, natural phenomenon, or creation. But enough speculation – you’re here to learn about the world’s largest cruise ship, so here you go:
Technically, the world’s largest cruise ship is Allure of the Seas, belonging to the Royal Caribbean International cruise line, so we’ll focus on this behemoth in this present article. However, it is worth nothing that Oasis of the Seas is almost the exact same size as Allure of the Seas. Oasis weighs the same as Allure and it is the same length (well, Allure is actually 50 mm longer than Oasis, but who’s counting…other than us), and virtually all of the other basic measurement statistics are the same. The only “notable” difference is that Allure can hold 64 more people than Oasis at its max capacity, which is 6,360 passengers.
Anyway, here are some key facts about this leviathan of a ship, just to give you some raw data relating to the enormity of this thing:
- Gross Tonnage: 225,282
- Length: 1,187 feet
- Width: 208 feet
- Height: 213 feet (from the water line)
- Cruising Speed: 22 knots
- Number of Staterooms: 2,700 (plus 28 “ultra-modern loft suites”)
- Number of Passenger Decks: 16
- Number of Elevators: 24
Of course, those are just numbers, which can only go so far in revealing the nature of Allure. But consider this: the ship is nearly four football fields long, but over twice as wide as a football field. Or, if you don’t follow football, the ship would stretch for over two blocks in New York City. As for its height, the Allure is about as tall as a 20-story building.
As you can see, it is no exaggeration to call this ship a small city, especially since Allure has seven distinctly designed “neighborhoods” (which is actually the language that Royal Caribbean International uses to describe the different areas of the ship). The ship also has all the amenities of a small city, including a large casino, tons of stores for shopping, and a number of different recreational areas. There are also multiple night clubs, bars, and restaurants on-board, among many other things.
The Allure may sound like a lot of other cruise ships, but it’s actually huge even when compared to other vessels. For example, the third largest ship in the world (after the Oasis, which is obviously second) is Norwegian Epic, which weighs nearly 75,000 tons less than Allure and holds 1,200 fewer people. It’s also only slightly more than half as tall as Allure. (Interestingly, though, Norwegian Epic is nearly as long as Allure, as the former has a length of 1,801 feet.)
Allure is truly impressive. If you ever want to take a cruise and feel like you’ve never left land, Allure is your ship.