What Size Ship?

The size of ship you choose can make a big difference to your cruise experience and you have over 200 ships to choose from on this website. Several of our cruise search forms let you choose the size of ship and our Ship Details page also shows the size. We group them into Very Small, Small, Medium, Large and Huge based on their tonnage and the maximum number of passengers carried as follows:

Very Small Ships - Under 10,000 tons
In this category you will generally find the adventure ships, coastal ships, sailing ships and some of the yacht style luxury ships. They will be able to sail where the larger ships cannot go and there will be no crowds. Many have transoms that fold down into sports platforms from which passengers can swim, windsurf, waterski, kayak, etc. However they are not suitable for families and, other than the luxury vessels, will offer few other facilities or entertainment. They will also move a lot in rough seas.Cruise Lines offering ships in this category include Clipper, Cruise West, Hebridean, Norwegian Coastal Voyages, Quark Expeditions, Seabourn and Windstar

Small Ships - up to 25,000 tons and 1,000 passengers
Here we have some larger luxury and adventure ships but most of the ships of this size are older traditional cruise ships offering value cruising but without the range of facilities (or crowds) you get on the larger vessels. There will often be a swimming pool, spa, casino and showlounge and passengers may well be older and more sedate. Better in rough seas than the very small ships because they tend to have deeper drafts, there will still be movement. The main cruise lines here are Classic International, Cruises, Fred Olsen, Louis, MSC, Orient and Silversea.

Medium Ships - up to 60,000 tons and 2,000 passengers
We have over 50 ships in this group. Medium ships will have a lot of the facilities of the larger ships but maybe smaller public rooms and fewer pools but less passengers of course. Entertainment will lower key than on the bigger ships. The majority were built in the 1980s and 90s but this group includes several luxury vessels built more recently. Cruise Lines with ships of this size include Costa, Crystal, Fred Olsen, Holland America, MSC, NCL, Radisson, Silversea and Thomson.

Large Ships - 60,000 to 100,000 tons and 2,000 to 3,000 passengers
There are over 60 ships in this group mostly built within the last 10 years and several new ships. These ships do have a floating resort feel and offer lots of activities, several pools and many dining and entertainment options including production shows. Unless you are on a luxury vessel you will be with a lot of people and experience lots of children and queues at the buffet restaurant and when disembarking. Itineraries will include the popular ports that cater for the larger ships. Ships of this size are usually fitted with stabilizers and will move much less in rough weather. The major Cruise Lines dominate the group: Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Holland America, NCL, P&O, Princess and Royal Caribbean.

Huge Ships - over 100,000 tons and 3000 passengers
There are already more than 20 ships of this size sailing and Carnival has 7, Costa 2, and Princess and Royal Caribbean 6 each. Now we have the first 150,000 ton ship (QM2) and more are on the way. These are definitely resorts at sea offering well organised activity programmes for all age groups, ice rinks, indoor promenades, mutiple pools with waterslides and lots of flexible dining options. A variety of entertainment will be available around the ship including production shows in large well equipped theatres. Ships of this size are fitted with stabilizers and their sizw will mean that rough weather has a much less of an effect.