Top 10 Most Expensive Cruise Ships Ever Built

A cruise ship is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages. The voyage is a part of experience, as well as the different destinations along the way.

Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruisers operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port.

There are even “cruises to nowhere” or “nowhere voyages” where the ship makes a few days round trips without visiting any ports.

But, have you ever asked yourself which are the most expensive cruise ships ever built? If yes, this is the right article you should read. We have prepared the list of top 10 most expensive cruise ships below:

MS Liberty of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean International Freedom class cruise ship which entered regular service in May 2007. It was initially announced that she would be called Endeavour of the Seas, however this name was later changed. The 15-deck ship accommodates 3,634 passengers served by 1,360 crew. She was built in 18 months at the Aker Finnyards drydock in Turku, Finland, where her sister ship, Freedom of the Seas, was also built.

MS Freedom of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. It is the namesake of Royal Caribbean’s Freedom class, and can accommodate 3,634 passengers and 1,300 crew on fifteen passenger decks. Freedom of the Seas was the largest passenger ship ever built (by gross tonnage) from 2006 until construction of the Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis-class ships in late 2009.

MS Independence of the Seas is a Freedom-class cruise ship operated by the Royal Caribbean cruise line that entered service in April 2008. The 15-deck ship can accommodate 4,370 passengers and is served by 1,360 crew. She was built in the Aker Finnyards drydock in Turku, Finland, builder of Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, her sister ships of the Freedom class. At 154,407 gross tons, she joined Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels yet built. She is 1,112 feet (339 m) long, and typically cruises at 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph). The vessel operates from Southampton, England and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Norwegian Breakaway is a cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. Construction of Norwegian Breakaway began on 21 September 2011, when the first piece of steel was cut at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.She was delivered to NCL on 25 April 2013.

She is 144,017 GT in size, and has capacity for 4,000 passengers, double occupancy. The ship has a total of 1,024 staterooms and 238 suites, designed by Priestmangoode and Tillberg Design.

The ship was designed by a team of British naval architects led by Stephen Payne, and was constructed in France by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in 2003. At the time of her construction, Queen Mary 2 was the longest passenger ship ever built, and with her gross tonnage of 148,528 also the largest. She no longer holds this distinction after the construction of Royal Caribbean International’s 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006.

Disney Dream is 40% larger than the two older ships in the Disney Cruise Line family, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, with a gross tonnage of 129,690 GT, a length of 1,114.7 ft (339.8 m) and a width of 137 ft (42 m). The Disney Dream has 1,250 staterooms, carries 2,500 passengers (double occupancy) or a maximum of 4,000 passengers, and a crew of 1,458.

Disney Fantasy, structurally, is almost identical to Disney Dream, with gross tonnage of 130,000, a length of 340 m (1,120 ft) and a width of 42 metres (138 ft). Disney Fantasy has 1,250 staterooms.
Disney Fantasy has included the popular AquaDuck, matching the one on the Dream, being the first water coaster at sea.

Norwegian Epic is a cruise ship of the Norwegian Cruise Line built under that line’s F3 Project by STX Europe Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. When built it was the third largest cruise ship in the world. The Norwegian Epic surpasses the Breakaway-class as NCL’s largest vessel by over 155,873 GT. Norwegian Epic represents the “third generation” of Freestyle cruising vessels and its size allows NCL to have a ship that is in the “mega-class” of their competitors at Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Lines.

Oasis of the Seas offers passengers features such as two-story loft suites and luxury suites measuring 150 m2 (1,600 sq ft) with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades. The ship features a zip-line, a casino, a miniature golf course, multiple night clubs, several bars and lounges, a karaoke club, comedy club, five swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, theme parks and nurseries for children. Many of the ship’s interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.

Onboard recreational, athletic, and entertainment activities are organized into seven themed areas called “neighborhoods”,a concept which bears resemblance to theme park planning.

While the design length of Allure of the Seas is the same as that of her sister, 360 metres (1,181 ft), she is actually some 50 millimetres (2 in) longer than Oasis of the Seas. According to the shipyard, this is not intentional and such small differences in length may occur simply due to the temperature of the steel in a ship as big as this.The gross tonnage of the Allure is 225,282 and her displacement — the actual weight of the ship — is equal to that of Oasis, which is estimated to be around 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Her steel hull alone weighs roughly 54,000 tons.

The ship features a two-deck dance hall, a theatre with 1,380 seats, an ice skating rink, 7 distinct “neighborhoods”, and 25 dining options, including the first Starbucks coffee shop at sea. Many of the ship’s interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.

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World Maritime News Staff, August 8, 2014; Images: Wikimedia