A new XXL coating will drop the moorings this summer. The Star of the Seas Cruise Boat of the Maritime Royal Caribbean Company will leave Florida in August for his inaugural trip to the Bahamas. With its raw tonnage of 249,000 tons and its length of 364 meters, it is the largest cruise in the world, also with its twin icon of the seas that the sea has already taken in January 2024. Five times larger than the Titanic, the coating is able to accommodate up to 10,000 people, or 5,600 to 7,600 passengers and 2,300 members of the crew.
Built by Turku’s shipyard in Finland, the star of the seas looks like a small city, almost forming her twin ship. In addition to 2,800 cabins to house the multitude of tourists, its 20 bridges gather (among others) half a dozen swimming pools, about forty bars and restaurants, a water park in slides, several performance rooms, a casino and an ice rink. Appointed to the records, the Royal Caribbean multiplies the imposing structures: even two other identical ships are still registered in the program, one in 2026 and the other in 2027.
Colossal dimensions
Beyond the only Caribbean Royal, the big cruise lines are won by a “mega-paquebots” frenzy. In its inauguration in 2003, just 20 years ago, Queen Mary 2 could accommodate 2,600 passengers and win the largest cruise title in the world with a raw tonnage of 149,000 tons –100,000 tons less than the star of the seas today. According to the International Cruise Association (CLIA), the proportion of coatings capable of winning more than 4,000 passengers should reach 15% by 2028 in the world fleet.
Last May, Swiss Shipnowner MSC Cruises confirmed the order of two new coatings at Atlantic construction sites, in Saint-Nazaire, for a general investment of around 3,500 million euros. With 215,000 tons and 330 meters long, each can accommodate almost 6,800 passengers and just over 2,100 crew members. Delived in 2029 and 2030, they will be the next ships of the “World Class” series and will join the MSC World Europe and the MSC World America, which is already in service, as well as the MSC World Asia and the MSC World Atlantic in construction.
The carnival cruise company recently ordered three 230,000 ships and the colossal dimensions of the class Icon From the Royal Carriber – to the Italian naval manufacturer Finntieri. Delivered between 2029 and 2031, they can accommodate almost 8,000 complete capacity passengers. For his order book, the Italian manufacturer has also added four 226,000 tons of tons for Norwegian Cruise, the largest ships ever ordered by the company. Delivered between 2030 and 2036, each group of each group more than 5,000 literas.
Always more cruise lines
The abundance of “Mega-Paquebots” in construction sites hides an unwavering commercial dynamic: cruises appeal and attract an increasing audience in their ships. The benefit of favorable currents with 34.6 million passengers in 2024 worldwide, 9% more than one year to the next, and still plans to continue with the same trajectory with 37.7 million travelers in 2025, according to CLIA. The number of passengers even increased 57% for 10 years; In 2014, there were 22 million passengers worldwide.
Given the enthusiasm, companies trust to impose more and more ships to save scale and develop experiences on board (see the picture below). These giant ships welcome more and more tourists who, therefore, encourage the construction of increasingly large ships. In a recent report, the NGO Transport & Environment estimated that the “mega-paquebots” had doubled their size since the decade of 2000. The largest ten weighed 103,000 tons on average in 2000, against 205,000 tons on average in 2024, according to the NGO.
This career for gigantism makes certain teeth shiver, depliting the environmental impact of said excess, first with respect to air pollution. With the hope of frustrating criticism, large companies praise their new fleets using alternative fuels, instead of maritime fuel, and do not stop remembering that their latest constructions browse with liquefied natural gas (Bla). But less than 15 ships are now driven by LNG in the 350 cruises on the planet scale.
Mass tourism
Beyond the environment, these ships stand out as a symbol of mass tourism, which awakens a growing discontent in certain territories, such as the Spanish Balearic or Canary Islands. In Greece, where the island of Santorini borders saturation, now a 20 -euro participation of the passengers of the oceanic coatings will now be claimed: in 2023, the cruises sent 1.3 million passengers to the small Greek island where 15,500 inhabitants live. Other cities, such as Amsterdam and Venice, have chosen to limit access to coatings.
It stops in private islands
In the “Mega-Pquebots”, the trip counts more than fate. On board, leisure no longer serves to make passengers wait between two stops, but constitute the attractiveness of the trip: they go up on board to enjoy shows, swimming pools and restaurants, in the same way that they would reserve a residence with all inclusive in firm lands. For the company, it is also a way to recover most of the expenses made during the scale.
Certain cruise ships, mainly in North America, are content to make a return trip today between the port and a private island that belongs to the company, reserved exclusively for its passengers, a great club-re-registered where the day outside the ship of the island of Little Stirup Cay in the Bahamas for the Real Real can spend the day. Disney Cruise, MSC Cruises or Norwegian Cruise also have their own private islands.
Source: BFM TV
