How Fast Does a Cruise Ship Go? And Other Cruise Ship Facts
I answer some of the internet’s burning questions about cruising.
How fast do cruise ships travel, and how long do they take to build? Read on to find out the answers to these and more.
Fact One: How fast does a cruise ship go?
On average, modern cruise ships travel between 18 and 20 knots, which is equivalent to 20 - 23 miles per hour (mph) on land. The exact speed will vary between ships. In general, a cruise ship’s maximum speed is 30 knots, which is equivalent to 34.5 mph.
Fact Two: What is the largest cruise ship in the world?
The largest cruise ship to date is Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, which made its debut in 2024. The ship has a total of 20 decks, 7 pools and more than 40 restaurants and bars. She can carry up to 7,600 passengers at one time.
Fact Three: How much does a cruise ship weigh?
The weight of a cruise ship varies hugely depending on the ship, but in general you can expect a cruise ship to weigh up to 250,800 tons.
Fact Four: How much does a cruise ship cost?
The amount of money needed to build a cruise ship has risen as the ships themselves have increased in size. Modern cruise ships can easily cost between 500 million and 1 billion dollars to build.
Fact Five: What is the smallest cruise ship?
Currently, the world’s smallest cruise ship is the Celebrity Xploration which holds a total of 16 passengers and 12 crew. It weighs a total of 2,842 gross tons, and is 98.3 feet in length. The ship has been in service since 2017 and is owned by Celebrity Cruises.
Fact Six: How does a cruise ship float?
It may seem odd that something as heavy as a cruise ship can float, but it makes a lot of sense when you look at the science behind it.
Cruise ships use the principle of buoyancy, which means that the mass of the ship must be equivalent to the amount of water that it displaces. These ships are also designed to have a lower density than the water, with lots of open space inside, which helps prevent it from sinking.
Fact Seven: How much fuel does a cruise ship use?
It’s thought that modern cruise ships use around 80,000 gallons of fuel per day. The type of fuel used has changed over time, and many of the newest cruise ships run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is more environmentally friendly than other commonly used fuels such as heavy fuel oil (HFO) and marine diesel oil (MDO).
Fact Eight: How much does a cruise ship worker make?
While this varies hugely depending on the worker’s role and the cruise line, cruise ship workers in the UK make an average of £20,796 per year. This can vary further depending on the company and the country that they operate in. Much higher salaries can be expected in more specialist roles, such as a captain or cruise director.
Fact Nine: How much money does a cruise ship captain make?
The average salary for a cruise ship captain in US dollars is $95,000 per year. This varies depending on experience, and can be as low as $50,000 or as high as $400,000.
Fact Ten: How long is a cruise ship?
The average cruise ship is 1000 feet in length - that’s almost the same as the height of the Shard in London, which is 1016 feet in total.
Fact Eleven: How can I get a job and work on a cruise ship?
The best way to secure a job on a cruise ship is to browse the careers section of a cruise line’s website. There you will find advertisements for any vacancies they may have, ranging from housekeeping to theatre and anything in between.
Fact Twelve: How many people fit on a cruise ship?
The amount of people you can fit on a cruise ship entirely depends on the ship in question, as some are much bigger than others! It’s thought that the most people that can fit on a cruise ship is 9,288, which is on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas.
Fact Thirteen: How long does it take to build a cruise ship?
It generally takes between 12 and 18 months for a cruise ship to be built, with Royal Caribbean reporting that their ship Icon of the Seas was built in 900 days.
Fact Fourteen: What happens if a cruise ship passenger falls overboard?
In the instance that a passenger or crew member falls overboard, the ship will immediately stop and return to the location where the person fell. This is the standard procedure throughout the world, and will begin a major search and rescue operation.
Do you have any burning cruise ship questions? Let me know in the comments and maybe I can answer them in a future blog post!