What’s the difference between an ocean liner and a cruise ship?
It’s a question I frequently hear, and one I recall getting a lot when I worked aboard the Queen Mary. They’re pretty much the same, right? No, not quite. While there are certainly a lot of similarities, they’re also very different. So what really sets ocean liners apart from cruise ships?
It comes down to three things: purpose, design, and speed.
Purpose
In general, ocean liners transport passengers and/or cargo on a fixed route from one point to another, with stops along the way like a city bus. They’re primarily used as a means of transportation and run on a set schedule.
The SS Great Western, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, started the world’s first regularly scheduled transatlantic passenger service in 1838 and is considered the first ocean liner (although her eventual fleet mate, SS Great Britain, also claims this title). Many other shipping companies soon followed the Great Western Steamship Company’s lead. By 1900, regular passenger service served all corners of the world. Whether immigrants making their way to the United States or Australia or socialites heading to Europe for a grand tour, everyone had to take an ocean liner across. At least, until the first jet airliners took off in the late-1950s.
As shipping companies struggled to survive in the Jet Age, many began switching over to cruising as a means of staying viable. Companies like Cunard, Holland America, and P&O successfully navigated the challenges and still exist today. Others went bankrupt, merged with other companies, or got out of the passenger business entirely (like the Italian Line).
Cruise ships, on the other hand, sail shorter voyages and intended to visit several ports along the way. They’re used for tourism and leisure: the cruise itself is what typically draws passengers aboard.
While common for ocean liners to make stops to pick up additional passengers and mail, people seldom (if ever) got off the ship to sightsee. This is definitely not the case with cruise ships today. Ships like Norwegian Gem, Celebrity Beyond, and Scarlet Lady spend hours in any given port and have shore excursion teams dedicated to getting passengers off the ship. It’s now common for cruise lines to have their own private, tropical islands or resort-like getaways.
Design
“An ocean liner could…be used as a cruise ship, but not all cruise ships can be used as ocean liners,” Marine Insight notes. This is due to how the ships are constructed. Ocean liners have thicker steel and sit lower in the water to withstand rough weather and sea conditions. They are also sleeker and more aerodynamic to help cut through waves. Compare that to the generally boxy appearance that most modern cruise ships have. However, ocean liners’ deeper drafts often made it difficult to visit some warm weather ports.
As the shipping companies lost passengers and profits to commercial jets, many started switching over to cruising in the 1950s and 1960s. But ocean liners
Let’s take a look at the Cunard Line.
The original RMS Mauretania began cruising during the Great Depression. Her design, however, didn’t suit the warm weather itineraries she sailed. Passengers cooked in the ship’s interiors (designed for the colder North Atlantic). The Mauretania got a white coat of paint to help with the heat, but it did little to reduce passengers’ suffering. Cunard retired the old ship shortly thereafter in 1934.
After World War II, companies started building dual-purpose ships. RMS Caronia, nicknamed the “Green Goddess” for her unique light green livery, proved incredibly popular. Built primarily for cruising, she had an outdoor swimming pool, as well as bathrooms and showers in every cabin. Captain Donald Sorrell, her first master, also noted, “Not a penny had been spared in her building; to Britons….she was magnificent. Some of the younger members of my crew, all of whom were hand-picked, had never seen anything like it.”
But Caronia could also withstand the tough North Atlantic weather. She’d been originally intended as a running mate to RMS Mauretania II, who herself became a cruise ship in 1962. The “Green Goddess” made regular transatlantic runs until 1959 when she became a fulltime cruise ship. To keep her competitive edge, Cunard gave Caronia air conditioning in 1956 and had a large lido deck added in 1965. However, newer cruise ships eventually proved more popular with passengers. Cunard eventually withdrew Caronia from service in 1967 and sold her the following year.
Some existing ocean liners, such as Saxonia and Ivernia, found themselves converted to cruising service. This went beyond a simple Caronia-style light green hull repaint (later changed to white). Captain Bob Arnott recalled that Saxonia and Ivernia got “a £3m transformation into luxury cruise liners and renamed, respectively, Carmania and Franconia.” Both ships received a lido deck and outdoor pool, and had their passenger spaces refurbished. They maintained their transatlantic routes to Canada in the summer, but during winter turned to cruising the Caribbean and Mediterranean. In 1967, Franconia became a dedicated cruise ship. However, Cunard eventually sold off both ships after 1971.
When Queen Elizabeth 2 made her debut in 1969, Cunard perfected the ocean liner/cruise ship balance. For the duration of her 40-year career, the QE2 transitioned seamlessly between her two roles. However, Cunard’s first purpose-built cruise ships, Cunard Adventurer and Cunard Ambassador, had less than successful runs. They were deemed too small. When Cunard Ambassador caught fire in 1974, Cunard sold her off to become, as Captain Arnott put it, “the Pacific’s first lamb liner.” In 1983, the livestock carrier went to the breakers. Cunard Adventurer lasted little longer. The company later sold the ship in 1977, replacing her with the more successful Cunard Countess and Cunard Princess. Both stayed in Cunard service until the mid-1990s. Other cruise ships, like Vistafjord and Cunard Crown Dynasty, eventually joined the fleet as well.
In 2004, Queen Mary 2 debuted. Unlike its more recent ships, Cunard built her as an ocean liner (though she would also be used for cruising like QE2). The ship used 40% more steel than the average cruise ship in keeping with her intended regular transatlantic service. With Queen Elizabeth 2’s retirement in 2008, Queen Mary 2 has become known as the “Last Great Ocean Liner.”
Speed
Generally speaking, ocean liners are faster than cruise ships. This is essential in order to keep their schedules. Ocean liners needed great speed to cover long distances and not be slowed down by rough or inclement weather. Passenger ships competed for the illustrious Blue Riband, awarded for the fastest eastbound and westbound transatlantic crossings. SS United States captured the prize in 1952 from RMS Queen Mary, and remains the fastest ocean liner of all time.
Cruise ships have schedules too, of course, but the demands aren’t usually as tight. They generally cover much shorter distances than the 3,000+ miles from Southampton to New York. Itineraries generally have some buffer time built in before the ship needs to depart (much to the relief of pier runners everywhere).
Consider these three ships’ speeds. Queen Elizabeth 2 had a top speed of 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h) and cruising speed of 28.5 knots (32.8 mph; 52.8 km/h). Today, Queen Mary 2 has a top speed of 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h) and a cruising speed of 26 knots (30 mph; 48 km/h). The new Icon of the Seas, by contrast, has a cruising speed of just 22 knots (25 mph; 41 km/h). The Queens would definitely beat the Icon in a race!
However, those speeds come at a cost. Literally. The fuel costs of these faster speeds are not insignificant. A Cunard engineering officer once told me that Queen Mary 2 could cross the Atlantic in five days with no trouble. However, doing it in eight days proved more cost effective. It’s not a new story. As more and more shipping companies experienced financial woes in the 1960s, in many cases it simply became too expensive to fuel their ships. Many of these old ocean liners soon found themselves at the breakers.
Final Thoughts
There you have it. The biggest differences between ocean liners and cruise ships come down to purpose, design, and speed. This is by no means an exhaustive explanation, however. I’ve done my best to distill the essence of each difference and use historical examples to illustrate the various points. I’ve tried to break it down so that laymen like me can understand the differences.
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