Ocean Liners vs. Cruise Ships

Look closely at the two photos in the introduction. The first is of the Queen Mary 2, an ocean liner. On the bottom is the Carnival Triumph, a cruise ship. You can clearly see the difference in the freeboards of the ships in those two pictures.

FREEBOARD
Do you see the row of orange lifeboats in each photo? Notice that they are higher up, and thus farther from the water line in the QM2? The lifeboats on each ship are on the first (lowest) 'open' deck. The distance from the water to the lowest open deck is called the FREEBOARD. Ocean liners have a higher freeboard than cruise ships. They need this for the rougher waters of open seas.

Another difference is in the construction of the hull.

HULL
The hull of an ocean liner is heavier, thicker, and stronger than that of a cruise ship. It is contoured to afford the vessel both speed and stability in open seas, particularly the rough North Atlantic shipping lanes. Remember - at one time, ocean liners were the only transport between England and America, so speed was important. Even today, ocean liners are built to sail at faster speeds than cruise ships.

Such concentration on the hull construction also makes that part of the ship a much bigger expense for ocean liners than for cruise ships.

Ocean Liners are purpose-built for transportation. These remarkable and stately vessels still make regularly scheduled point-to-point 'runs,' most commonly round trip Southampton to New York. However, they ply other itineraries from London's or Southampton's docks, such as Northern Europe and the Med, as well as the occasional World Voyages. In true ocean liner tradition, these are voyages on vessels made for voyaging, and elegantly so.

Cruise ships, on the other hand are often seen as destinations in and of themselves. They are floating resorts. Some offer non-stop entertainment and an endless array of venues for excitement and gratification.

The picture at right? Well, that's one of the roving entertainers who greeted us shortly after we boarded the Mariner of the Seas cruise ship a few years back. I don't think you'd find such a thing on an ocean liner!

Photo: my own (all rights reserved)

OCEAN LINERS
On an ocean liner, there seems to be an emphasis on sophisticated elegance while maintaining the best of the tradition of the golden era of the great ships of the past. You'll find the best of appointments and decor, and guests who appreciate the nicities of decorum. Walk across the gangpank, and enter a world gone by, yet not passed by where modern conveniences are concerned. The ships are the finest built today, with meticulous attention to detail.

CRUISE SHIPS There's no single way to describe a 'general' atmosphere on a modern cruise ship. Some are laid-back, casual, and quiet. Others are mamouth non-stop playgrounds for young and old alike. The one thing the industry as a whole offers is variety. This means it sometimes takes a bit of research to find the line and class of ship that best suits you personally. But, rest assured, it's there for the finding.

Below, you'll find two segments - a video and a slide show - which will give you a taste of the world of the ocean liner and that of the cruise ship. Just bear in mind thet the cruise ship slide show represents only one type of ship atmosphere out of the many to choose from.

LEFT: SS United States Vintage Passenger Ship - CENTER: Cunard Europe-America -
RIGHT: Normandie Transatlantique French Line Ship by evolveshop

LEFT: cruise ship - CENTER: QV Stack - RIGHT: Cruise ships in Istanbul Print

See Queens of the Ocean Past - stories of three great ocean liners of an elegant bygone era
or
Titanic's Sisters - Britannic and Olympic for the stories of famous Titanic's lesser known sisters.
and you might also like Pictures of Titanic