With the cruise industry on a growth course, the two-ship call in Manhattan earlier this week by MSC’s 4,500-passenger Meraviglia and Viking Ocean’s 930-passenger Viking Sea, illustrates the range of ships going into service.

With over 120 ocean-going cruise ships on the cruise ship orderbook through 2027, 55 are large ships for the contemporary market, and over 30 are dedicated expedition ships. 

The 2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report estimated the industry’s total capacity at 27.7 million passengers for 2019, based on 100 percent double occupancy, and projects its growth based on newbuild orders and known ship withdrawals, to reach 40.5 million passengers by 2027.

Twenty-six of the new ships will be fueled by LNG, joining the AIDAnova, which was introduced last year.

These are all large ships, except for Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot, an ice-breaker expedition vessel.

Six large newbuilds are dedicated for the Chinese market.

This year, large ships account for 95.1 percent of the passengers carried, compared to 2.3 percent for the niche market, 2.0 percent for the luxury market, and 0.6 percent for the expedition market.

Photo:  G. Justin Zizes, Jr.