Setting Sail into the Future: 5 Cruise Lines to Launch Ships Over 200,000 Gross Tons by 2030

It is widely acknowledged that the size of cruise ships has been increasing significantly, particularly among the major cruise companies.

Royal Caribbean made history as the first cruise line to construct a ship surpassing 200,000 gross tons when they introduced Oasis of the Seas in 2009.

It took another 13 years before a rival company, MSC Cruises, also reached this milestone by launching their own mega ship in 2022.

Today, there are eight operational ships that exceed 200,000 gross tons.

Note: Gross tons is a measurement of a ship’s overall internal volume and has nothing to do with weight.

As we approach 2030, five cruise lines are set to feature ships surpassing 200,000 gross tons. These include Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Here’s what to expect from their future fleets.

Royal Caribbean plans to introduce three additional mega cruise ships, including two more from the Icon Class and another from the Oasis Class. By 2028, they anticipate having 10 ships within their fleet that each exceed 200,000 gross tons.

MSC Cruises will also expand its fleet with three new mega ships, all of which will be sister ships to the MSC World Europa.

MSC World America is set to launch in 2025, followed by MSC World Asia in 2026, and an additional yet-to-be-named ship in 2027. Each ship will approximately measure 205,000 gross tons.

Disney Cruise Line will expand their fleet with the introduction of Disney Adventure in 2025, a new mega ship with a gross tonnage of 208,000. This vessel was originally one of two Global class ships constructed by Star Cruises.

Following the bankruptcy of Star Cruises, the partially completed ship was acquired by Disney and rechristened as Disney Adventure. The project’s second ship was dismantled and sold as scrap due to its premature stage of construction.

Carnival Cruise Line, historically the first to operate a ship surpassing 100,000 gross tons, plans to incorporate three mega ships into their fleet beginning in 2029.

This upcoming series from Carnival will span 230,000 gross tons with new ships released biennially starting in 2029.

Details about this Carnival series are presently unavailable.

Norwegian Cruise Line will also introduce a mega ship class by the decade’s end, with four ships, each weighing 200,000 gross tons, set to launch in 2030, 2032, 2034, and 2036.

Further information regarding these new vessels from Norwegian Cruise Line remains forthcoming.

There have been some ship prototypes that dwarf these current ships. One was a 430,000 gross ton ship that will likely never be built. Another was a mile-long Freedom ship that was more of a pipedream than reality.

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