Cruising: The best Cruises ever

Category: File - :MSMajestyOfTheSeasEdit1.JPG|350px|thumb|MS Majesty of the Seas, a cruise ship completed in 1992

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience. Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, with millions of passengers each year. The industry's rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing European clientele. Smaller markets such as the Asia-Pacific region are generally serviced by older tonnage displaced by new ships introduced into the high growth areas.

Cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port. In contrast, dedicated transport oriented ocean liners do "line voyages" and typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on round trips. Some cruise ships also engage in longer trips which may not lead back to the same port for many months (longer round trips).The ocean-going stretch limo - New Zealand Herald, Friday 16 February 2007

Traditionally, an ocean liner for the transoceanic trade will be built to a higher standard than a typical cruise ship, including stronger plating to withstand ocean voyages, most commonly crossing the North Atlantic. The only dedicated transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner, as of September 2009, is the Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard fleet. The liner Queen Mary is in service as a hotel in Long Beach, USA, the Queen Elizabeth 2 is slated for similar duty in Cape Town, and the United States is currently stored in Philadelphia, USA, with long-standing plans to return it to service, although this appears increasingly unlikely given its age and condition.[http://www.ss-united-states.com/i2.html] Some former ocean liners currently operate as cruise ships, however this number is ever decreasing. The MS Marco Polo is an example.