Have you ever wondered how many people a typical cruise ship can hold? Today’s cruise ships tend to have a passenger capacity that ranges from just 100 guests to over 7,000 passengers, with these numbers climbing even higher when you include the crew.
If you haven’t been on many cruises, you might be concerned about passenger capacities and overcrowding. This guide will explain what you should expect by covering everything from the smallest expedition cruise vessels to the largest mega ships.
How Many People Can a Cruise Ship Hold?
How many people a cruise ship can hold varies from ship to ship, with capacity limits depending on factors like the ship’s physical size, its gross tonnage, its interior layout, and even the actual purpose the vessel serves.
As of 2025, the cruise industry includes just over 370 cruise ships. Of these cruise ships, the average capacity is around 3,000 passengers, with typical crew numbers around 800 to 1,200.
The size of the average cruise ship’s crew can vary because luxury ships tend to have a higher crew-to-passenger ratio than low-cost cruise voyages.
It’s also important to remember that these numbers simply reflect the industry average, with the exact number varying drastically depending on the specific ship you are looking at.
| Ship | Passenger Capacity | Crew Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Icon of the Seas | 5,610 | 2,350 |
| MSC World America | 5,240 | 2,138 |
| Carnival Jubilee | 5,361 | 1,735 |
| Norwegian Aqua | 3,571 | 1,388 |
| Celebrity Ascent | 3,260 | 1,400 |
| Coral Princess | 2,000 | 895 |
| Vision of the Seas | 2,050 | 742 |
| Carnival Paradise | 2,124 | 920 |
| Celebrity Flora | 100 | 80 |
For example, basic river cruises carry roughly 150 guests, smaller ocean-going cruise ships tend to hold around 500 passengers, while larger ships usually carry between 2,000 and over 7,000 passengers, at maximum capacity.
The current largest class in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Icon-class which includes Icon of the Seas, has a maximum capacity of 7,600 passengers, as well as a crew of 2,350. And that’s 5,610 passengers at double occupancy.
These passengers are spread across 2,805 cabins and suites, which gives you some idea of just how enormous this ship is!
It’s also important to remember that while mega cruise ships, like Icon of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Carnival Jubilee, have maximum passenger capacities between 5,000 and 7,600, that does not necessarily mean that they will carry that many passengers during a typical voyage.
This is because even the major cruise lines struggle to fully load their ships with guests, as hitting these totals would depend on fully selling out the voyage and hitting maximum occupancy limits for each cabin and suite on the ship.
So, not only would you need to sell the maximum number of fares for that trip, but every single room would have to be fully occupied, which might not happen depending on each group’s family and friend dynamics.
When you think about it, all it would take would be a single passenger deciding to book a solo cabin for the ship not to hit its maximum occupancy limit.
Maximum Capacity by Cruise Ship
You probably could have guessed that capacity limits for passengers vary from one cruise ship to the next just based on the physical size of these vessels, but let’s break this down a little bit more by looking at the capacities of different cruise ship categories.
We’ll look at some of the main cruise ship categories, as well as some of the biggest cruise ships for each of the major cruise lines.
Small Cruise Ships
Small cruise ships typically carry between 500 and 1,000 passengers, with some of the smallest boutique and expedition cruise ships carrying around 150 guests.
The tiniest cruise ships, like Celebrity Flora, which carries 100 guests, or Celebrity Xpedition, which can only carry a maximum of 48 passengers, often carry small numbers of passengers because they travel to shallow waters and more intimate destinations—areas where visitor limits are restricted.
Places like the Galapagos Islands have intentional visitor limits and strict visa requirements, making them impractical destinations for ships carrying large numbers of passengers.
Some small cruise ships are also designed to travel along rivers, so the ships must be narrow and much smaller than those designed for ocean travel.
Viking Cruises operates nearly 80 of these types of ships, with most of their cruise ships having a passenger capacity of 190. These ships belong to Viking’s River Cruise class, which all have four passenger decks and 95 cabins.
Small ships with higher passenger capacities, between 500 and 1,000, also offer intimate and cozy experiences for their guests.
For example, MS Europa 2, operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, has a maximum capacity of 513 and offers European itineraries that visit ports bordering the North Sea, like Amsterdam and Antwerp, as well as the Mediterranean.
These types of cruise ships need to be able to navigate smaller ports and canals, so the ships themselves have to be smaller, limiting their passenger capacities.
Personally, I’ve found these smaller cruise ships more relaxing than some of the mega ships I’ve been on.
Worth Reading: Top 10 Smallest Cruise Ships in the World
Don’t get me wrong, the huge variety of amenities you get with the bigger ships can be fun, but the times I have been on a cruise ship with less than 150 guests, I found there was less hustle and bustle.
I also felt like I could connect with other passengers and by the end of these trips, it was like I had the opportunity to make friends and get to know other travelers.
Medium Cruise Ships
Medium-sized cruise ships can generally carry between 1,000 and 3,000 passengers at any given time.
With the increased passenger capacity, you also tend to get a greater range of amenities, including multiple restaurants, pools, and even casinos.
Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Disney Cruise Line all have ships that fit this category. For example, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder fall into Disney Cruise Line’s Magic class, with a maximum capacity of 2,700 guests.
Likewise, Diamond Princess, Island Princess, and Coral Princess are all part of the Princess Cruises fleet, and all three ships carry between 2,000 and 2,710 guests.
These ships are classed as Grand-class ships. They offer itineraries that visit smaller ports in destinations like Japan, Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico.
Coral Princess even traverses the Panama Canal, which means it can’t be overly wide, limiting its passenger capacity.
Norwegian Sun also falls into this range, with its maximum passenger capacity of 2,400.
As a Sun-class cruise ship, it’s small enough that it can dock at some of the smaller cruise ports found in more remote places, like Alaska’s Inside Passage and the Baltic Sea.
Royal Caribbean’s four Radiance-class cruise ships also have passenger capacities that range between 2,466 and 2,502.
These ships regularly offer 3- and 4-day cruises with itineraries that involve port-of-call stops in places like New Zealand, Hawaii, and Sweden.
When it comes to the passenger experience on these types of ships, I find it strikes a nice balance between the more intimate experience you get with the smaller vessels and the excitement you get with the largest ships.
Read Also: Are Smaller or Bigger Cruise Ships Better?
Since they’re a bit bigger, you also get a lot more variety when it comes to choosing a cabin type or dining venue.
If I were going to travel solo or recommend a solo trip for a first-time cruiser, I would suggest booking a ship with a capacity somewhere in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 passengers.
You won’t feel quite as overwhelmed and confused as you can feel on the mega ships, but you’ll still get a nice mixture of comfort and community. Plus, ships this size have multiple decks with lots of things to try out.
Large Cruise Ships
Large ships, meaning those that can carry between 3,000 and 4,000 passengers, are typically seen as the most popular cruise ships, which explains why they make up a significant portion of the fleets of the world’s leading cruise lines.
Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean International all have numerous ships in their fleets that fall into this category.
Most ships in Norwegian Cruise Line’s Breakaway class fall into this category, with Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Encore, and Norwegian Getaway all having a maximum capacity of 3,963.
Norwegian’s slightly smaller Prima-class ships also fall into the large cruise ship category, with all three ships accommodating between 3,100 and 3,571 passengers.
Similarly, Carnival Cruise Line’s Dream-class vessels, including Carnival Dream, Carnival Magic, and Carnival Breeze, have passenger capacity limits of 3,690.
With these larger passenger capacities, ships in this class offer waterslides, up to 29 unique dining venues, Broadway-style shows, casinos, and more.
So, not only do they carry more passengers, they offer those passengers a greater variety of entertainment amenities to choose from while on the ships.
Royal Caribbean’s five Voyager-class ships also fall into the large cruise ship category, with Explorer of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas both having maximum passenger capacities of 3,807.
Like medium-sized cruise ships, I’ve always found that these large cruise ships offer a nice balance between having exciting amenities and a good variety of dining venues without being quite as overwhelming as some mega-ships.
Don’t get me wrong, traveling on the world’s largest ships can be incredible and almost feel like a floating city, but it’s also easy to feel like there is too much to do.
If you’re not big on crowds and find the idea of navigating an enormous ship with different neighborhoods completely off-putting, I’d recommend booking your cruise on a medium or large-sized cruise ship.
Mega Cruise Ships
The largest cruise ships on the water, also known as mega ships, can carry over 4,000 passengers.
Mega ships encompass everything from Norwegian Cruise Line’s Epic-class ships, like Norwegian Epic, which carries 4,100 passengers, all the way up to Royal Caribbean’s Icon-class ships and their incredible 7,600 maximum passenger capacity.
MSC Cruises operates two mega-sized cruise ships under its World-class banner: MSC World Europa and MSC World America. Each ship has a maximum capacity of 6,762, as well as a crew of 2,138. However, when you get into the mega cruise ship category, Royal Caribbean International is usually the first cruise line I think of.
Not only do their existing and upcoming Icon-class cruise ships hold the records for being the biggest cruise ships and having the highest passenger capacity, but Royal Caribbean also has numerous other mega ships.
For starters, their three Freedom-class vessels, including Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, and Independence of the Seas, have passenger capacities ranging from 4,375 to just shy of 5,000.
Their five Quantum-class cruise ships also have similar maximum capacities that sit between 4,905 and 5,622 guests. Spectrum of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas are on the larger side, so Royal Caribbean technically lists them as Quantum Ultra-class ships.
They also have six Oasis-class ships with maximum passenger counts between 6,780 and 6,988. These Oasis-class vessels include Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas, which are outfitted with an incredible variety of dining options and amenities.
Then, of course, you have the awe-inspiring Icon-class cruise ships, which will eventually number four ships in total. Icon of the Seas typically carries around 5,600 guests, but like her future sister ships, Star of the Seas and Legend of the Seas, she can carry up to 7,600 passengers at maximum capacity.
With so many people and such an immense variety of restaurants, amenities, and neighborhoods, these ships truly feel like floating cities, resorts, and theme parks wrapped into one.
Traveling on these mega ships is an experience every cruising fan should try at least once. They are true marvels in ship design, and the sheer variety of amenities, dining venues, and themed public areas makes exploring the ship one of the most memorable parts of the vacation.
The fact that a ship like Icon of the Seas can have the world’s largest waterpark at sea, but that is still just one of its many attractions, is mind-blowing when you pause to think about it. There’s just so much to do on these ships!
What Determines Cruise Ship Capacity?
The number of passengers a cruise ship can carry depends on various factors. From the ship’s physical size to the crew requirements and number of rooms the ship is outfitted with, each ship will vary in its capacity.
Here’s just a quick overview of the main factors that determine how many passengers each ship can carry:
Gross Tonnage
A ship’s gross tonnage (GT) measures its overall enclosed volume rather than just its weight, giving a more accurate picture of the space a ship has for passengers. A higher GT means the ship will almost always have more space for cabins, amenities, and, of course, passengers.
Gross tonnage varies drastically from one ship to the next. For example, Icon of the Seas, the world’s current largest cruise ship, has an enormous gross tonnage of 248,336 GT.
Given its immense size and available space, it’s unsurprising that this behemoth of a cruise ship also has the highest maximum passenger capacity.
By contrast, a smaller Viking ocean cruise ship like MV Viking Sea has a gross tonnage of just 47,842 GT and a total passenger capacity of 930.
Total Cabins and Maximum Capacities
Another factor that will impact a cruise ship’s maximum capacity is the total number of cabins. Most cruise lines list double occupancy as their standard passenger capacity, which means each cabin or suite on the ship is assumed to have two guests.
However, some of the larger suites and cabins can accommodate more than two guests.
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Multiple bedrooms, bunkbeds, pullout couches, and even cots for young children can all allow more guests to sail on a cruise ship comfortably. If every single cabin and suite were occupied to its full capacity, the result would be the ship’s maximum capacity.
Again, take Icon of the Seas, which has a standard passenger capacity of 5,610 passengers at double occupancy but a maximum capacity of 7,600 passengers if every single bed was occupied.
Safety Features and Regulations
Beyond ensuring that every guest has a comfortable place to sleep, maximum capacity is also dictated by safety. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) sets regulations regarding the maximum number of passengers a ship can safely carry.
These regulations emerged in 1912 as a reaction to the Titanic disaster, but they are updated regularly to ensure the safety of passengers aboard cruise ships and other vessels.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is another organization that advocates for passenger safety. While membership is voluntary, member cruise lines work with CLIA to ensure that their ships are safe and comfortable for their guests. CLIA will recommend how many guests could comfortably travel on a cruise ship.
The country where the ship is registered, known as its flag state, also sets rules that must be followed. Beyond ensuring that every guest can comfortably sleep and the ship’s shared spaces are not overcrowded, these rules demand that there must be enough lifeboats to account for 125% of the people on board, including the crew.
So, ships need to have safety equipment for more people than they are legally permitted to carry. This helps account for equipment and lifeboat failures in the event of an accident.
Crew to Passenger Ratios
Beyond safety equipment requirements and following regulations that dictate accommodation needs for overnight passengers, cruise lines must also consider how many crew members are needed to ensure all passengers are safe and comfortable.
While this is not regulated, most cruise ships feature one crew member for every 2.25 passengers. More high-end luxury cruise lines have an even higher ratio, with some having a crew member for each passenger.
Ships with a less favorable ratio quickly gain a reputation for poor service, so it is in the best interest of the cruise line to ensure that their passenger count does not exceed the number of staff they are able to outfit with.
Why Are Cruise Ships So Big?
You might wonder why some cruise ships are so big in the first place. After all, do they really need to be the size of floating cities for people to have a good time? The truth is that the cruise industry’s trend of continuously pushing the boundaries of how big a cruise ship can be is due to several factors.
The first of these factors is simple profitability. The basic concept of economies of scale comes into play when considering that larger ships can accommodate more paying passengers.
Building one mega ship is more economical than several smaller ships carrying the same number of guests. Fuel costs are one reason for this, but even entertainment venues are extremely expensive to build.
Worth Reading: Royal Caribbean Ships by Size – Largest to Smallest
In other words, why outfit three cruise ships with waterparks when you can build one giant one on a single mega ship?
Another driving force behind the increasing size of cruise ships is that cruise passengers are drawn to ships that offer the highest number and variety of amenities.
Why sail on a ship that just has a few pools and a single dining hall when you can cruise the seas on a floating resort that boasts numerous restaurants, cafés, and bars, as well as diverse entertainment venues, like waterparks, movie theatres, rock climbing walls, ice rinks, and so much more?
Having enormous ships outfitted with ground-breaking amenities is also really good from a marketing perspective. Royal Caribbean regularly plays into this in its marketing, with taglines like “Experience the World’s LARGEST Cruise Ships” and “Royal Caribbean: Bigger & Bolder.”
By offering prospective customers bigger ships with more amenities, luxuries, and cabin types, these cruise lines gain a powerful competitive advantage over their competition.
Finally, even from just a logistical standpoint, technological advances in ship design and construction have allowed cruise ship builders to create larger vessels.
This is partially due to introducing new fuel types, like liquified natural gas (LNG), which enables ship designers to build larger, more efficient vessels without devastating environmental impact.
There is also an ever-growing number of cruise ports designed to accommodate bigger ships, which allows cruise lines to push the boundaries further. Even with the largest ships, these companies can still offer passengers enticing itineraries to exotic and exciting locations.
How Full Do Cruise Ships Get?
Most cruise lines prefer to operate as close to full capacity as possible. During peak seasons, which vary depending on where you are sailing, cruise ships rarely set sail below 90% capacity.
In fact, some cruise lines will even oversell a voyage, meaning they have sold more fares than they have space for. This may sound counterintuitive, but operating a cruise line is a fixed-cost business, so the cruise lines must anticipate cancellations.
In the unlikely event that not a single passenger who has booked cancels, they can offer incentives to allow passengers to volunteer to bump their cruise to a later date.
In my personal experience, cruise ships usually sail pretty close to their maximum capacity, especially if you are on a popular cruise ship setting sail on an in-demand route.
Let’s say you are setting sail from somewhere like Seattle or Vancouver on a summer cruise to Alaska, demand would be extremely high, so the cruise would almost certainly be sold out.
Meanwhile, this same cruise might set sail at just 80% capacity if you went during Alaska’s shoulder seasons in the early spring or fall.
Similarly, if you were setting sail from PortMiami to somewhere like the Bahamas during the holiday season, demand would be extremely high, so it’s almost certain your cruise ship would be sailing near its maximum capacity.
What Happens When a Cruise Ship Is Overcrowded?
All this talk of cruise ships sailing at full capacity brings us to the question of the passenger experience on an overcrowded ship.
The truth is, overcrowding isn’t as big of an issue as you may assume. The largest cruise ships, capable of carrying thousands of passengers, are designed with efficient layouts that help distribute and manage large numbers of passengers.
Even if a ship is near full capacity, I’ve found that they don’t actually feel overcrowded. Sure, dining venues can be busy, and you may need to make reservations well in advance for specialty restaurants, but it’s all pretty manageable.
To get the most out of the experience, I would just prioritize doing what you want at off-peak times. Let’s say you’re really excited about exploring the ship’s waterpark. You might want to head there as soon as it opens for the day rather than trying to go during the early afternoon when it is at its busiest.
Cruise ships also help manage crowding issues by providing passengers with segmented dining times for various dining venues. They’ll also put capacity limits on certain amenities, like pool areas, with the crew clearly communicating how many people can enter and when more are allowed in.
The crew itself is all given mandatory crowd management training, ensuring they understand all safety protocols for managing huge volumes of people.
Spreading out amenities also helps prevent a buildup of too many people in one area of the ship. Even stairways are made extra wide and have clear directional signs for up and down traffic.
Read Also: 14 Cruise Etiquette Rules You Need to Know About
If you haven’t been able to enjoy the amenities you’re most excited about, a tip I’d offer would be to consider skipping a port of call. You can use the day to take in everything the ship offers while most of the other passengers have disembarked.
Another tip for avoiding crowds is to simply cruise during months of the year when the demand is lower. Shoulder seasons usually have fewer crowds, both on the ships themselves and in the ports they visit.
Conclusion
The number of passengers a cruise ship carries will depend on various factors, which is why cruise ship capacities vary from as little as 100 to over 7,000.
Think of this as a way to further customize your cruise vacation. If you like the idea of traveling on a giant ship with thousands of others, choose one of the mega ships operating out of the world’s busiest ports.
On the other hand, if you find crowds off-putting and are more interested in a casual and relaxing cruise experience, a small ship with an intimate feel will be more up your alley.
