Cruise Liners - The Floating Resorts at Sea

Cruise Liners

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RETURN TO THE LOBBY THE OCEAN LINER VIRTUAL MUSEUM

Cruise liners are in a way the successors of the ocean liners, as after the end of their scheduled routes due to competition from air travel in the 1960s and 70s ocean liners evolved into cruise ships. The arrival of air travel and the impact of the containerisation revolution on the nature of shipping rendered the ocean liner obsolete in the 1960s and 70s. Air travel replaced their scheduled passenger voyages, while container ships fundamentally changed the nature of the shipping industry and replaced the cargo operations associated with ocean liners. As a result the ocean liners had to adapt or disappear forever and they evolved into full time cruise liners and thus was born the modern cruise industry.

Today cruising is a major part of the tourism and holiday industry and the ships have grown hugely in size as more luxurious and innovative amenities are provided on board as they become floating resorts at sea. As a result as well as sailing between holiday destinations, they have become resort destinations in their own right.

In recent years a new concept in cruising has been introduced by The World (launched in 2002) which is the idea of the ocean residences ship where people live on board the cruise ship. This has given birth to a new generation of cruise ship.

Globalisation is changing the world. Business is now operating on a completely new global scale and this is leading to consolidation in many industries whereby fewer, larger companies take an increasing share of global business. Many industries and market sectors are affected by globalisation including transport, logistics, cruising, holidays & tourism, retail, manufacturing etc. This consolidation on a global scale is resulting in larger assets such as container ships, cruise ships and aircraft. For example giant container ships are increasingly become the standard used on world trade routes. Then in aviation there is the development of giant aircraft such as the Airbus A380. Logistics activities are becoming centred and clustered around key hubs. Global transport and logistic companies located at these hubs are increasingly aiming to provide a seamless intermodal integrated service linking sea, air, rail, road and inland waterways. To the customer it is one service. Meanwhile cruising is becoming ever more globalised with larger global players and ever larger cruise ships with more luxurious and wonderful amenities on board.

Discover Cruises UK

www.discover-cruises.co.uk

However over the years due to consolidation and globalisation the cruise industry has become dominated by several major global players including:

1. Carnival Corporation & PLC

www.carnivalaustralia.com

www.worldsleadingcruiselines.com

2. Royal Caribbean International

www.royalcaribbean.com (USA) or www.royalcaribbean.co.uk (UK)

3. MSC Cruises

www.msccruises.com

4. Star Cruises

www.starcruises.com

5. Louis Cruise Lines

www.louiscruises.com

MAJOR CRUISE SHIPBUILDERS:

Today the shipbuilders of cruise ships are dominated by a few major shipbuilders including:

STX Europe ASA
www.stxeurope.com

Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A.
www.fincantieri.com

Meyer Werft, Papenburg
www.meyerwerft.com

LIST OF CRUISE LINES:

Carnival Corporation & PLC

Headquarters:

Miami, Florida, USA
London, England, UK

www.carnivalcorp.com

www.carnivalplc.com

Business Units:

Carnival UK

www.carnivaluk.co.uk

Manages the following cruise brands based in the UK market:

P&O Cruises, Cunard Line, Princess Cruises, Yachts of Seabourn and Ocean Village

Costa Crociere S.p.A

www.costacruise.com

Manages the following cruise brands based in the Continental Europe market:

Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and IberoCruceros

Carnival Australia

www.carnivalaustralia.com

Manages the following cruise brands based in the Australian market:

P&O Cruises Australia, P&O Cruises (World Voyages), Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises and Yachts of

Seabourn

The World's Leading Cruise Lines
www.worldsleadingcruiselines.com

Manages the following cruise brands based in the North American market:

Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Yachts of Seabourn, Costa Cruises and Holland America Line

Cruise Brands:

Carnival Cruise Lines

www.carnival.com

Holland America Line

www.hollandamerica.com

Princess Cruises

www.princesscruises.com

The Yachts of Seabourn

www.seabourn.com

Cunard Line

www.cunard.co.uk

P&O Cruises

www.pocruises.com

P&O Cruises Australia

www.pocruises.com.au

Ocean Village

www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk

Costa Cruises

www.costacruise.com

AIDA Cruises

www.aida.de

Iberocruceros

www.iberocruceros.com

Royal Caribbean International

Headquarters:

Miami, Florida, USA

www.royalcaribbean.com

Cruise Brands:

                  Royal Caribbean International
                  www.royalcaribbean.com (USA)
                  www.royalcaribbean.co.uk (UK)

                  Celebrity Cruises
                  www.celebrity.com

                  Azamara Club Cruises
                  www.azamaraclubcruises.com

                  CDF Croisieres de France
                  www.cdfcroisieresdefrance.fr

                  Pullmantur
                  www.pullmantur.es

MSC - Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.

Headquarters:

Geneva, Switzerland

www.mscgva.ch

Cruise Brands:

MSC Italian Cruises

www.msccruises.com

TUI A.G.

Headquarters:

Hannover, Germany

www.tui-group.com

Cruise Brands: