A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers.

An ocean liner is the traditional form of passenger ship, apart from smaller craft used for coastal voyages and as ferries. In the latter part of the 20th century ocean liners gave way to cruise ships as the predominant form of large passenger ship.

Although some ships have characteristics of both types, the design priorities of the two forms are different: ocean liners value speed and traditional luxury while cruise ships value amenities (swimming pools, theaters, ball rooms, casinos, sports facilities, etc.) rather than speed. These priorities produce different designs. In addition, ocean liners typically were built to cross the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the United States or travel even further to South America or Asia while cruise ships typically serve shorter routes with more stops along coastlines or among various islands.

For a long time cruise ships were never as large as the old ocean liners had been, but in the 1980s this changed when Knut Kloster, the director of Norwegian Caribbean Lines, bought one of the biggest surviving liners, the France, and transformed her into a huge cruise ship, which he named the Norway. After the success of the Norway, several new cruise ships in succession became the largest passenger ships ever built, superseding the record held by the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth.

The Queen Mary 2, which entered service in 2004, is of hybrid construction. She is marketed as an ocean liner as she is to enter the transatlantic market but her design is more like a cruise ship than any previous liner aimed at that market. She supersedes the "Eagle Class" cruise ships of the Royal Caribbean line as the largest passenger ship ever built.

References

• Durand, Jean-François. Autour du Monde Paquebots. Cruise ships around the world. Editions marines, 1996. [bilingual text]
• Marin, Pierre-Henri. Les paquebots, ambassadeurs des mers. Paris: Gallimard, 1989.