Cruiseferry

{{short description|Type of cruise ship}} {{Multiple issues|{{more citations needed|date=November 2024}} {{Globalize|date=December 2010}}}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}

[[File:Pride of Bilbao.jpg|thumb|right|''Pride of Bilbao'' (now ''Moby Orli''), an archetypical cruiseferry. Built for Rederi AB Slite for the Baltic cruise market and operated until 2010 by P&O Ferries between Portsmouth in the UK and Bilbao in the Basque Country, Spain. She was sold by Irish Continental Group at the end of her charter to P&O Ferries in 2010 and the operated for St. Peter Line among Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki and Saint Petersburg, before being moved to Italy.]]

A '''cruiseferry''' or '''cruise ferry''' is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax (roll-on/roll-off passenger) ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of transportation. Some operators prefer to refer to them as "cruise ships with car decks"<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 6 European Cruise Ferries |url=https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/top-6-european-cruise-ferries |website=Cruise Critic |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref>

Cruiseferries are most common in the seas of Northern Europe, especially the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. However, similar ships traffic across the English Channel as well as the Irish Sea, Mediterranean and even on the North Atlantic. Cruiseferries also operate from India, China and Australia.

==Baltic Sea cruiseferries== {{Main|Baltic Sea cruiseferries}} In the northern Baltic Sea, two major rival companies, Viking Line and Silja Line, have for decades competed on the routes between Turku and Helsinki in Finland and Sweden's capital Stockholm. Since the 1990s Tallink has also risen as a major company in the area, culminating with the acquisition of Silja Line in 2006.

While superficially resembling cruise ships that operate primarily in tropical climates, Baltic cruiseferries will have windows rather than balconies for cabins/suites, plus a higher hull and promenade deck with higher positioning of lifeboats (the height above water called the freeboard), a longer bow, and for additional strength they are often designed with thicker hull plating than is found on cruise ships, as well as a deeper draft for greater stability. Cruise ferries share the above attributes with ocean liners to protect against large waves and stormy weather, since cruise ferries are expected to ply the Baltic Sea year-round while cruise ships can only do so in the summer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 6 European Cruise Ferries |url=https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/top-6-european-cruise-ferries |website=Cruise Critic |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref>

The largest Baltic cruiseferries offer many of the amenities found on contemporary cruise ships, including a wide range of restaurants, entertainment options, and health and fitness facilities. However, on cruiseferries, many of these facilities such as the pool deck and shopping arcade are fully enclosed due to the cool Baltic climate. Cruiseferry cabins are typically smaller as voyages are only one or two nights, food is generally not included in cruise ferry fares, whereas cruise ships usually have itineraries lasting three nights or more and fares are all inclusive.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 6 European Cruise Ferries |url=https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/top-6-european-cruise-ferries |website=Cruise Critic |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref>

==List of largest cruiseferries of their time== {{Update|section|date=May 2023}} The term "cruiseferry" did not come into use until the 1980s, although it has been retroactively applied to earlier ferries that have large cabin capabilities and public spaces in addition to their car- and passenger-carrying capacity.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

{|class="wikitable" !Year  !Name !Tonnage1 !Company !Traffic area !Flag !Notes |- | 1956 || MV ''Akdeniz'' ||align="Center" | {{GRT|8,809}} || Turkish Maritime Lines || Mediterranean Sea || {{flag|Turkey}} || Built 1955 |- | 1975 || MS ''Belorussiya'' ||align="Center" | {{GRT|16,331}} || Black Sea Shipping Company || Black Sea || {{flag|Soviet Union}} ||Alongside five identical sisters built 1975–76 |- | 1976 || {{Interlanguage link|MS Napoleon|fr|3=Napoléon (ferry de 1976)|lt=MS ''Napoléon''}} ||align="Center" | {{GRT|20,079}} || SNCM || Mediterranean Sea || {{flag|France}} || Sent to Comarit in 2002. |- | 1977 || GTS ''Finnjet'' ||align="Center" | {{GRT|24,605}} || Enso-Gutzeit (Finnlines traffic) || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Finland}} || Gas turbine-powered. Also fastest and longest |- | 1981 || MS ''Finlandia'' ||align="Center" | {{GRT|25,905}} || Effoa (Silja Line traffic) || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Finland}} || Alongside identical sister MS ''Silvia Regina'' |- | 1982 || MS ''Scandinavia'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|26,747}} || {{Interlanguage link|Scandinavian World Cruises|da}}, later DFDS Seaways || New York—Bahamas, Copenhagen—Oslo || {{flag|Denmark}} || |- | 1985 || MS ''Svea'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|33,829}} || Johnson Line (Silja Line traffic) || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Sweden}} || |- | 1985 || MS ''Mariella'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|37,799}} || SF Line (Viking Line traffic) || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Finland}} || |- | 1989 || MS ''Athena'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|40,012}} || Rederi AB Slite (Viking Line traffic) || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Sweden}} || |- | 1989 || MS ''Cinderella'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|46,398}} || SF Line (Viking Line traffic) || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Finland}} || |- | 1990 || MS ''Silja Serenade'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|58,376}} || Silja Line || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Finland}} || |- | 1991 || MS ''Silja Symphony'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|58,377}} || Silja Line || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Sweden}} || |- | 1993 || MS ''Silja Europa'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|59,914}} || Tallink || Baltic Sea || {{flag|Estonia}} || Ordered by Rederi AB Slite for Viking Line traffic |- | 2001 || ''Pride of Rotterdam'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|59,925}} || P&O Ferries || North Sea || {{flag|Netherlands}} || |- | 2001 || ''Pride of Hull'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|59,925}} || P&O Ferries || North Sea || {{flag|Netherlands}} || |- | 2004 || MS ''Color Fantasy'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|75,027}} || Color Line || Kattegat, Skagerrak || {{flag|Norway}} || |- | 2007 || MS ''Color Magic'' ||align="Center" | {{GT|75,100}} || Color Line || Kattegat, Skagerrak || {{flag|Norway}} || |- | colspan="7" | 1May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT). |}

==List of cruiseferry operators== {{dynamic list}}

===Åland=== *{{flagicon|Åland}} Eckerö Linjen *{{flagicon|Finland}} ({{flagicon|Åland}}) Viking Line

===Australia=== *{{flagicon|Australia}} Spirit of Tasmania

===Canada=== *{{flagicon|Canada}} BC Ferries *{{flagicon|Canada}} Marine Atlantic

===Croatia=== *{{flagicon|Croatia}} Jadrolinija

===Denmark=== *{{flagicon|Denmark}} DFDS Seaways

===Estonia=== *{{flagicon|Estonia}} Tallink

===Faroe Islands=== *{{Flagicon|Faroe Islands}} Smyril Line

===Finland=== *{{flagicon|Finland}} Eckerö Line *{{flagicon|Finland}} Silja Line (operated by {{flagicon|Estonia}} Tallink) *{{flagicon|Finland}} ({{flagicon|Åland}}) Viking Line *{{flagicon|Finland}} Finnlines *{{flagicon|Finland}} Wasa Line *{{flagicon|Finland}} ({{flagicon|Estonia}}) Helsinki Cruises Line

===France=== *{{flagicon|France}} Brittany Ferries *{{flagicon|France}} Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries *{{flagicon|France}} Corsica Linea

===Greece=== *{{flagicon|Greece}} ANEK Lines *{{flagicon|Greece}} Blue Star Ferries *{{flagicon|Greece}} Hellenic Seaways *{{flagicon|Greece}} LANE Lines *{{flagicon|Greece}} Levante Ferries *{{flagicon|Greece}} Minoan Lines *{{flagicon|Greece}} NEL Lines *{{flagicon|Greece}} Superfast Ferries *{{flagicon|Greece}} Ventouris Ferries

=== Hong Kong ===

*{{flagicon|Hong Kong}} Genting Hong Kong (defunct)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ngui |first=Yantoultra |date=2022 |title=How a Billionaire's Cruise Empire Imploded in Hong Kong |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=154827127&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |access-date=2024-11-02 |work=Bloomberg.com |via=EBSCOhost}} - [https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/1/24/how-a-billionaires-cruise-empire-imploded-in-hong-kong See copy at] ''Al Jazeera''</ref>

===Ireland=== *{{flagicon|Ireland}} Brittany Ferries *{{flagicon|Ireland}} DFDS Seaways *{{flagicon|Ireland}} Irish Ferries *{{flagicon|Ireland}} P&O Ferries<ref>{{Cite news |date=2002 |title=Travelscene boosts options in Cruiseferry programme |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=7712832&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |access-date=2024-11-02 |work=Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland |page=63 |via=EBSCOhost |issue=2534}}</ref> *{{flagicon|Ireland}} Stena Line

===Italy=== *{{flagicon|ITA|civil}} Grandi Navi Veloci *{{flagicon|ITA|civil}} Grimaldi Lines *{{flagicon|ITA|civil}} Corsica Ferries *{{flagicon|ITA|civil}} Moby Lines *{{flagicon|ITA|civil}} Tirrenia di Navigazione

===Mexico=== *{{flagicon|Mexico}} Baja Ferries

===Norway=== *{{flagicon|Norway}} Color Line *{{flagicon|Norway}} Fjord Line

===Poland=== *{{flagicon|Poland}}Polferries

===Spain=== *{{flagicon|Spain}} Trasmediterranea *{{flagicon|Spain}} Baleària

===Sweden=== *{{flagicon|Sweden}} Stena Line '''<big>Tunisia</big>'''

<big>•</big> Tunisia ferries (COTUNAV)

===United Kingdom=== *{{flagicon|UK|civil}} P&O Ferries *{{flagicon|UK|civil}} NorthLink Ferries *{{flagicon|UK|civil}} Brittany Ferries *{{flagicon|UK|civil}} Irish Ferries *{{flagicon|UK|civil}} Stena Line

===Japan=== * {{flagicon|JP}} Taiheiyō Ferry

==Gallery== <gallery> Image:PontAven0419.jpg|{{MV|Pont-Aven||2}}, Brittany Ferries' flagship. Image:Silja Europa 2005.jpg|M/S ''Silja Europa'', the largest cruiseferry in the world 1993–2001. Image:Cinderella-vintern-2003.jpg|M/S ''Cinderella'' departing Helsinki. Image:Bateau Mega Regina Entrant Port - L'Île-Rousse (FR2B) - 2021-09-05 - 6 (cropped).jpg|M/S ''Mega Regina'' at Ile Rousse Image:Color Fantasy Heck.JPG|M/S ''Color Fantasy'', the largest cruiseferry in the world 2004–2007. Image:Cruise Roma Civitavecchia.jpg|''MS Cruise Roma'' in Civitavecchia, Italy. Image:Casa BIA.jpg|M/S ''Danielle Casanova'' in Bastia, Corsica, France. Image:PrideofRotterdam.png|M/S ''Pride of Rotterdam'' Image:Tallink_Galaxy.jpg|MS ''Galaxy'' in Helsinki West Harbour. Image:Brosen_gdansk_polferries_scandinavia2.jpg|MS ''Scandinavia'' in Gdańsk, Poland. Image:Pearl of Scandinavia.jpg|M/S ''Pearl of Scandinavia'' in Oslo, Norway File:Cap_Finistère.jpg|MV ''Cap Finistère'' of Brittany Ferries sailing from Portsmouth International Port, UK for Bilbao, Spain. </gallery>

==See also== {{Commons category|Cruiseferries}} * River cruise

==References== {{reflist}}

* Category:Ship types