The Importance of the Passenger Space Ratio
When you board a cruise ship, one of the crucial factors affecting your enjoyment while onboard is how spacious the vessel feels. As you re likely going to be there for a while, you will have a view on how much personal space you enjoy. Some folks call this ‘elbow room’.
To help you choose there, are specific ratios that can guide your final decision of cruise line and cruise ship. The Passenger Space ratio is the one that highlights explicitly how much space you may expect. It is a simple ratio that relates the total volume of the ship to the number of passengers. In simple terms, it translates into how much space you can expect onboard?
By definition, gross tonnage is the measurement of a ship’s internal volume, its overall interior space. The new Gross Tonnage calculation for ships determines rules and regulations, registration fees and port dues, as well as, and most importantly, to the cruise experience, the amount of passenger space available. If you are interested in finding out more information on this subject, it is worth reading the Berlitz Guide to Cruising. We use it all the time and you can read our review. Click to read our review.
DEFINITION OF TONNAGE
Gross tonnage, along with net tonnage, was adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 1969, and came into force on 18 July 1982. These two measurements replaced gross register tonnage (GRT) and net register tonnage (NRT).
Gross tonnage is calculated based on “the moulded volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship” and is used to determine things such as a ship’s manning regulations, safety rules, registration fees, and port dues, whereas the older gross register tonnage is a measure of the volume of only certain enclosed spaces.
HOW THE PASSENGER SPACE RATIO IS CALCULATED
By definition, gross tonnage is the measurement of a ship’s internal volume, that is, its overall interior space.
The measurement is, broadly, the capacity in cubic feet of the spaces within the hull and of the enclosed spaces above the deck available for cargo, stores, passengers and crew, with certain exceptions, divided by 100. Thus 100 cubic feet of capacity is equivalent to one gross ton.
It is easy to calculate and get a feel for how crowded you might feel on a particular class of ship. It is the simple ratio between the size of the vessel Gross Tonnage divided by the number of passengers. Gross Tonnage (GT) is the number used for all ships built after 18th July 1982.
The resulting magic number is called the Passenger to Space Ratio.
THE FORMULA
Passenger Space Ratio = Gross Tonnage (GT) divided by the number of passengers
The simplicity makes it is easy to compare cruise ship space ratios since these two numbers are freely available. In this way, you can easily compare like with like. Our chart below shows all the essential cruise ship ratios you need.
If we look at the actual numbers involved, Gross Tonnage is a bit of a mathematical puzzle and doesn’t have anything to do with the weight of a ship. It is a measure of all of the enclosed spaces within the vessel. All you need to know is that it is a “fair” number that achieves a method of representing all ships of different sizes accurately.
As you don’t usually know how many passengers will be on any given cruise ahead of time, a standard number is applied. Often, this is the number of staterooms with two occupants in each, sometimes known as the ship’s capacity or double occupancy.
CALCULATING THE RATIO
Finally, we can calculate the Passenger Space Ratio. It is merely the amount of space on the ship divided by the number of passengers.
Our table below shows the gross tonnage, number of passengers (double occupancy) and the calculated passenger space ratio for a selection of our favourite cruise lines.
Once you have a Ratio, you can then start to compare ships. Many will fall within a reasonably close range, and some ship design features will affect this number.
If you plan to look up the Gross Tonnage (GT) for yourself, be sure to use the Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) and not one of the other similar numbers. These include Net Register Tonnage, Displacement, Compensated Gross Tonnage, etc.
Remember that there are several other ratios and statistics that you can use to gauge your possible cruise experience. The Crew to Passenger Ratio is one such ratio. Taken together, these can help to give an improved perspective on what you can expect on your cruise.
As a rough guide, the Passenger-to-space Ratio bands are as follows:
- 51 and Above – Very Spacious Ships
- 31-50 – Spacious
- 21-30 – Not so spacious
- 20 and under – Expect cramped conditions
CRUISE SHIP RATIOS WORKSHEET
| SHIP | CRUISE LINE | TONNAGE (GT) | PASSENGERS | CREW | Crew-Passenger RATIO | Passenger-Space RATIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Anne | Cunard | 113,000 | 3000 | 1050 | 2.86 | 37.67 |
| Queen Elizabeth | Cunard | 90,901 | 2503 | 900 | 2.80 | 36.3 |
| Queen Mary 2 | Cunard | 148,530 | 2620 | 1254 | 2.10 | 56.7 |
| Queen Victoria | Cunard | 90,049 | 2061 | 981 | 2.10 | 43.7 |
| MSC Seaside | MSC | 153,156 | 5331 | 1413 | 3.80 | 28.7 |
| SeaDream I | SeaDream | 4,253 | 112 | 95 | 1.18 | 37.9 |
| SeaDream II | SeaDream | 4,333 | 112 | 95 | 1.18 | 38.7 |
| Seabourn Odyssey | Seabourn | 32,000 | 450 | 330 | 1.30 | 71.1 |
| Seabourn Quest | Seabourn | 32,,000 | 450 | 300 | 1.30 | 71.1 |
| Seabourn Sojourn | Seabourn | 32,000 | 450 | 330 | 1.30 | 71.1 |
| Seabourn Encore | Seabourn | 40,350 | 604 | 450 | 1.30 | 66.8 |
| Seabourn Ovation | Seabourn | 40,350 | 604 | 450 | 1.30 | 66.8 |
| Seabourn Venture | Seabourn | 23,000 | 264 | 120 | 2.20 | 87.12 |
| Seven Seas Explorer | Regent | 55,254 | 732 | 567 | 1.29 | 75.48 |
| Seven Seas Grandeur | Regent | 55,254 | 750 | 552 | 1.36 | 74 |
| Seven Seas Mariner | Regent | 48,075 | 708 | 445 | 1.60 | 67.91 |
| Seven Seas Navigator | Regent | 28,550 | 490 | 325 | 1.51 | 58.27 |
| Seven Seas Splendor | Regent | 55,254 | 750 | 542 | 1.39 | 74.00 |
| Seven Seas Voyager | Regent | 42,363 | 708 | 445 | 1.60 | 59.84 |
| Silver Cloud | Silversea | 16,927 | 260 | 208 | 1.25 | 65.1 |
| Silver Discoverer | Silversea | 5,218 | 124 | 96 | 1.29 | 42.0 |
| Silver Explorer | Silversea | 6,072 | 144 | 117 | 1.23 | 42.1 |
| Silver Origin | Silversea | 5800 | 102 | 90 | 1.14 | 56.87 |
| Silver Moon | Silversea | 40,700 | 596 | 411 | 1.45 | 68.3 |
| Silver Muse | Silversea | 40,700 | 596 | 411 | 1.45 | 68.3 |
| Silver Shadow | Silversea | 28,258 | 388 | 303 | 1.28 | 72.83 |
| Silver Spirit | Silversea | 39,519 | 608 | 411 | 1.48 | 65.0 |
| Silver Whisper | Silversea | 28,258 | 388 | 302 | 1.29 | 72.83 |
| Silver Wind | Silversea | 17,400 | 302 | 222 | 1.36 | 57.62 |
| Star Breeze | Windstar | 9,975 | 212 | 153 | 1.38 | 47.1 |
| Star Legend | Windstar | 9,975 | 212 | 153 | 1.38 | 47.1 |
| Star Pride | Windstar | 9,975 | 212 | 153 | 1.38 | 47.1 |
| Wind Spirit | Windstar | 5,350 | 148 | 88 | 1.69 | 36.15 |
| Wind Star | Windstar | 5,350 | 148 | 88 | 1.69 | 36.15 |
| Wind Surf | Windstar | 14,745 | 312 | 163 | 1.92 | 47.26 |
| Wonder of the Seas | Royal Caribbean | 236,857 | 6988 | 2300 | 3.03 | 33.89 |
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Last update on 2024-09-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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