Superliner (passenger ship)

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A superliner is an ocean liner of over 10,000 gross tons. The term was coined in the late 19th century, when ocean liners were rapidly increasing in size and speed. Superliners were the primary means of intercontinental travel in the first half of the twentieth century, as passengers favoured large, fast ships.

Some famous superliners include the RMS Titanic, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, RMS Mauretania, Ile de France, Normandie, SS France, RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elizabeth and SS United States.

For several decades, the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) operated as the world's only superliner, as only Cunard offered regularly-scheduled transatlantic passages. In 2004 Cunard commissioned the RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2), which took over the transatlantic routes and relegated the QE2 to cruise ship duty, thereby making the QM2 the only superliner in service. At 148,528 gross tons, she is almost fifteen times larger than the first superliners. Technically, she is also a cruise ship since she has all the attributes required for cruise ship operations, and engages in them in addition to the regular transatlantic crossings typical of the historical superliners.

While Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas has replaced QM2 as the largest operating cruise ship in the world, it is not technically a superliner as it does not make transatlantic crossings. Similarly, there are many other cruise ships that would qualify as superliners if not for the fact that they do not regularly travel across oceans.