Who is the Largest?

[travel-to-go]

Marc and I went to our favorite Mexican Restaurant/Bar last night. they have Trivial Pursuit cards on the tables.

I had to take this one home (Don't worry. I will return it!)

Genus Edition:

Q (History) What was the largest passenger liner ever built?

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no peeking. Think about it.

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Think hard on the wording!

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Well, at least according to Selchow and Richter (games publishers)...

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The answer is...

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The Queen Elizabeth

BTW, Another card had a question:

 

Q What woman was Time's Man of the year for 1952?

Just as I was thinking Katharine Hepburn, perhaps, I thought again and came up with the right answer.

 

A Queen Elizabeth II

 

 

 

Karie,

who invites your responses to the first question

[dak]

Surely the Trivial Pursuit Edition must pre-date QM2, in which case the answer was correct for the time.

 

David

[Uncle Pete]

Surely the Trivial Pursuit Edition must pre-date QM2, in which case the answer was correct for the time.

 

David

 

 

I agree

[travel-to-go]

So the Queen Elizabeth (prior to QM2, of course) was the largest liner ever built?

I was surprised, all ready to say the France (Norway) I'm not as up on ship trivia as many of you! Of course, I laughed because naturally, the QM2 was NOW the largest. Still is, if you consider the wording of "liner" I don't consider Freedom of the Seas to be a liner!

 

 

Karie,

who wonders if Freedom of the Seas means she is a LAND based tug? er ship?

[pb82]

I've met at least one educated and otherwise well informed adult who believed that the Titanic was the largest passenger ship, ever. I'll bet that he isn't the only one.

 

Paul

[patwell]

I've met at least one educated and otherwise well informed adult who believed that the Titanic was the largest passenger ship, ever. I'll bet that he isn't the only one.

 

Paul

 

I agree...must be the name...Titanic..makes one think HUGE...actually she was only about 46,000+ tons...not huge by today's standards!!

 

Cheers, Penny

Penny’s Affair to Remember QM2 Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=471053

 

November 10,2007...the “Affair” continues....

[dak]

I believe that France was the longest, but Lizzie was the biggest.

 

David

[guernseyguy]

So the Queen Elizabeth (prior to QM2, of course) was the largest liner ever built?

 

No, Carnival Destiny (1996, 101,353 tonnes) supplanted the QE (1940, 83,673 tonnes)- followed by Grand Princess (1998, 108, 806 tonnes) then Voyager of the Seas (1999, 137,276 tonnes), then QM2 (if we ignore 'Explorer of the Seas' which is 32 tonnes bigger than Voyager).

 

If we measure length - then France held that until the QM2.

 

The claim to 'World's Largest liner' changed ten times between 1900 and 1914 - and the size more than doubled. In the 93 years since then it has changed 8 times. And we are still not yet double the size of the QE of 1940 - sixty seven years ago. Its easy to forget the dizzying pace of technological change and explosion in size of liners in the run up to WWI

 

Peter

[3rdGenCunarder]

I've met at least one educated and otherwise well informed adult who believed that the Titanic was the largest passenger ship, ever. I'll bet that he isn't the only one.

 

Paul

You mean she wasn't??? ONLY KIDDING! :D But was she the largest when she was built?

 

(She sure looked huge in the movie.)

Kathy

[travel-to-go]

The Trivial Pursuit Genus edition was produced in 1982. There is some very interesting history here: http://www.trivialpursuit.com/trivialpursuit/about.html

 

Karie,

who has crowned Peter the King (or should it be Queens) of Trivia in re: the ships, and their relative history! (until an emperor-usurper comes along! <G>)

[guernseyguy]

But was she the largest when she was built?

 

Only just. She had exactly the same dimensions (length, beam, draft) as her much more famous sister - Olympic (good grief - shipping lines grinding out ships with a cookie cutter - and there was another one on the way!). But wouldn't you know it, those nickel and diming shipping lines (by the way, White Star was the wholly owned subsidiary of the American International Mercantile Marine - you never learn that in the movies) had decided that to increase revenue they had pinched space from a Promenade deck and built cabins out to the side of the ship - the 'millionaires suites' - and also expanded a few other deckhouses up top - so she was around 1000 tonnes 'bigger' than Olympic.......and in any case much bigger German ships of the Imperator class (look - more cookie cutter ships - never happened in the 'good old days'!) were already under construction......so had Titanic not had her 'date with destiny' she'd be where she otherwise belongs - in the footnotes of history.

 

Peter

[dak]

No, Carnival Destiny (1996, 101,353 tonnes) supplanted the QE (1940, 83,673 tonnes)- followed by Grand Princess (1998, 108, 806 tonnes) then Voyager of the Seas (1999, 137,276 tonnes), then QM2 (if we ignore 'Explorer of the Seas' which is 32 tonnes bigger than Voyager).

 

If we measure length - then France held that until the QM2.

 

Peter

 

I agree with all the above (but the Freedom class takes the prize until the Genesis class appears). However, I would distinguish between passenger ships and passenger liners, in which case the record for size is with QM2.

 

David

[SSL]

We have to get our terminology straight.

 

The trivia question was, "What was the largest passenger liner ever built?"

 

A 'line' is a company, typically one in the transportation business; a shipping/cruise line (Cunard Line, Norwegian Cruise Line), an airline (American Airlines), a bus line (Greyhound Lines), etc.

 

So a 'passenger liner' would mean any company ship that carries passengers, so that includes both Ocean Liners and (begrudgingly to us Ocean Liner lovers) Cruise Liners. And since a ship's gross register tonnage is how we measure which is 'largest', that means Freedom Of The Seas is currently the largest passenger liner ever built (though as Cunard correctly states in their advertisements, the QM2 is the largest Ocean Liner ever built)

 

Steve -- SSL

[SSL]

Oops, I forgot it's now actually a tie: Freedom and its sister ship, Liberty Of The Seas, both at 160,000 grt, are both the largest passenger liners ever built -- But I'd still take the QM2 any day :)

 

Steve -- SSL (who has sailed on all three ships in question)

[dak]

We have to get our terminology straight.

 

The trivia question was, "What was the largest passenger liner ever built?"

 

A 'line' is a company, typically one in the transportation business; a shipping/cruise line (Cunard Line, Norwegian Cruise Line), an airline (American Airlines), a bus line (Greyhound Lines), etc.

 

So a 'passenger liner' would mean any company ship that carries passengers, so that includes both Ocean Liners and (begrudgingly to us Ocean Liner lovers) Cruise Liners. And since a ship's gross register tonnage is how we measure which is 'largest', that means Freedom Of The Seas is currently the largest passenger liner ever built (though as Cunard correctly states in their advertisements, the QM2 is the largest Ocean Liner ever built)

 

Steve -- SSL

 

I think in the shipping context a liner is a ship which regularly travels on timetabled line voyages of some distance, whether passenger or cargo, as described on most port movements. Coasters and inshore vessels are not typically included within the liner voyage lists. Cruise ships do not, and in most cases could not, travel on line voyages and would be a better fit into the "coastal" class. Therefore, I suggest we are back to the biggest passenger ship or the biggest passenger liner.

 

David

[guernseyguy]

Cruise ships do not, and in most cases could not, travel on line voyages and would be a better fit into the "coastal" class.

 

Sorry David, but I have to disagree - the most popular size/speed for a 'liner' was around 20,000 tonnes with a top speed of 20 knots - by which measure most cruise ships are not only much bigger (and much more stable) but also faster - of course they are optimised for cruising - but you'd be much safer in a North Atlantic storm in a modern cruise ship than in one of their much smaller predecessors.....

 

When Caronia (II) came out Cunard used the terms 'liner' and 'cruise liner' interchangeably - and the last true (single purpose) Atlantic express liner currently lies on a beach in Alang - a money losing failure in her 12 years as a liner - and a game-changing success over nearly a quarter of a century as a cruise ship.

 

Peter

[dak]

Sorry David, but I have to disagree - the most popular size/speed for a 'liner' was around 20,000 tonnes with a top speed of 20 knots - by which measure most cruise ships are not only much bigger (and much more stable) but also faster - of course they are optimised for cruising - but you'd be much safer in a North Atlantic storm in a modern cruise ship than in one of their much smaller predecessors.....

 

When Caronia (II) came out Cunard used the terms 'liner' and 'cruise liner' interchangeably - and the last true (single purpose) Atlantic express liner currently lies on a beach in Alang - a money losing failure in her 12 years as a liner - and a game-changing success over nearly a quarter of a century as a cruise ship.

 

Peter

Peter,

I understand what you are saying, but I cannot believe that the structure of today's cruise ships would stand repeated North Atlantic conditions to the same extent that the QM2 would or older liners have demonstrated.

 

David

[guernseyguy]

I cannot believe that the structure of today's cruise ships would stand repeated North Atlantic conditions to the same extent that the QM2 would or older liners have demonstrated.

 

Why should they? They are not designed to! Nor were traditional liners designed to be good cruise ships - its a bit like criticising a car because its not a good truck!

 

Peter

[dak]

Agreed! It's horses for courses and a passenger (cruise) ship is not the same thing as a passenger liner. It doesn't have to be and it shouldn't be, but there are many people bracket them together.

 

David

[guernseyguy]

a passenger (cruise) ship is not the same thing as a passenger liner.

 

Today's passenger 'liners' look like this:

[dak]

Today's passenger 'liners' look like this:

 

Best answer yet! But I would still include QM2. She does have a sort of NA schedule :)

 

David

[guernseyguy]

Nah, the QM2 is a hybrid liner-cruise ship - the world's biggest liner is the the Color Fantasy running between Oslo and Keil (and just as pretty as her 'inferiors' - 'cruise' ships:rolleyes:):

 

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t7281.html

[KenC]

Nah, the QM2 is a hybrid liner-cruise ship - the world's biggest liner is the the Ulysses running between Dublin and Holyhead (and just as pretty as her 'inferiors' - 'cruise' ships:rolleyes:):

 

Come on Peter ..... even the atlantic liners of the 20's and 30's went on cruises out of season. QM2 was primarily built the way she is for transatlantic line voyages, why else would Carnival have shelled out additional $$ for a north atlantic liner design??? And, you must admit it's what she does best.

 

Ken

[guernseyguy]

And, you must admit it's what she does best.

 

Yes - but she's still a hybrid, as is the QE2. The QV on the other hand is a cruise ship full stop.

 

Peter

[KenC]

Yes, but hybrid or not, QM2 is still a liner. You could also call her an Atlantic Ferry, but you can't call the Color Fantasy a liner, she's a ferry.

 

 

' An ocean liner is a large passenger ship, most typically a motorized vessel that undertakes longer voyages on the open sea primarily for the purpose of transporting people from one place to another. Very large liners are knowns as superliners. '

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_liner