Which cruise ship has been to the most ports?

[ace2542]

I don't think it is the QM2 of Cunard. Could it be maybe the NCL Spirit or one of the MSC Ships? Does anyone know?

[navybankerteacher]

My guess would be QM2 - she has been sailing for a good number of years,  and on world itineraries which would seem to offer more variety in ports.

[cruisemom42]

I would guess that it is one of the smaller ships that do "around the world" voyages routinely, simply due to the increased opportunity and also because smaller ships can access a wider variety of ports.

 

HAL's Prinsendam (known to HAL enthusiasts as the "Elegant Explorer" must have racked up quite a few ports -- she's no longer sailing for HAL but has a new life with Germany's Phoenix Reissen...

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I would guess that it is one of the smaller ships that do "around the world" voyages routinely, simply due to the increased opportunity and also because smaller ships can access a wider variety of ports.

 

HAL's Prinsendam (known to HAL enthusiasts as the "Elegant Explorer" must have racked up quite a few ports -- she's no longer sailing for HAL but has a new life with Germany's Phoenix Reissen...

 

 

Agree with this. NCL is not known for their wild ranging itineraries. Many other cruise lines have more unique itineraries historically. Of the "mass market " lines, Holland America has probably the diverse itineraries,  Cunard is also pretty high up the list. I can't speak for the smaller, more unique lines.

[njhorseman]

Oceania's Insignia does 180 day around the world cruises every year, changing itineraries at least slightly every year, sometimes doing westbound itineraries, sometimes eastbound.  As a small ship it can call on ports larger ships can't so I think it's likely to be among the leaders in ports visited.

[Hlitner]

Until it was "retired" we also suspect that crown would have gone to HAL's Prinsendam.  Like the Prinsendam, we would expect the new crown to go to a smaller vessel (not the QMII) although I would have no clue as to which ship.  Why a smaller ship?  Large ships are limited, in terms of ports, because of their size.  My best guess would be that one of the old "R" ships (operated by Oceania and Azamara) might now be #1, but there are 8 of those vessels.  Another candidate with be Hapag LLoyd's Europa.

 

Hank

[Essiesmom]

If you expanded this to ‘which cruise line’, I think Cunard might be a contender.  There is a thread on the Cunard board, started in August 2020, called ‘Where in the World’.  As Covid pause entertainment.  Post a picture of a Cunard vessel in or from a port, ask for viewers to name the place.  Thus far they have identified well over 500 ports visited or sailed by, and there is still a long list of ports visited but no pics submitted.  EM

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Oceania's Insignia does 180 day around the world cruises every year, changing itineraries at least slightly every year, sometimes doing westbound itineraries, sometimes eastbound.  As a small ship it can call on ports larger ships can't so I think it's likely to be among the leaders in ports visited.

Agree. Insignia does ATW every year - six months with varying itineraries.

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

If you expanded this to ‘which cruise line’, I think Cunard might be a contender.  There is a thread on the Cunard board, started in August 2020, called ‘Where in the World’.  As Covid pause entertainment.  Post a picture of a Cunard vessel in or from a port, ask for viewers to name the place.  Thus far they have identified well over 500 ports visited or sailed by, and there is still a long list of ports visited but no pics submitted.  EM

If you do expand to cruise lines, Cunard, being nearly 200 years old, would certainly hold many crowns :).  HAL, being nearly 150 years old, would likely be in the mix :).   The history of cruise lines is an interesting subject unto its own.  Both HAL and Cunard do try keep their history alive and make it part of some cruises (with relevant lectures). 

 

Hank

[Aquahound]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Until it was "retired" we also suspect that crown would have gone to HAL's Prinsendam. 

 

She may have a different name but her history remains.  I think Prinsendam is a pretty good guess.

 

Otherwise, the first ship that came to my mind was the MS The World.  

[John Bull]

Number of ports visited depends on ..........

- how long the ship is/was in service

and two factors posted by Cruisemom

- the size of the ship (smaller ones can visit many more ports)

- and the ship's usual itinerary

 

So it certainly won't be a Cunarder, which are relatively young,  carry 2600+ passengers, and spend much of their time crossing the Atlantic between Southampton or Hamburg and New York.

 

Certainly MS Prinsendam is a contender - that's the one built 1988 for Royal Viking , subsequently sailed by Cunard then Seabourn until sold to HAL in 2002. Retired from HAL in2019, I believe she continues in service with Phoenix Reisen under the name Amera. 

So apart from re-fits she's sailed continuously for 34 years and counting.

She's a little lady (certainly by today's standards)  with berths for some 800 passengers. 

For most of her owners she's sailed Grand Voyages across most of the world.

 

But another contender is mv Discovery - built 1972 scrapped 2015 (43 years) 

Built for Flagship Cruises, sold after a couple of years to P&O 's Princess line and named Island Princess. She was the twin-sister and frequent stand-in for Pacific Princess on the TV series "The Love Boat", which gave a huge boost to the fledgling cruise industry. After retirement by Princess she sailed for four small cruise lines before old age caught up with her.

Maximum 698 passengers.

Certainly in her later years she roamed the seas like a hobo, passengers booking for anywhere between two weeks and a year. We sailed her 3 times over about 5 years.

In the corridor behind her bridge she had an impressive array of plaques given to her by ports for her first visit.  If ace2542 had asked this question a few years ago I'd have counted them 😉

(I've seen smaller examples of the same display on other ships)

 

JB 🙂

 

[Hlitner]

Just had another thought (not always a good thing)!   The Marco Polo might be in the mix, especially because of her earlier years when she roamed the globe for Orient Lines.   She had a 55 year run, only recently ending her life when CMV went out of business.

 

Hank

[ace2542]

On 9/16/2022 at 1:38 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Agree with this. NCL is not known for their wild ranging itineraries. Many other cruise lines have more unique itineraries historically. Of the "mass market " lines, Holland America has probably the diverse itineraries,  Cunard is also pretty high up the list. I can't speak for the smaller, more unique lines.

Yet I thought the Spirit at least has been all over the world.Australia, far east, Western Europe, The baltics, fijords, UK etc? Only the spirit has done this most NCL ships do the same route and doesn't the spirit do NCL's version of a world cruise? So it must be the Spirit?

[ace2542]

On 9/17/2022 at 12:48 PM, John Bull said:

Number of ports visited depends on ..........

- how long the ship is/was in service

and two factors posted by Cruisemom

- the size of the ship (smaller ones can visit many more ports)

- and the ship's usual itinerary

 

So it certainly won't be a Cunarder, which are relatively young,  carry 2600+ passengers, and spend much of their time crossing the Atlantic between Southampton or Hamburg and New York.

 

Certainly MS Prinsendam is a contender - that's the one built 1988 for Royal Viking , subsequently sailed by Cunard then Seabourn until sold to HAL in 2002. Retired from HAL in2019, I believe she continues in service with Phoenix Reisen under the name Amera. 

So apart from re-fits she's sailed continuously for 34 years and counting.

She's a little lady (certainly by today's standards)  with berths for some 800 passengers. 

For most of her owners she's sailed Grand Voyages across most of the world.

 

But another contender is mv Discovery - built 1972 scrapped 2015 (43 years) 

Built for Flagship Cruises, sold after a couple of years to P&O 's Princess line and named Island Princess. She was the twin-sister and frequent stand-in for Pacific Princess on the TV series "The Love Boat", which gave a huge boost to the fledgling cruise industry. After retirement by Princess she sailed for four small cruise lines before old age caught up with her.

Maximum 698 passengers.

Certainly in her later years she roamed the seas like a hobo, passengers booking for anywhere between two weeks and a year. We sailed her 3 times over about 5 years.

In the corridor behind her bridge she had an impressive array of plaques given to her by ports for her first visit.  If ace2542 had asked this question a few years ago I'd have counted them 😉

(I've seen smaller examples of the same display on other ships)

 

JB 🙂

 

It is a real pity you can't put this question into google and get an answer. QM2 has a lot of plaques. I am sure Island Princess had them too. And I do NCL Spirit has been everywhere more so than other NCL Ships. Magnifica on MSC as well has done a few world cruises and different parts of the world when it doesn't it the world cruise for MSC.

[whogo]

On 9/16/2022 at 7:31 AM, cruisemom42 said:

HAL's Prinsendam (known to HAL enthusiasts as the "Elegant Explorer" must have racked up quite a few ports -- she's no longer sailing for HAL but has a new life with Germany's Phoenix Reissen...

 

I think Amera must be the leader of current cruise ships, cruisemom42. She should rack up more new ports, some of these Norway stops must be new: Rorvik, Andalsnes, Sandane, Farsund, Svolvaer, Egersund, Rosendal, Sandane, Mandal, and Molde.  She's currently doing an Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Azores cruise from Bremerhaven. Amera is scheduled for a 143 world cruise starting this December. I'd love to sail on her.

[MBP&O2/O]

Are we talking the number of times a vessel has been in port or are we talking about the number of different ports any one vessel has been to? 

For the former, what about a channel ferry .. Dover to Calais and return ... multiple times a day 😵‍💫

For the latter ... pure guesstimate I would have thought.

Memo to self: check my old diaries and see what I can come up with.

[Essiesmom]

I believe the question was ‘how many different ports’….  EM

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

I believe the question was ‘how many different ports’….  EM

I also believe that is the question.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

I also believe that is the question.

Yes - how old a ship is doesn’t mean much since, if nothing else, there are far more “ports” visited today than there were 25+ years ago.

 

[cruisemom42]

9 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Yes - how old a ship is doesn’t mean much since, if nothing else, there are far more “ports” visited today than there were 25+ years ago.

 

 

But there are also some ports that can no longer be visited.

 

I've been to Latakia and Tartous in Syria on a cruise ship, for example. Don't think they've been on the table for a while (and not for the foreseeable future).  On the same ship I also contemplated a different cruise that had two port stops in Libya....in hindsight, I wish I'd taken it.

 

 

Edited to add:  More recently (and hopefully more transiently) -- St. Petersburg anyone?  And remember when a Black Sea cruise actually went all the way around the Black Sea with stops?

Edited September 20, 2022 by cruisemom42

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Are we talking the number of times a vessel has been in port or are we talking about the number of different ports any one vessel has been to? 

For the former, what about a channel ferry .. Dover to Calais and return ... multiple times a day 😵‍💫

For the latter ... pure guesstimate I would have thought.

Memo to self: check my old diaries and see what I can come up with.

 

For the former, it would be tough beating my first command, which docked 16 times in an 8-hr shift, so 32 ports calls per day.

 

If it is the latter, my best guess would be SS Canberra, as she operated for 36 years, completing UK, N/Europe, Meddy, Caribbean, South America and World Cruises.

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Are we talking the number of times a vessel has been in port or are we talking about the number of different ports any one vessel has been to? 

For the former, what about a channel ferry .. Dover to Calais and return ... multiple times a day 😵‍💫

For the latter ... pure guesstimate I would have thought.

Memo to self: check my old diaries and see what I can come up with.

If this is a serious concept, I believe New York’s Staten Island ferry, which shuttles more frequently between close in termini, would beat the Channel ferry hands down.

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

For the former, it would be tough beating my first command, which docked 16 times in an 8-hr shift, so 32 ports calls per day.

 

 

 

I don't think the Cowes chain ferry counts as a cruise ship 😜

 

 

JB 🙂

[Aquahound]

I’m surprised no one else has thought of The World. She travels the globe, and has been doing it for 21 years. I think it would be tough to find a ship that has been to more different ports than her. 

[broberts]

On 9/17/2022 at 7:48 AM, John Bull said:

 

So it certainly won't be a Cunarder, which are relatively young

 

If I recall correctly Cunard has been carrying cruise passengers for over 100 years. While today's cruise ships have evolved, multi-day voyages featuring fine dining and exquisite service has always been the hallmark of cruising.