List of stretched cruise ships

Cruise lines have opted to increase capacity by stretching their current ships. Known as lengthening, the process of enlarging a cruise ship usually includes cutting the ship in half and adding a new midsection, adding more cabins and public areas. ^[1] The first modern cruise ship to be stretched was Royal Caribbean Line's Song of Norway in 1977. ^[2]

• 
  Royal Viking Sky Before Stretch
• 
  Royal Viking Sky After Stretch
• 
  Norwegian Wind & Norwegian Dream Before and After Stretch

	Ship Name	Cruise Line	Year Stretch	Length of Section	Shipyard Lengthened	Notes
	Song of Norway	Royal Caribbean Cruise Line	1977	85 feet	Wärtsilä Marine, Finland
	Nordic Prince	Royal Caribbean Cruise Line	1980	85 feet	Wärtsilä Marine, Finland
	Royal Viking Star	Royal Viking Line	1981	27.77 metres (91 ft 1 in)	A.G. Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven, West Germany
	Royal Viking Sky	Royal Viking Line	1982	27.77 metres (91 ft 1 in)	A.G. Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven, West Germany
	Royal Viking Sea	Royal Viking Line	1983	27.77 metres (91 ft 1 in)	A.G. Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven, West Germany
	Westerdam	Holland America Line	1989	36.9 m (121 ft 1 in)	Meyer Werft, Germany
	Costa Allegra	Costa Crociere	~1991	~13,4 m	T. Mariotti, Genoa
	MV Regent Sky	Regency Cruises	1989			the ship was never completed and later scrapped
	Sally Albatross [3]	EffJohn International	1992	13 meters		The Sally Albatross was rebuilt in 1992 using the hull of the old Sally Albatros which was damaged by a fire. Hull extendet about 13 Meters. [4]
	Norwegian Dream	Norwegian Cruise Line	1998	40-metre (131 ft 3 in)	Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.
	Norwegian Wind	Norwegian Cruise Line	1998	40-metre (131 ft 3 in)	Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.
	Norwegian Majesty	Norwegian Cruise Line	1999	33.76 m (110 ft 9 in)	Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.
	Costa Classica	Costa Cruises	2000 (CANCELLED)	146 ft (intended) [5]	Cammell Laird Birkenhead shipyard, United Kingdom	New midsection constructed, job was cancelled when ship was enroute to shipyard [6] Would have been largest lengthening of a cruise ship.
	Pride of America	NCL America	2004	70 ft	Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.	Stretched while under construction at Lloyd Werft shipyard.
	Enchantment of the Seas	Royal Caribbean International	2005	22 m (73-ft)	Keppel Verolme shipyards in Rotterdam
	Balmoral	Fred Olsen Cruises	2007	30 m (98 ft)	Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany
	Braemar	Fred Olsen Cruises	2009	102-foot [7]	Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany
	MSC Armonia	MSC Cruises	2015	24 metres (79 ft) [8]	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy [9]
	MSC Sinfonia	MSC Cruises	2015	24 metres (79 ft)	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy [9]
	MSC Lirica	MSC Cruises	2015	24 metres (79 ft)	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy [9]
	MSC Opera	MSC Cruises	2015	24 metres (79 ft) [10]	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy [9]
	Silver Spirit	Silversea Cruises	2018 [11]	(49 ft) [12]	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy [13]
	Star Breeze	Windstar Cruises	2020 [14]	25.6-meter	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy
	Star Legend	Windstar Cruises	2021 [15]	25.6-meter	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy
	Star Pride	Windstar Cruises	2021	25.6-meter	Fincantieri Shipyard, Palmero, Italy

External links

• Balmoral Stretch Time-lapse
• MSC Armonia Stretch
• Silver Spirit Lengthening Video
• Windstar Cruises - How to Stretch a cruise ship
• arcicla by cruiseindustrynews with pictures

References

1. Staff, C. I. N. (2021-01-03). "These Cruise Ships Were Cut in Half To Be Enlarged". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
2. Kolltveit, Baird (1995). Under crown and anchor: Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, the first twenty-five years, 1970-1995. On-Board Media.
3. "Sun Bright" . Retrieved 2025-05-08.
4. "M/S Sally Albatross" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-08-10.
5. Staff, C. I. N. (1999-10-01). "Costa Stretch Job". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
6. "Shipyard left high and dry after £51m liner deal is halted". the Guardian. 2000-11-25. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
7. "Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to lengthen the Braemar: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
8. "MSC Cruises to stretch ships". www.traveldailymedia.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
9. Staff, C. I. N. (2014-02-07). "Fincantieri Starts MSC Steel-Cutting for Ship Stretch". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
10. Staff, C. I. N. (2015-11-04). "MSC Completes Ambitious Vessel Stretch Program". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
11. "What Is a Cruise Ship Stretching?". www.cruisecritic.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
12. "Why Do Cruise Lines Keep Cutting Their Ships in Half?". Time. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
13. "Silversea's Silver Spirit is stretched". Cruise International. 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
14. "Star Breeze stretch and renovation project update". Windstar Cruises Travel Blog. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
15. Staff, C. I. N. (2021-05-27). "Stretched Star Legend Delivered to Windstar from Fincantieri". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-10-23.