What is the difference between cruise ship and ocean liner?

What's the difference between a cruise ship and an ocean liner?

• Cunard insists that the Queen Mary 2 is an ocean liner, NOT a cruise ship.  Why?

• Answer:

  Queen Mary 2 is classed as an Ocean Liner because it primarily transports passengers from A-B (such as a Transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York and vice versa).  Because the QM2 has to cross the notorious Atlantic Ocean many times throughout the year, the ship has a strengthened hull and the bow of the ship is designed differently to a cruise ship in order to allow for it to cut through the waves more efficiently. The QM2 also has a very deep draft, more than any other cruise ship, as this will help it to sail from A-B on schedule. Cruise ships are designed to take passengers on a holiday, usually beginning and ending in the same port of call, such as Southampton. Because cruise ships rarely cross the Atlantic Ocean (except when re-positioning), they are designed slightly differently, meaning they could take on a more "boxier" shape and have a smaller draft, which would allow them to visit more ports of call. I hope that helps!