A cruise ship aficionado's guide to thirty of the most impressive modern vessels—from the Sovereign of the Seas to the Viking Longship. The cruise ship market serves tens of millions of passengers every year. What keeps these vacationers coming? Beyond the exotic ports and fabulous entertainment, they are drawn to experience the magnificent floating palaces themselves. In Giants of the Sea, Aaron Saunders showcases some of the most influential cruise ships of recent decades. The volume begins with Royal Caribbean's groundbreaking Sovereign of the Seas. When she was launched in 1988, she was the largest passenger ship constructed since Cunard's Queen Mary, and her entry into service sparked a fiercely competitive building boom that continues to this day. Taking readers aboard thirty spectacular ships, Saunders reveals how their innovative designs changed the landscape of modern cruising. Through original and archival photographs, deck plans, cruise programs, as well as the author's intimate knowledge of many of these vessels, it becomes clear that the true Golden Age of Cruising is right now, and that its origins can be traced back to one ship, launched in 1988.