Fast-forward to the 2000s and the larger-than-life, no-expense-spared, mega cruise ships we're used to seeing today were sailing onto the scene. This sunset snap shows Cunard Line's Queen Mary II as she completes her first trans-Atlantic voyage in January 2004. At this time, she was the largest and most expensive cruise ship ever constructed with room for 2,200-plus passengers, a theater and even a planetarium, setting the bar for the ships of posterity.

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Beautiful images of cruising through the decades