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Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

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Other Assets (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands, € in Millions	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2009 EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2009 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 07, 2020 ship	Dec. 31, 2019 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2016
Other Assets
Proceeds from the sale of property and equipment				$ 0	$ 0	$ 230,000
Gain on sale of equipment				0	0	30,902
Principal and Interest payments received				$ 32,870	124,238	$ 62,303
Minimum
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest								20.00%	20.00%
Ownership interest retained, percent								20.00%	20.00%
Maximum
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest								50.00%	50.00%
Ownership interest retained, percent								50.00%	50.00%
TUI Cruises GmbH joint venture
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest								50.00%	50.00%
Equity and loans due from equity method investee									$ 598,100		$ 578,100
Equity investment									443,100		403,000
Loan investment								€ 133.2	149,500	€ 150.6	172,200
Related party guarantor obligation percentage				50.00%
Amount outstanding under line of credit provided to TUI Cruises								€ 26.4	$ 29,700
Proceeds from the sale of property and equipment		€ 224.4	$ 290,900
Deferred gain on sale			$ 35,900
Gain on sale of equipment					21,800
Ownership interest retained, percent								50.00%	50.00%
Pullmantur
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest								49.00%	49.00%
Loan investment								€ 15.0	$ 16,800
Interest rate on debt facility provided to related party (as a percent)								6.50%	6.50%
Related party guarantor obligation percentage				51.00%
Retained ownership percentage of subsidiary after sale				49.00%
Ownership interest retained, percent								49.00%	49.00%
Maximum loss exposure									$ 49,700		58,500
Line of credit outstanding								€ 11.0	$ 12,300	€ 14.0	16,000
Percentage of subsidiary which has been sold								51.00%	51.00%				51.00%
Grand Bahamas Shipyard Ltd. \| Not Primary Beneficiary
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest								40.00%	40.00%
Equity investment									$ 27,000		41,400
Ownership interest retained, percent								40.00%	40.00%
Payments to related parties for services provided				$ 45,700	44,700
Net book value of equity method investment									$ 47,900		56,100
Principal and Interest payments received				$ 8,600
Grand Bahamas Shipyard Ltd. \| Not Primary Beneficiary \| Non-accrual status of advances to affiliates
Other Assets
Interest rate on debt facility provided to related party (as a percent)								5.75%	5.75%
Principal and Interest payments received					16,400
Grand Bahamas Shipyard Ltd. \| Not Primary Beneficiary \| Loans Receivable
Other Assets
Loan investment									$ 20,900		$ 14,600
Skysea Holding
Other Assets
Equity method investment impairment					$ 23,300
Skysea Holding \| Not Primary Beneficiary
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest												36.00%
Ownership interest retained, percent												36.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) \| Grand Bahamas Shipyard Ltd. \| Not Primary Beneficiary \| Non-accrual status of advances to affiliates \| Minimum
Other Assets
Margin on floating rate base (as a percent)				2.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) \| Grand Bahamas Shipyard Ltd. \| Not Primary Beneficiary \| Non-accrual status of advances to affiliates \| Maximum
Other Assets
Margin on floating rate base (as a percent)				3.75%
Splendor of the Seas \| TUI Cruises GmbH joint venture
Other Assets
Interest rate on debt facility provided to related party (as a percent)	6.25%
Debt instrument, term	10 years
Related party guarantor obligation percentage	50.00%
Springwater Capital LLC \| Pullmantur
Other Assets
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest								51.00%	51.00%
Ownership interest retained, percent								51.00%	51.00%
TUI cruise ships \| TUI Cruises GmbH joint venture
Other Assets
Reduction of current ownership interest, minimum allowed (as a percent)								37.55%	37.55%
Mein Schiff 1
Other Assets
Property, plant and equipment, useful life		23 years	23 years
Luxury Liners \| Subsequent event \| TUI Cruises GmbH joint venture \| Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
Other Assets
Number of ships acquired \| ship							2
Expedition Ships \| Subsequent event \| TUI Cruises GmbH joint venture \| Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
Other Assets
Number of ships acquired \| ship							3