General - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011 Location CruiseShip Brand
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of cruise brands owned	5
Number of ships in operation	39
Number of destinations	460
TUI Cruises
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Investment in a joint venture, percentage of interest	50.00%

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 159

-Paragraph 18

-Subparagraph f

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher AICPA

-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)

-Number 18

-Paragraph 20

-Subparagraph a (1)

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571

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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant