Are cruise ships ever going to stop

[J N Winkler]

Well, other than the cruise ships that do round-the-world itineraries and the like! We have a friend in Florida who took a round-the-world cruise. She really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'd want to go away for that length of time, and the issue of dealing with the mail, packages, bills, etc., is certainly a major hassle. She said it took her over a month to ensure all the proper arrangements were made for that sort of thing.

We have family friends who took a three-month round-the-world cruise on the QE2 ten years ago, with ports of call that included Tahiti, Hong Kong, Bombay (I think), Dubai, Alexandria, Barcelona, Southampton, and New York.  For them it was a convenient way to sample multiple countries in a single package soon after retirement.  I think they got about 20 countries per $30,000 ticket, plus the ability to recover on the ship after each port call.

I have been on backpacking trips through multiple countries (on a much smaller budget, of course) and have learned that after a fairly short while, say a week or so, travel fatigue sets in and it becomes very attractive to settle in a city for a while just to avoid the hassle of navigating transport and schlepping luggage to new lodgings on an almost-daily basis.

To answer the OP's question, I don't think cruise ships will ever go away for the simple reason that the rich (like the poor) will always be with us, though obviously the demand will ebb and flow with the economy.  Disliking the congestion that cruise ships cause in port cities when they disgorge passengers is essentially a company-town complaint.  If you don't like cruise ships, why would you live in a Florida port city?  Similarly, if you don't like small airplanes, why live in Wichita?

[roadman65]

I was not implying that cruise ships are going away, but the fact that each year a new bigger vessel is being built. 

Like one poster even said that some could never make a trans Atlantic voyage because the size of them makes them all top heavy.

My point was is there ever going to be a point where the rivalry between cruise lines is ever going to stop them all from building bigger boats each year?

[cpzilliacus]

And I'm not sure that the routes you suggest are the right ones for those E roads, but those companies do offer the E18 route.

No, they are correct.  Those ships used to have a green E18 shield painted on both sides, but that seems to have been discontinued.

The shortest E18 sea crossing is Kapellskär, Sweden to Naantali (Swedish NÃ¥dendal), Finland, and is signed E18 all the way to the sea terminals.  Alternatively, Stockholm to  Turku (Ã...bo) is also a longer trip by sea, but still E18.

Stockholm to Tallinn (generally via Mariehamn, Finland) is E20, also signed right up to the ships.

[bandit957]

I really don't see the appeal of cruise ships that much.

I'm a simple man, a humble peasant.

[formulanone]

I was not implying that cruise ships are going away, but the fact that each year a new bigger vessel is being built. 

My point was is there ever going to be a point where the rivalry between cruise lines is ever going to stop them all from building bigger boats each year?

If the market ever makes smaller ships a more attractive proposition, then perhaps that's what will dictate that decision. Other than convincing passengers that you're leaving a comparatively-smaller carbon footprint than a giant ship, or perhaps mentioning that there's less of a crowd, consumers will likely prefer something that offers more options, activities, and space. To the operators...a larger craft means more berths, and potentially more revenue.

Like any other luxury, I'm sure when a recession hits, they're less passenger-laden like any other form of leisure transport. As these ships are probably planned and constructed over the span of a half-decade or so, they aren't just created on a whimsy...they probably know what they're doing; some other ships are probably set to "retire" after 30 years of usage, so something new takes that place.

I've taken a few "one day cruises", but I think I'd get bored after a few days of sleeping, eating, walking about, et al...on the same ship.

[akotchi]

We have been on a couple of music-theme cruises in the last two years, one on Carnival, one on MSC.  Celtic Thunder was the main attraction, but many other Irish bands performed on board as well.  They stopped in the Bahamas (on one trip), Jamaica and the Caymans (on the other).  The itineraries were very full of performances and other activities centered around the bands on-board, and included excursions in the ports.  We did them as 25th wedding anniversary gifts -- the actual date was midway in between.

Don't worry -- I got some road-geeking done in Miami before- and afterward in both cases.

I am not sure we would have gone on them if the attraction of five days solid of live music by bands we like were not part of the experience, even if it was in November.  "Generic" cruises are not our bag.

[Jim]

I've only been on one short cruise, part of a family event a few years ago.  It was OK, but I learned cruises are not really my thing.  This one was only a few days and very unstructured (you could eat anywhere any time, no dress codes, all those other things that would really annoy me).

One situation that might make me want to take another cruise would be if it was a means for me to get to some new places I otherwise would not go.  One that stopped at several island nations, none of which is worth a plane ticket and some hotel nights on its own, would have some appeal.  I know some people who have done the long cruises (several weeks to months) who were then able to see lots of places and had the choice of how much of the local culture to experience.  I for one would enjoy some sightseeing and trying the local cuisine in many places but if and when that was not appetizing, it would be nice to have reliable meals back on the boat.  Same for lodgings.  No need to worry about quality of the hotel in some third world location.  Spend the day exploring a bit, then be back in a comfortable place for the night while they take you to the next place.  Of course, these kind of cruises are so far out of my price range, it's not happening any time soon anyway.

As for the original question, I think that answer is simple: they'll stop building larger ships when it's no longer technologically feasible and, of course, profitable to do so.

[Pete from Boston]

And I'm not sure that the routes you suggest are the right ones for those E roads, but those companies do offer the E18 route.

No, they are correct.  Those ships used to have a green E18 shield painted on both sides, but that seems to have been discontinued.

I like this idea.  I would like to see a giant US 9 logo on the side of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

[Big John]

And I'm not sure that the routes you suggest are the right ones for those E roads, but those companies do offer the E18 route.

No, they are correct.  Those ships used to have a green E18 shield painted on both sides, but that seems to have been discontinued.

I like this idea.  I would like to see a giant US 9 logo on the side of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

SS Badger ferry carries a homemade US 10 logo.

[cpzilliacus]

I like this idea.  I would like to see a giant US 9 logo on the side of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

Relative to the rest of the ship, the E18 shields were not that large, rather like the U.S. 10 shield above in terms of proportion.

I looked for a while for an image of one of the vessels on that route with an E18, but could not find one.  I did find some images of ships with the (now obsolete) E3 shield (largely replaced by E18 and E20 in Sweden and E18 in Finland) painted on the hull, like this one:

[Laura]

I've never been on a cruise. If I did go on one, I'd like it to be for destinations where I could not easily go by car, like the Alaskan panhandle or a bunch of smaller islands. It's not a high priority for me, though.

As for ships getting bigger and better, why wouldn't they? A floating hotel/resort isn't my cup of tea, but there are plenty of people who love them.

I will say that given the choice, I would choose a cruise over an all inclusive resort any day. Resorts have no appeal to me at all. If I'm visiting somewhere, I want to actually be able to visit it and not be stuck in a resort the whole time. At least with a cruise you do get the chance to visit places.


iPhone

[DeaconG]

Aaaand introducing the "world's smartest ship", the Quantum Of The Seas:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/sailing/quantum-of-seas-smartest-cruise-ship/index.html

Somebody just upped the severe overkill benchmark with this one; unfortunately it's going to be based out of Asia thru 2015...