Biggest Ships on the Sea

The Biggest Ships on the Sea

It doesn't matter where you go when you take your resort with you

Every year the newest, biggest cruise ships are launched – 10 or more city blocs long and dozens of stories high. They have everything you would find at a good Club Med: many spas, high tech fitness centers, swimming pools, many dining areas, teen, disco, rep centers. With these amenities, who cares about the destination?

Apparently, nobody. Most of the mega-ships spend their time island-hopping instead of doing something useful like crossing the Atlantic or discovering new continents. But this hasn't prevented the biggest growth in the cruise business since the golden age of ocean liners more than 70 years ago. Now, as baby boomers retire and seek out new ways to build their leisure time, more than 20 million passengers annually are projected. And the cruise industry is scrambling to build them accommodations. Every year the biggest ships are joined by their sister-ships, and new companies also are getting into the fray with their own cruise lines and thousands-passenger vessels. All told, at least 30 ships are scheduled to be launched every year, and 5 or 7 of them will take their place among the world's largest. The boom adds more than 50,000 passenger berths, 5% gain over current capacity.

And the ships aren't just bigger, they're better, too. They answer complaints about cramped the old-style mega-ships with larger cabins and fewer passengers, as old ships were larger carried fewer passengers. Food and service may vary, but most of the new crop are equipped with state-of-the-art technology like environmentally friendly waste systems and big brother video surveillance systems to keep an eye on the kids. Entertainment includes Broadway musicals, dancing, lectures – sometimes even art exhibits by first-rate (an often unaffordable) artists like David Hockney or Robert Motherwell.

More affordable are fares on the older ships, which remain steady and also include return air fare. The new ships are big in every way, commanding prices of 20 to 30 % above average.

Cruises vary from singles or young, or also middle-age couples, families, old couples. On board, high-tech innovations include a computerized virtual reality golf center, but even basic facilities are impressive. Excellent children's facilities, exciting nightlife. The most classier mega-ships have glitzy décor, gourmet meals.

A cruise to the Southern Caribbeans. Photograph by Elena.