A Finnish shipyard is taking the endless quest for luxury on the high seas to a new level by building the world’s largest cruise liner which, if stood on its bow, would be almost as tall as the Empire State Building.
Ice rinks, rock climbing walls, gyms, theatres and lavish restaurants are all likely to feature on the 220 000-tonne ship which is as yet unnamed but goes under the title Project Genesis.
An American cruiseline, Royal Caribbean, has ordered the vessel for $900-million in an attempt to satisfy a renaissance in demand for ocean-going cruises. It will be almost 50% bigger than the largest existing cruise liner, the Queen Mary II.
Once viewed as a moribund activity attractive only to the elderly, cruising holidays are now growing at a rate of 8% annually worldwide. In Britain, the number going on cruises is expected to reach 1,25-million this year — up sixfold on 1993.
Operators are falling over themselves to offer bigger, more elaborate ships with novelty features on board.
Cunard’s Queen Mary II was launched three years ago as the most luxurious vessel to date. But it has enjoyed mixed fortunes: passengers threatened a mutiny last month over technical problems that prevented it from calling at ports in the Caribbean.
A larger ship, Freedom of the Seas, is already under construction and due for completion in April. But Royal Caribbean’s new commission will beat its proportions by 43%.
Royal Caribbean’s chairperson, Richard Fain, said that the new vessels would provide ”bold design, daring innovation and technological advancements” to persuade more holidaymakers about the joys of cruising.
Aker Yards, which is building the ship, said it would be big enough to carry 5 400 passengers with a length of 360m, a width of 47m and a height of 65m above the waterline.
Tore Langballe, a spokesperson for Aker Yards, said that the constant desire for size was an attempt to drive down costs: ”It’s about the economies of scale. The cost per berth and the cost per passenger come down as you have a bigger ship.”
The 2 000 contractors could include a British element. Langballe said Rolls-Royce was a regular supplier to the yard and could be called upon to supply engines to the new ship.
Bill Gibbons, director of the Passenger Shipping Association, said that vastly proportioned ships tended to appeal more to Americans, with Britons preferring a slightly more intimate environment.
”These very big, huge ships are mainly for Americans,” said Gibbons. ”Ships could probably get even bigger than this — the real limit is down to the ports and to how many passengers they can process embarking and disembarking.”
In Britain, the average age for people booking cruise holidays is 54, a decade older than the typical age of their American counterparts. Gibbons said the recent revival in popularity was partly down to demographics.
”We are getting older as a population — baby boomers are moving into the prime cruising age group,” he said. ”People like the idea of a floating hotel with a different destination every day.”
Cruise lines have been trying hard to shed their staid image by persuading younger people of the pleasures of cruising. One American firm, Carnival, has a special offering, Ocean Village, aimed at people aged 35 to 55 who want a livelier holiday.
Last year EasyJet’s founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, began offering a ”no-frills” cruise from £29 a night. But sceptics suggested that his bright orange ship, easyCruiseOne, was more like a ferry than a cruise liner as it has no pool and tiny cabins of 10 square metres.
Work in Finland will begin on Royal Caribbean’s new ship within weeks, with delivery scheduled for autumn 2009.
Its Finnish builders say that more than 1 500 workers will construct the ship, which will offer an ”unparalleled experience” for the next generation of holidaymakers. – Guardian Unlimited Â