Why are there so many of these New F*cking Massive MEGA-Cruse Ships being built? Are they Full up?

[Up2Late]

Are these New F*cking Massive MEGA-Cruse Ships sailing Full up, loaded to the bursting with Rich SOBs and MFA-holes or are they just sailing half-empty to use up as much dirty Bunker Oil as possible, or WHAT?

I've been looking at pictures that people have taken on South Beach and posted on sites like Flickr and Webshots and I keep seeing pictures of these MASSIVE, new Mega-Cruse ships and I just want to know, are there that many One percenters out there filling up these Mega-ships or What? WTF is going on?!?

Here's a few links to some pictures of these ships:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2061326640061904249wPgOjD?vhost=travel

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2575225990061904249HfDAhp?vhost=travel

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2437688200061904249qAKNyl?vhost=travel

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1184458899059216303FfQGbs?vhost=travel

http://family.webshots.com/photo/1247418322051130538ozOCJO?vhost=family

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2262480220068867529LgeKjz?vhost=travel

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2755640210068867529mezODd?vhost=travel

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2835810080068867529VjawRu?vhost=travel:wtf: :rant:

[SweetThingy]

1. Misallocation of resources

The owners of these floating monstrocities believe they will be able to buy cheap oil for the next twenty years.

[unschooler]

2. I don't think everyone on those ships is rich. Lots of grannies from New Jersey. n/t

[Truthiness Inspector]

3. OMG ( total hysteria)....so what.

If people can afford these cruises, rock on. Jobs are also provided by these cruises.

[Up2Late]

5. Suuuuure, Jobs. Are most of those jobs going to Americans?

No, I don't think so. But maybe you can show me some true facts to show me I'm mistaken in that belief.

Here's another few links to more pictures you probably won't look at either:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2339879930056329956PnkXEK?vhost=travel

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2130980100056329956IQyAUK?vhost=travel

[Truthiness Inspector]

9. You have now changed the argument

I am quite certain I never said most jobs went/don't go to Americans.

If you are against outsourcing, I'm with you.

[Djinn]

38. no-one else in the world deserves a job?

personally I'd rather go to Hades than on a cruise and yes they're a big waste of resources but so is your car.

The idea that all the jobs should be American is so self obsessed. Half the cruise lines aren't owned by Americans, they travel the entire globe. Why should they hire Americans only?

As for out-sourcing in general, it's a bit rich of us to sit in the western world that is rich ONLY via the exploitation of the poor world's resources to moan about job flight.

We benefit from the MASSIVE capital flight from the third world but want all the jobs as well. Is it any wonder that to the majority of the world's population hates the developed west

[NickB79]

11. Yep, money overrides environmental awareness these days, I guess

Speaking of which, who wants seconds on their panda fillets? Sure, it's expensive to smuggle out of China, but if I can afford it, rock on, right?

[ashling]

12. They are all natural - note the creative use of cocanuts

:sarcasm:

[symbolman]

26. Yummmm

Panda Nuggets.. Sorry, can't afford the Filets, cheaper ship :)

[WinkyDink]

40. The gasoline use is obscene, as is the waste-dumping.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/215506_cruiseship11.html

[earth mom]

4. Betcha they are huge polluters.

:grr:

[Up2Late]

7. They sure are, big ships like this almost all burn the dirtiest fuel oil you can buy...

...called "Bunker Fuel."

I'm not positive about this, but I think Bunker fuel is part of what you get when you refine gasoline, it's the heavy oil that sinks to the bottom in the refining process.

[earth mom]

8. Yikes! It's worse than I thought!

:argh:

[ingac70]

10. ....

Some use Heavy Fuel Oil - petroleum-based fuel which contains the undistilled residue from atmospheric or vacuum distillation of crude oil. It is also known as, Bunker Fuel Oil or No. 6 Fuel Oil.
In Alaska and other ecologically sensitive areas they burn HFO with a low sulphur content (ie, cleaner but more expensive) to cut down on emissions.
Some cruise ships also have gas turbine engines, and they run on Gas oil, a high grade oil thats rather expensive ( gas turbine costs about $10,000 an hour to run on)

[malaise]

16. And then rip us off for our water

to continue their tours. Guess where they dump all the waste?
They also are perfect places to spread diseases. I'll never be seen on one of them.

[Make7]

6. Have none of the passengers seen 'Speed 2: Cruise Control'? ( n/t )

[zalinda]

13. It's a cheap vacation

But, the funny thing is, is that for the majority of the people, you could cruise 25 miles out to see and drop anchor, and no one would complain. When we went to Bermuda about 20 years ago, hardly anyone got off the ship. And, why would you? You have food, entertainment, fresh air and something to do 24 hours a day. For me, it was maid's service and no cooking, I felt pampered without going anywhere. It was absolutely fabulous to get up in the morning, dress, go to breakfast and do whatever, and come back to a clean room.

And, you older guys, if you clean up well, like to dance and mingle.....this could be a free vacation for you. I hear they are always looking for gentlemen to take these cruises.

zalinda

[symbolman]

14. Wanna talk about Pollution?

They are Giant Fucking TOILETS, flushing Human Waste and god knows what else out into the Ocean where ever they go, and not just at SEA either. We're in Hawaii, and when you see one of these Giant Fucking Toilets parked offshore you are sure to see TURDS and TP floating in the water nearby...

I think they spooge A Few miles offshore for some strange legal reason, but it makes no difference, I think they're killing the ocean as quickly as any global warming scene.

Totally disgusting, along with the boobs who disembark and clog up the town while getting all sniffy with the brown folks..

I HATE Them, in case no one's figured that out :)

[watercolors]

23. Live close to Port Canaveral

We call them floating cesspools! I frimly believe the red tide problem we are having is caused by some of the pollution from these ships. I am with you, hate them, will never catch me on one! I rant about them constantly. We have seen first hand what the cruise industry has done to our favorite dive site. we have been scuba diving in Cozumel since 1972, Last year we decided it was our last trip, counted EIGHT cruise ships in one day! They have ruined the island!

[symbolman]

25. look how many people get Sick on them

you never hear the half of it, most of the time its not in the media because they don't want to blow their biz, but a Lot of people get Strange illnesses...

And I believe you about the Red Tide, along with what may Literally BE Tide, detergents, Phosphates, human waste is basically fertilizer, throws off the balance in so many ways, then there are the wonderful diseases you can catch, any number of them...

I've been wanting to get the perfect shot of one cruise ship, then Photoshop a Toilet Handle on the side, do a story with that graphic attached :)

[DFW]

15. I went aboard one of those for about 8 hours last summer

A friend of mine was working on one, and I went up to see
him when it docked in Germany.

The thing was beyond all imagination. Elevators up to the 14th
floor on a f*cking boat!!!!! My friend, for the record, was the
only American employee I met on the ship. The rest were Russian,
Polish Romanian, Filipino, Ukranian, Pakistani, etc etc etc. The
passengers were all American, and seemed to be a mix of rich bored
people and "middle Americans" who had saved up years for the vacation
of a lifetime, and somehow thought this was it. When they docked,
the ship offered day excursions. Hundreds of people got off for a
day bus ride down to Berlin, and actually thought they would get to
see Berlin in a 2 hour bus ride. I guess while in St. Petersburg,
they saw the Winter Palace for ten minutes, the Hermitage for 2 hours,
and think they have seen Russia. The food was edible, but no great shakes,
and my friend said it was the same menu every day!! The cabins, at least
those of the employees, were claustrophobic. I've been in hotel bathrooms
that had twice the space. At night, they auctioned off perfectly awful
paintings by some Romanian "artist" that looked like rejects from stuff
my daughter did in her 4th grade art class.

Not my idea of a vacation, but to each, his own. I will NOT be taking a swim
in waters anywhere near where these things dock, though. The thought alone
makes me rush for antibiotics.

[robcon]

17. Cruises are a growing business.

They are building new ones to meet the demand, and keep up with the amenities offered by other cruise lines.

[NaturalHigh]

18. My wife and I are going on a cruise next year...

and we're a long way from being rich.

[AngryAmish]

19. ONe of my mother's favorite memories was the week on a cruise ship when she emigrated here

Loved it beyond compare. For a girl out of the wilds of west Ireland it was quite an adventure.

She is dead now. No more fun for her.

Thanks for shitting on her memory.

[Up2Late]

20. Please, the mega ships that they have now to cruse around the Caribbean are totally different...

...from a pre-1960's trans-Atlantic journey to a new life in America like your Mother took. Take a look at some of the pictures at the links I gave above and you'll see what I mean.

Btw, my Father and ALL of my Grand-parents (who are also dead now) did the same thing as you Mother, may she rest in peace.

[Occam Bandage]

49. Yeah. The mega-ships are cheaper.

The rich cruise in small ships. The poor cruise in enormous behemoths. And the behemoths are more fuel-efficient per passenger-mile. Think about it: Which uses more gasoline per person? A car with one person, or a bus with 30?

[watercolors]

51. My husbands' mother was born on an English ship

coming to USA from Finnland. We have a photo of it, believe it is nothing like the cruise ships of today! And there were not so many of them. The fuel they use now is the biggest problem.

[Missy Vixen]

53. I hope your mom and my mom

are having fun together on what passes for a cruise in the hereafter. My mom was Irish, too, and never even flew on an airliner while she was alive.

I love to think that she is having a great time with those she loved while she was here, and great new friends like your mom. They deserve it, don't they?

I know you still miss her, so here's a :hug:.
Julie

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. You don't have to be rich to take a cruise

They only cost a few hundred dollars:

http://cruises.orbitz.com/promotion/orbitz/caribbean/caribbean-cruise-deals.asp

Even middle class "SOBs and MFA-holes" can afford that.

[theHandpuppet]

22. And then they register them in Liberia and Panama...

... to avoid any regulations required by American and European govts. So when the real costs start coming in (say in a few years) the owners can avoid having to make solid repairs and anything below the passenger decks is held together with duct tape, cheap, half-broken used parts, or like cracked pumps, simply encased in concrete so they won't have to be replaced. Floating death traps for the mega-rich who keep their money in offshore accounts. No thanks!

[Sugar Smack]

24. I wonder what they do with left-over food.

I've heard from many people about the all-you-can-eat buffets. These are spread out 6 or so times a day. I've never been on a cruise, nor do I ever plan to, but hearing any story of food waste pisses me off to no end.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. I was on a cruise as a kid in the 1960s

and at the end of the day, the leftover food was dumped out the stern. We'd gather to watch the sharks eat it.

I haven't been on a ship since then, but the one we went on was TINY compared to the floating Ramada Inns that sail the waters today.

[Sugar Smack]

57. Ah! I was born in 1969.

Wow. Thanks for that post, because it made me think of nicer things. I don't want to assume, but my guess is they just trash it. I hope they put the food to some good use. I really do.:hug:

[lonestarnot]

27. They need more pukers on the high seas. Chunks for sandfill on shorelines.

:puke: :puke:

[dysfunctional press]

28. mega-cruiseships are NOT for the wealthy...

a cruise is one of the most affordable vacations going.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. The wealthy cruise on small ships that hold fewer than 100 passengers

As a graduate degree holder from an Ivy League school, I get brochures for alumni travel, none of which I can afford.

They cruise the Mediterranean and the Pacific on small ships with huge staterooms, STARTING at $5000 per person double occupancy, not including airfare, for about a ten-day trip.

[Bolo Boffin]

58. You're absolutely right.

I worked on one of these luxury ships for a year. The key for a luxury ship is small enough to walk the entire ship comfortably and yet big enough to have a variety of activities. The staff prides itself on individual service. Then you price the family market out so the rich don't have to deal with anyone's screaming kids but their own.

The mega-ships are all about turning and burning.

[Bigmack]

29. Two observations...

First, I wonder how many of those ships were planned for before the world economic slowdown and awareness of peak oil. I know lots of folks planned to keep flipping their houses and end up with a mega-house.

Second, I've read that those modern cruise ships are unstable, and that they can't take fast turns. Seems like they keep building them higher.

[MindPilot]

32. Princess is offering a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise for $349.

That includes meals. Alcohol and soft drinks are extra. That's not much more than one night in a decent hotel.

I've been on three cruises and most of what I'm seeing in this tread is bullshit.

The ships--especially the newer ones--are pretty green. They don't throw trash over the side and they are not "floating toilets". They process the sewage and organic waste just like a land-based treatment plant. Trash is sorted, held and offloaded to shore-based recycle facilities.

True, they aren't designed for high seas and rough weather, but that's not what they do. All the routes are near shore and if bad weather happens, they put into the nearest port.

There are scrubbers for the exhaust emissions so again they are pretty clean.

The cruise industry provides a lot jobs to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to "see the world".

http://gliving.tv/travelcity/how-green-can-a-ocean-cruise-really-be/

[Catherine Vincent]

33. I agree with your post.

I've been on quite a few cruises and they are better at disposing their waste. I also read that the water for the ship is ocean water and the ship uses a purifier of some sort. And it's true you don't have to be well off to cruise. Although there are some fancy ones for the rich where it's like $10K per person but you can cruise off peak as low as $300-400 per person. All you have to worry about is spending money.

[MindPilot]

34. Every ship since the sailing days makes its own water

The fuel oil is used to boil sea water, the steam runs turbine-driven generators and that electricity powers electric motors that turn the screws. The exhausted steam from the turbines is condensed, distilled, and processed into potable water.

The sewage is handled in a completely separate closed system--very similar to the "blue-water" negative pressure systems in aircraft.

Some of these ships have on-board labs to monitor pollution and are rapidly approaching the point where their exhausts are cleaner than their intakes.

[Thothmes]

61. Almost all new cruise liners use Diesels to generate electricty

Boiler are to expensive and ineffecient.

[Freddie Stubbs]

50. You have to be a thousandiare to afford a $349 cruise

[watercolors]

52. Some one brain washed you!

nt

[backscatter712]

35. You don't have to be filthy rich to go on a cruise.

I just checked expedia.com, they have some cruise deals that give you seven nights aboard a cruise liner in the Carribean for less than $1000 (though you have to add airfare and pay for baubles & such.)

I could afford it.

[pitohui]

36. a lot more europeans cruising these days (they also do a lot of all inclusives)

the dollar is so weak that it's really attractive for europeans to do cruises in the caribbean, hawaii, alaska, etc because they get a great return on their money, for them, it's a bargain even tho for us it's rather over-priced

they apparently also like all-inclusives in the caribbean, so much for the myth of the adventurous european traveler, huh?

:shrug:

oh, and they always have a lot more vacation time to use up, so there's that

it's also true as others point out that many many cruises, just like all-inclusives, are really cheap and sometimes the only way an older retired person could afford a vacation

[AlCzervik]

39. thats true, i went o Hawaii this week last year and there were lots of Europeans there

buying stuff like mad because for them it was really inexpensive.

[Didereaux]

37. They are secret gov't superbug testing labs! n/t

[ThoughtCriminal]

41. Look up "Trent Lott" and "Project America"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_America

[ileus]

42. some rotten bastiages must have "extra" money.

I'll have to hit the lottery B4 I will ever be able to book a trip.

[Evoman]

43. I suppose the reason that they are so popular is that because they are some of the cheapest trips

around. People want vacation trips, and cruises are cheap...compare a cruise to the cost of staying in a hotel in europe for a week, for example. No comparison. As times get leaner, these shitty vacations (if you can call getting sick on a boat, eating shitty food, and spending most of your time on water a vacation) are getting more popular.

[Ezlivin]

44. On my last cruise I didn't see a damned thing

Of course, crossing the Pacific in a nuclear submarine does limit the view somewhat.

:)

But, hey, the food and my rack was free. How often do you get to sleep next to an armed torpedo?

[MindPilot]

54. Everyone should have the opportunity to ride on a target.

:patriot:

[Ezlivin]

55. You got that exactly backwards

It was the surface ships that were targets. Come up to PD, pop up the scope and what's in the crosshairs? My, my, my.

:pals:

But, hey, in the end it was us or the Soviet Union, right?

[MindPilot]

62. I know that -- my comment was a reference to cruises being affordable

Here in San Diego there is a Soviet-era sub as part of our Maritime Museum. The very first thing you think when you climb (descend?) aboard is "THIS is what we were afraid of?!" It is a real rust bucket. But what is really ironic is there is periscope photo in the boat from the mid sixties of the USS Midway in the Tonkin Gulf. Today the USS Midway is tied up on the other side of the same pier--also a museum piece.

Ain't war just fucking grand?:toast:

[leftchick]

45. EPA Finds Cruise Ship Discharges Are Highly Polluted

:puke:

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1221-04.htm

US EPA response to environmental lawsuit finds that even the best treatment systems don’t remove worst contaminants


WASHINGTON - December 21 - A long-overdue assessment of cruise ship pollution in U. S. waters released yesterday by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency found that cruise ships routinely dump massive amounts of poorly treated sewage and highly contaminated raw graywater into harbors and coastal waters.

(The report is available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/cruise_ships/disch_assess_draft.html. Key citations follow.)

“This report shows that cruise ship dumping is out of control and is only getting worse with more ships and more passengers,” said Teri Shore, Campaign Director for Marine Programs at Friends of the Earth. “Since the EPA won’t act, here’s all the evidence that Congress needs to step in to ban cruise ship dumping close to shore and in sanctuaries—and require the best treatment everywhere else.”

The report responded to a lawsuit filed by the University of Washington Environmental Law Clinic on behalf of Friends of the Earth in May 2007 seeking a response to a seven-year-old petition calling on the EPA to analyze pollution from the rapidly expanding cruise ship fleet and find ways to prevent environmental harm. The EPA provided detailed pollution data, but no solutions.

The EPA found that cruise ship discharges contain concentrations of bacteria, chlorine, nutrients, metals and other pollutants that often far exceed federal effluent and water quality standards and are harmful to human health and the marine environment. The report estimated that cruise ships produce an average of 21,000 gallons per day of sewage and 170,000 gallons per day of raw graywater that can contain as much bacteria as sewage. Large volumes of sewage sludge and oily water are also routinely dumped overboard.

[ShaneGR]

46. Ermmm, I live in South Florida, and its not expensive to take a cruise, at all

I can get on a 3 day cruise on the ship you pictured first for less than $400. Not to mention they're great for the local economy.

[greenbriar]

47. I will be on one of Royal Caribbean's in March

That is how we vacation!!!!11111

[Occam Bandage]

48. Actually, the larger the ship, the more fuel-efficient per passenger, and the cheaper per passenger,

allowing more people to take cruises. They aren't only for the top 1%; a cruise costs no more than any other vacation. A three-day cruise can run less than $250 per person.

[tammywammy]

56. Wow! I'm a one-percenter!

I mean it cost me a whole $300 for that cruise I went on. Who knew that making around $25,000/year puts you so high on the income level. :eyes:

[Liberal In Texas]

59. Heaven forbid that people should have vacations.

And it's nice that the average person can afford it. They are hardly 1%ers.

And it's spelled CRUISE, not cruse.

[Up2Late]

66. Excuse me, but "cruse" is spelled TYPE-O!

As soon as they make a spell checker that can read minds, that Typo will go away.:eyes:

[NashVegas]

60. Floating Hotels

I saw some massive ones when I was in Newport this autumn ...

[nadinbrzezinski]

63. Well we are planing to take a cruise to Alaska this year

we are FAR FROM RICH... just been saving.

Don't assume that only the very rich folks can do this

[Up2Late]

67. I wasn't assuming anything, I was asking "wtf?"

And being "rich" is all about perspective. To me, anyone who can afford to take a schedualed "vacation" is "rich" to me, as that is something I've never had enough surplus cash to do.

[Beausoir]

64. It's a fun way to see different parts of the world.

Heaven forbid people actually take a vacation every now and again.

Let's all just stay home and hang out on the internet.

[bumblebee1]

65. Hubby and I took a cruise this past September.

We took a four day cruise to the Bahamas. The cruise stopped in both Freeport and Nassau. We sailed on Carnival: didn't see too many millionaires on board. Yes, we did get off the ship while in the Bahamas. The food was excellent, especially in the formal dining room. This cruise was a belated 20th wedding anniversary celebration. We saved money and shopped around in order to get the best price.

[B Calm]

68. After 4 years in the Navy the last thing I want to do is go for a cruise!

[lynne]

69. Rich SOB? One Percenters? You don't know much about cruising.

I was on one of those mega ships a few months ago and it was packed to the gills with both vacationers and ship employees. Vacationers included children in strollers up to very senior citizens. Our group alone had people ranging in age 24-65 and NONE of us are rich or one percenters.

Cruising is one of the least expensive ways to vacation especially if you go as a group and cram as many people as will fit into a room. I have no regrets and we're planning another cruise next fall.