Honestly, I just can’t understand the fascination people have with huge passenger ships.

I love being on the water, but to me that means that I have a connection with the sea, not inside a 160,000 tons of steel that would only move in a hurricane and that you can’t tell the difference from any major resort hotel.

Just like the airlines I guess.  Max number of people per trip makes the $$$ for the cruise companies.

... 160,000 TONS?!?  WTF!  That's nearly double the displacement of a Nimitz class carrier.

[url]http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3DYRA1HD.html[/url]

Royal Caribbean Has Designs on 3,600-Passenger Ships

The Associated Press
Published: Jun 16, 2003

MIAMI (AP) - The next line of ultra large cruise ships, vessels that will carry 3,600 passengers, has been designed by a Finnish shipyard for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the cruise line announced Monday.

That is 500 more passengers than carried by Royal Caribbean's Voyager-class ships, currently the largest cruise ships in service in the world.

Monday's conditional agreement - construction contracts haven't yet been signed - calls Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner Masa-Yards to deliver one "Ultra-Voyager" in 2006 and an optional second ship for delivery in 2007 or 2008.

The Ultra-Voyager would be roughly 15 percent larger in space that the Voyagers, and weigh just under 160,000 gross registered tons.

A key factor affecting whether the agreement leads to a firm contract is how much the euro-dollar exchange rate improves. The company can activate the agreement up to August 31, 2003, or under certain terms up to December 31, 2003.

Royal Caribbean has three ships under construction, in Finland and in Germany.

"We are nearing the completion of an aggressive shipbuilding program unprecedented in our history," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean. "That program has allowed us to develop some of the most innovative ships in the world and has greatly improved our economies of scale."

If the decision is made to build an Ultra-Voyager, there would be a two-year gap between the last of the ships under construction and the first of the Ultra-Voyagers.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, with 25 ships in service.