with a maximum capacity of 7,600 people, not including 2,350 crew members...

[Mike Mercury]

With its seven pools, six waterslides and dozens of places to eat, drink and gamble, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas brings new meaning to the phrase ‘economies of scale’—and it’s better for the environment too.



Before the hit TV show helped popularize them, cruises were derided as being for the “newly wed and nearly dead,” and were a lot more expensive than they are today.

Using tax havens and employing thousands of workers from developing countries has helped keep the cost of cruises down. Their real secret formula, though, has been the economies of scale of modern vessels and cruise ports. A happy side effect is that being lean also increasingly means being green.

In 1980, the first year data is available from industry body Cruise Lines International Association, there were 1.4 million oceangoing cruise passengers. That number had already begun to soar as a direct result of The Love Boat, the ABC show set aboard the MS Pacific Princess that began its nine-season run in 1977. It was surely one of the most lucrative product placements ever. Next year, CLIA expects 36 million passengers and for the industry to surpass 300 oceangoing vessels—more than most navies.

Many cruises aren’t expensive, and sometimes—for example when operators were luring passengers back from the Covid-19 pandemic that shut it down—they have been outright bargains. Mass market operators keep ticket prices low enough to reach full occupancy even during recessions because a substantial part of their cost is the vessels themselves, and their fuel. Once people are on board, more than a third of revenue can come from onboard spending such as drinks, spa treatments, specialty restaurants and gambling.

Next month will see the launch of the world’s largest passenger ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, with a maximum capacity of 7,600 people, not including 2,350 crew members. Its incredible size is a selling point in and of itself, but it also highlights the pursuit of savings.

“You only have one captain, only one bridge team, only one engineering team. The same thing happens in other parts of the ship,” says Bill Burke, the chief maritime officer of Carnival, the world’s largest cruise company. Carnival launched the first passenger ship exceeding 100,000 gross tons 27 years ago. That was more than twice the size of the Titanic. Icon of the Seas is as big as five Titanics.

The newest megaships are also saving money through energy efficiency that executives from the Love Boat era could only dream of. That show’s star, the Pacific Princess, was among the earliest purpose-built cruise ships. Before that, the industry used converted ocean liners that had been made obsolete by intercontinental jet travel in the 1960s. The Pacific Princess burned cheap, dirty bunker fuel and carried about 600 passengers.

The newest megaships have better environmental footprints per passenger, but they pack in the most jaw-dropping amenities too. With 20 decks, Icon of the Seas would have Captain Stubing jumping out of his knee socks. It has about 12 times the internal area of the Pacific Princess, which was scrapped a decade ago, and features seven pools, six waterslides and dozens of places to eat, drink, gamble, exercise or listen to live music. It also has a zip-line, bumper cars, rock-climbing walls, a surf simulator and minigolf.

Icon is powered by relatively clean liquefied natural gas, has a specially coated hull to reduce friction, can hook up to shore power, treats its own waste and can produce nearly all of its water through desalination. Being green pays dividends beyond saving on fuel. With governments and especially cruise destinations aware of the environmental impact of giant vessels and record passenger numbers, there increasingly are incentives to avoid pollution. But Carnival’s Burke points out that bigger ships have downsides, such as where they can sail.

“At some point you begin to limit your ability to get into certain places.”

To get around that, and also to save energy and boost revenue, cruise lines have even leased their own private islands a short sail from Florida cruise ports, giving them new names like Castaway Cay and Perfect Day at CocoCay. Often featuring docks that can accommodate megaships, they offer a sanitized version of the tropics where every dollar spent accrues to the cruise line.

Hyper-efficiency is nearing its limit, though, and inflation has affected the industry too. Cruise lines have caused some grumbling by charging more for mandatory onboard gratuities. Norwegian Cruise Lines garnered attention earlier this year for cost-saving steps like reducing turndown service for non-premium cabins and swapping 9-ounce burgers for 7-ounce ones.

Cruisers are showing up in record numbers anyway, and shareholders are celebrating too. After nearly going under amid Covid-19, all three major operators are laden with debt but have seen their shares rebound by an average of 76% just this year.

[Onebadcad]

Lots o' banging on those big boats!!

I was on one ONCE, kept my banging within matrimonial bounds, but a few in the group never spent a night in the same cabin.

Also, drinking ain't cheap, like $10 for a domestic bottle.

[ratflinger]

No way Jose. QM2 is the largest boat I'll get on. Trying a 1000 pax boat in 25

[Jughead]

Pass, I can't stand crowds.

[Tikiman]

Nothing but a floating mall. At least with a mall, I can find the exit and leave.

[Unsuspicious]

I'll take one during a zombie apocalypse

[donuts]

Cruise ships are overrated .. only one I will get on is in Alaska , maybe QM2 to Europe or something

[Swany00]

did a cruise in 1994, never again

[99 pewtercoupe]

Nope. I only do small boat cruises…200-500 passengers max

[TheHammer]

WalMartians on water

[IrishSpuds]

No way in hell. Ghetto of di sease. Never taken a cruise and never will.

[DAB]

never saw the point in taking a round trip to nowhere. eat, get fat, spend money, go home poorer. pass.

[roadpilot]

Originally Posted by 99 pewtercoupe

Nope. I only do small boat cruises…200-500 passengers max

I prefer less than a 100 but I think I was on a cruise ship with 125.
I like alot of service and attention when I go on vacation. Or none at all.

[sublime1996525]

That looks terrible!

[Jeff78]

I'll stick with my pontoon.

[6spdC6]

As a veteran of 16 cruises, for the most part we had some great experiences.

Did a Hawaii to and from California, Alaska land and sea cruise 16 day, and two cruises going through the Panama Canal W-E and East to W 17 day cruises and many other mostly Caribbean 2 week cruises. (Heck we even took two cruises sponsored by the National Corvette Museum with over a 100 Vette people)

With that said no way in hell do I wish to be on that monster ship. Give me a smaller less people aboard cruise. Wife and I have been talking and think we are going to do a few River Cruises in the future. Lots to see in Europe.

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by TheHammer

WalMartians on water

We did one 20 years ago; the commentaries smelled like gas station restrooms.

[Torqaholic]

Used to get offers for free cruises. They'd go straight into the trash with the rest of the junk mail. Not keen on associating with some of the most brainless examples of humanity to ever walk the planet (tourists).