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Recommended read by David Foster Wallace: https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/HarpersMagazi.... Read if you'd never like to step foot on a cruise again.
David Foster Wallace was very funny, but saw the disappointing and sad nature of just about everything. He's sort of the pinnacle of depression literature before widespread anti-depressant use.
He also gave one of the best commencement speeches ever: https://youtu.be/OsAd4HGJS4o
Look at a cruise ship as akin to a floating, polluting, germ-infested mall and I think you'll never have any desire to step foot on one.
“promising to tick off 375 ports around the world, visiting 135 countries and all seven continents. The ship will cover more than 130,000 miles over the three years, taking in iconic sights from Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue and India’s Taj Mahal, to Mexico’s Chichen Itza, the pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu and the Great Wall of China. It even slots in trips to 103 “tropical islands.” Of those 375 ports, 208 will be overnight stops, giving you extra time in the destination.“
Sounds epic for retired people who want to see the world! But is it profitable for the cruise company… what happens if they realise this half way through the journey and are forced to cancel the rest of the trip?
Sounds painful. You're on a boat filled with tourists making stops at tourist traps.
After the 30th "tropical island" port, will you even bother to get off the boat?
To wander around souvenir shops or try the local cuisine, again.
Taj Mahal? That’s hundreds of miles from the coast. I guess this company is hoping to make the real money by offering excursions to people who are tired of being on the ship long term.
> Carnival Corporation (...) took in $4.75 billion in ticket revenue, and sailed 36.4 million passenger days. That comes out to $131 per person, per day.
This would be about $47.815 per year. Not that far off.
[1] https://www.cruzely.com/how-much-a-cruise-costs-in-2020/
It feels like it’s either a move of desperation or they’re just filling empty space and you’ll inevitably get lesser service and upsells everywhere.
> Just one word of warning: You’d need not just a cruise ship but a time machine to visit some of the stops listed on its “13 wonders of the world” list, which includes places like the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the statue of Zeus at Olympia – all of which were destroyed in antiquity.
Is this a joke? This thinly-veiled promotional advertising masquerading as an article also admits that the destinations listed on the official website is false?
It's 130 sqft
https://news.yahoo.com/want-live-sea-see-inside-202436140.ht...
> 13[0] square feet “Virtual Inside” staterooms – which start at $30K per person per year,
So that's $60K/yr for 2 people to share a room.
Plus taxes and fees, no doubt. I don't pay tax on my apartment rent.
A small single bed (well, mattress, a bed will typically be at least slightly larger) is 30"×75", which is 15.625 sq ft.
13 sq ft a little bigger than midway between that and a standard crib mattress (28"×52", 10.1+ sq ft)
This...must be a typo.
This sounds like my worst nightmare TBH, even before 2020. :) The price isn't bad though. Room, board, office, nice views, free drinks, housekeeping? Might be cheaper than living on dry land.
For that price, I would happily sign for all those services for a room with sea view. That would be a dream.
But if the room is on a big noisy, vibrating vehicle consuming lot of fuel and I’m not allowed to go walking/cycling outside in the forest, the dream become a nightmare.
> The price isn't bad though. Room, board, office, nice views, free drinks, housekeeping? Might be cheaper than living on dry land.
Reviews I've read sound like living in a floating overcrowded mall meets water park meets casino.
I don't know how one could possibly tolerate that for more than a few days at a time without either going nuts or alcoholic.
There are plenty of places on dry land that are a LOT cheaper than 30k/year. Probably would be more comfortable too.
The price is OK though I expect a lot of people this might appeal to already own their homes.
But it's hard for me to imagine being in this regimented existence for 3 months let alone 3 years. And while people can presumably take a break and meet the ship at another port, the practical issues for, again, the sort of people this might appeal to seem considerable.
You have to sign up for three years though. Three. Years. That’s $100k and a duration that takes it out of the realm of “a fun thing to try” and into “too risky to contemplate” for me.
I wonder how this works with taxes?
HR department at work gets freaked out if people work a few weeks from abroad, or even another state.
I think it's fair to say that no one with a remotely normal job can reasonably work from there.
The cheapest option is
> 13 square feet “Virtual Inside” stateroom
I can't wrap my mind with how this works, is it like a capsule? For 3 years?!
They forgot trailing zero. It should be 130 sq ft[1]. Looks like no window too.
It's 130 sqft. CNN can't even proofread their advertiser press release retypes.
https://news.yahoo.com/want-live-sea-see-inside-202436140.ht...
It couldn't work. 6 feet by 2.1666667 feet by 1 foot (edit: or any height, since it's sqft)? A normal sized adult person could not fit in such a space without breaking their shoulders
Even a small single bed is about 13 sq. ft so it has to be wrong.
There are multiple cruise ship condos afloat or nearing completion. Would be a great setting for post apocalyptic TV show.
https://www.rvtravel.com/trade-land-yacht-real-ocean-abode-1...
Cruise ships are nothing but pure evil. A bunch of rich people showing their money off in a giant pollution machine just so they can go patronize other cultures like a zoo. Reminds me of that video of those victorian-era royals throwing bread on the ground next to impoverished Africans for entertainment, just sitting there watching these starving people scamper around for scraps. Makes me sick.
That's not even considering the effects on marine life. We have a bunch of useless noise-makers just patrolling water endlessly for no good reason. After 9/11 when all the traffic near New York was forced to stop, whales were shown to be more relaxed than ever before because they didn't have to listen to our constant racket for a few days.
> Cruise ships are nothing but pure evil.
Oh come on. Either your evil meter is out of whack or your bar for "pure evil" is hysterically low.
I don't care for cruise ships in general. But aside from your over the top comment, I don't actually expect the average cruise ship passenger is especially rich. It seems like a pretty middle class activity by Western standards.
In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighways.
I'd love to hear your opinion on the perils of museums.
On the other hand, there probably aren't very many neo-Puritans on board.
Whatever floats your boat, so to speak.
You should spend more time outside.
Sounds like a poor man's version of https://aboardtheworld.com/
Which in turn is the poor man's version of https://www.aman.com/aman-yachts ;-)
But seriously, where are we going if old people are gonna have to confine themselves into cruises? I get the cost opportunity, but...
> However, the cruise also includes free high-speed Wi-Fi,
doubt.jpeg
Presumably something like Starlink.
But I would still file reliable, performant, unmetered Internet in the aspirational category.
Their website says it’s Starlink, not sure how much bandwidth though
Kinda reminds me of recession-time travel industry deals.
E.g. in 2008 where many went for a 100k mile bonus credit card offer for British Airways miles.
I expect that once you dig into the details you'd find that you were paying a lot more than the "Prices starting at" sticker.
Sounds great, price is decent for room + food + drinks for a year.
Can’t imagine disconnecting from everyone for 3 years though.
> Star link internet
> Always stay connected to the real world with the fastest internet available at sea
> fastest internet available at sea
Now there's a high bar!
Is 13 sq ft a typo or am I missing something?
13 square feet? No.