Decommissioned cruise ships often end up in scrapyards where they're pulled apart. But others have been repurposed as floating hotels and artificial reefs. Photos show how the massive vessels have been converted into hospitals, shelters, and more.
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About half of all cruise ships go to a scrapyard in Alang, India. About 30% are sent to scrap yards in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other scrap yards in India. The rest go to scrap yards in China and Turkey.
On average, a healthy, well-built cruise ship can last for around 30 years, including regular services and design refreshes. But some cruise ships last for much longer. We take a look at the oldest cruise ships still sailing the seas and chart some of the different stages in their lifespan.
Is there a cruise ship you can live on? There are several cruise ships designed for permanent living. The World is the only one sailing currently but more are coming soon. MV Gemini is the most affordable option, with apartment purchase prices starting at $1,000,000 plus $65,000 per year for fees.
But other retirees choose a very different lifestyle: traveling around the world permanently aboard a cruise ship. If you're considering this option for retirement, there are some important financial implications to keep in mind.
The sinking of the Costa Concordia: 10 years laterThe Italian cruise ship ran aground off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after striking an underground rock and capsizing.
The wastewater that the cruise ship uses is heavily treated. It is either discharged into the water in designated areas of the ocean or released onshore into the local water treatment system.
Traditionally, the leftover food on a cruise ship is ground by food pulpers, then pulverized in a paste or slurry to be stored until the ship reaches land. Once the waste arrives on land, it is transported to a facility for processing. These facilities could be a landfill or an anaerobic digestion plant.
Crew Off Hours Onboard a Cruise ShipAdditionally, special events are routinely scheduled for crew to enjoy their time onboard. There are crew parties, BBQs, bingos, talent shows, and movie nights. Officers can enjoy additional facilities of the ship such as the pool deck, spa, gym, restaurants and bars.
That may be enough incentive for some, but what else makes retiring on a cruise ship an attractive choice? For many, it's travel itself. Changing scenery every day can be an inspiring way to live. Even an option that visits the same ports over and over might be more appealing than staying at home for some people.
Costa Concordia disaster, the capsizing of an Italian cruise ship on January 13, 2012, after it struck rocks off the coast of Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. More than 4,200 people were rescued, though 32 people died in the disaster.
Only six of the 230 recorded attacks were against cruise ships. None have resulted in capture. A well-known incident occurred in 2005 when the Seabourn Spirit was fired at in a hijack attempt. The attempt was unsuccessful but is famous largely because of the footage of the event.
Carnival is one world's largest cruise lines, but since it has existed, only one of its vessels has ever sunk, the Costa Concordia in 2012. Although Costa is an Italian cruise ship company, it is owned by Carnival Corporation.
Is deck 1 underwater? On some cruise ships where deck 1 isn't accessible to passengers, it may be underwater. However, on cruise ships where deck 1 is accessible to passengers, it is above the waterline. This is because there are other decks for the crew below.
Cruise lines drain their swimming pools at night to discourage guests from trying to enter the pool when it is closed. Draining the swimming pools each night also allows the cruise lines to replace the water with clean water and a drained swimming pool is safer if the weather is rough.
Christine Kesteloo has become popular on TikTok with over 680,000 followers because she shares what living on a cruise ship is really like. Kesteloo is the wife of the ship's Staff Chief Engineer, so she gets to live on the boat for free. She only has to pay for alcohol and soda, which she gets for half off.