6 ms·

Aerial view of a cruise ship graveyard

60 points by zeristor 6y ago

sasaf5 6y ago
Now that the corona virus has given us a marker of the places where respiratory diseases spread, I wonder if (or hope that) there will be a restructuring of those places, resulting in an overall reduction in all respiratory diseases after the pandemic ends.
- feralimal 6y ago
  Yes. Cruise ships were always a hotbed of respiratory diseases.
  - kijin 6y ago
    Not only respiratory, but also gastrointestinal diseases like the norovirus. They really are floating Petri dishes full of the most vulnerable elderly people.
zeristor 6y ago
This is a putative list someone put together a few months ago of ships he thought were likely to be retired: https://thepointsguy.co.uk/guide/cruise-ship-sold-scrap-list/ https://thepointsguy.co.uk/guide/cruise-ship-sold-scrap-list...
7373737373 6y ago
There's this website where you can buy some: https://cruiseship.homestead.com/cruiseships.html https://cruiseship.homestead.com/cruiseships.html
- seibelj 6y ago
  On a homestead.com domain no less! Incredible
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- marcod 6y ago
  "Vessel lost in Beirut explosion"
cushychicken 6y ago
This video is delightful. Cruise ships are disgusting - on a public health, environmental, and labor law axes. (Probably a few others, too!) I love seeing them being dismantled.
- barnabee 6y ago
  Not sure why this is downvoted, I 100% agree that cruise ships and the industry are an unsustainable scourge on the planet. Good riddance.
  - marcod 6y ago
    Add to that, that taking a cruise is just a superfluous luxury.
  - blazor 6y ago
    I can't imagine anything worse than being a passenger on one of those (other than begin a low paid crew member who's been forced to remain aboard for the past 8 months)
    - qz2 6y ago
      Yes. I got dragged on one by my parents in the 1980s. I wanted to kill myself after about a day. It was like butlins with no escape and even lower standards of hygiene. It’s a profitable captive market to milk a load of people drowning their sorrows in alcohol and feed the slop in return. Why you’d pay for it I don’t understand. Secondarily, good riddance to the whole industry. Edit: after reflecting on this I don’t think my parents enjoyed it either. They went on it because it was the done thing at the time and they could tell everyone they went on it.
- WilTimSon 6y ago
  Is there any reason they, in particular, are so bad? I'm presuming that running one takes a lot of energy but, other than that, why are they such a strain on public health and the environment?
nabla9 6y ago
You can recognize that those are old Carnival Cruise Line ships from their red forking funnels. Carnival Cruise has new ship and ship currently under test drive. It will be even larger than anything before https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_(2020_ship) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_(2020_ship)
- bserge 6y ago
  Looks fucking diabolical.
speedgoose 6y ago
Is it more interesting to scrap these ships compared to selling them? Or Carnival prefer to make sure no competitor buys them?
- seattledev 6y ago
  If you look elsewhere in the comments here they are often for sale. At some point however, the cost of renovations outweighs the benefit. Especially because the larger the ship the more profitable it is, and these ships are being retired for ones that hold up to 4 times as many people and are 50% longer.
jungletime 6y ago
I went on a Princess Cruise one time. Really great value for what you get. See multiple places, get fed, entertained, for less than it costs for a hotel in a lot of these places. Looking through a low level port window at night, to moonlight, honestly feels like travelling through outer space on the USS Enterprise. Its pretty unique. About the only thing I didn't like is that since the food is included, it seems to attract seriously obese people to take these cruises. Just so they can indulge in buffet gluttony 3 times a day for several days non stop. Served by their poor and skinny third world waiters, with a reputation for f-ing like bunny rabbits in their cage like quarters. The contrast is kind of comical. Then seeing all these obese burgers leave the buffet tables, belly full, walking on a port deck at sea reminded me of wobbling marbles in a Maze run. Pretty funny and Wally like. But wouldn't it make sense for a poorer countries government to buy this and use it for its tourism industry or even for fishing boats. The value of a full ship has to be worth more than scrap metal. These ships are no longer to luxury standards. But most likely still very functional ships.
am_lu 6y ago
Been on little holidays in Weymouth, Dorset. It has a big bay sheltered from the rough sea. 5 Big Ships parked in there, each empty of passengers but fully lit-up each night, running off power from their engines, i guess is cheaper for them than using shore-power. Same for a lot of southern shores of UK https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-2.4/centery:50.6/zoom:9 https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-2.4/cente...
Neil44 6y ago
There was a really good Al Jazeera documentary about ship breaking called Brothers, but it’s been taken off YouTube for some reason sadly.
canada_dry 6y ago
Shame port cities like LA, NY don't buy old cruise ships to re-purpose them for homeless shelters. I admit that I've loved the cruises I've taken - new port every day - super well-fed 24hrs - great entertainment... but the cruise industry is horrible for the reasons noted! It really wouldn't be a loss if covid killed them off, though that's unlikely - more likely they'll just reposition all their ships to serve China.

60 points by zeristor 6y ago

Now that the corona virus has given us a marker of the places where respiratory diseases spread, I wonder if (or hope that) there will be a restructuring of those places, resulting in an overall reduction in all respiratory diseases after the pandemic ends.

feralimal 6y ago
Yes. Cruise ships were always a hotbed of respiratory diseases.
- kijin 6y ago
  Not only respiratory, but also gastrointestinal diseases like the norovirus. They really are floating Petri dishes full of the most vulnerable elderly people.

zeristor 6y ago

This is a putative list someone put together a few months ago of ships he thought were likely to be retired: https://thepointsguy.co.uk/guide/cruise-ship-sold-scrap-list/ https://thepointsguy.co.uk/guide/cruise-ship-sold-scrap-list...

7373737373 6y ago

There's this website where you can buy some: https://cruiseship.homestead.com/cruiseships.html https://cruiseship.homestead.com/cruiseships.html

seibelj 6y ago
On a homestead.com domain no less! Incredible
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
marcod 6y ago
"Vessel lost in Beirut explosion"

cushychicken 6y ago

This video is delightful. Cruise ships are disgusting - on a public health, environmental, and labor law axes. (Probably a few others, too!) I love seeing them being dismantled.

barnabee 6y ago
Not sure why this is downvoted, I 100% agree that cruise ships and the industry are an unsustainable scourge on the planet. Good riddance.
- marcod 6y ago
  Add to that, that taking a cruise is just a superfluous luxury.
- blazor 6y ago
  I can't imagine anything worse than being a passenger on one of those (other than begin a low paid crew member who's been forced to remain aboard for the past 8 months)
  - qz2 6y ago
    Yes. I got dragged on one by my parents in the 1980s. I wanted to kill myself after about a day. It was like butlins with no escape and even lower standards of hygiene. It’s a profitable captive market to milk a load of people drowning their sorrows in alcohol and feed the slop in return. Why you’d pay for it I don’t understand. Secondarily, good riddance to the whole industry. Edit: after reflecting on this I don’t think my parents enjoyed it either. They went on it because it was the done thing at the time and they could tell everyone they went on it.
WilTimSon 6y ago
Is there any reason they, in particular, are so bad? I'm presuming that running one takes a lot of energy but, other than that, why are they such a strain on public health and the environment?

nabla9 6y ago

You can recognize that those are old Carnival Cruise Line ships from their red forking funnels. Carnival Cruise has new ship and ship currently under test drive. It will be even larger than anything before https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_(2020_ship) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_(2020_ship)

bserge 6y ago
Looks fucking diabolical.

speedgoose 6y ago

Is it more interesting to scrap these ships compared to selling them? Or Carnival prefer to make sure no competitor buys them?

seattledev 6y ago
If you look elsewhere in the comments here they are often for sale. At some point however, the cost of renovations outweighs the benefit. Especially because the larger the ship the more profitable it is, and these ships are being retired for ones that hold up to 4 times as many people and are 50% longer.

jungletime 6y ago

I went on a Princess Cruise one time. Really great value for what you get. See multiple places, get fed, entertained, for less than it costs for a hotel in a lot of these places. Looking through a low level port window at night, to moonlight, honestly feels like travelling through outer space on the USS Enterprise. Its pretty unique. About the only thing I didn't like is that since the food is included, it seems to attract seriously obese people to take these cruises. Just so they can indulge in buffet gluttony 3 times a day for several days non stop. Served by their poor and skinny third world waiters, with a reputation for f-ing like bunny rabbits in their cage like quarters. The contrast is kind of comical. Then seeing all these obese burgers leave the buffet tables, belly full, walking on a port deck at sea reminded me of wobbling marbles in a Maze run. Pretty funny and Wally like. But wouldn't it make sense for a poorer countries government to buy this and use it for its tourism industry or even for fishing boats. The value of a full ship has to be worth more than scrap metal. These ships are no longer to luxury standards. But most likely still very functional ships.

am_lu 6y ago

Been on little holidays in Weymouth, Dorset. It has a big bay sheltered from the rough sea. 5 Big Ships parked in there, each empty of passengers but fully lit-up each night, running off power from their engines, i guess is cheaper for them than using shore-power. Same for a lot of southern shores of UK https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-2.4/centery:50.6/zoom:9 https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-2.4/cente...

Neil44 6y ago

There was a really good Al Jazeera documentary about ship breaking called Brothers, but it’s been taken off YouTube for some reason sadly.

canada_dry 6y ago

Shame port cities like LA, NY don't buy old cruise ships to re-purpose them for homeless shelters. I admit that I've loved the cruises I've taken - new port every day - super well-fed 24hrs - great entertainment... but the cruise industry is horrible for the reasons noted! It really wouldn't be a loss if covid killed them off, though that's unlikely - more likely they'll just reposition all their ships to serve China.