You might be someone who prefers to spend the vacations on land. However, if you’re someone who loves vacationing on cruise ships, you’d agree that they’re truly amazing. From their sheer size to the number of individuals they can accommodate, everything about cruise ships would astonish you. It won’t be wrong to describe them as modern cruising marvels.
No matter how experienced a cruise ship traveller you are, you may not be aware of certain facts. Here, we’ve presented some of the lesser-known facts about cruise ships that would surely astonish you:
1. There are some cruise ships with virtual balconies
If you’ve been on a cruise, you can understand how annoying it is to be without a balcony. This is the reason why Royal Caribbean came up with this idea. They had virtual balconies installed. These balconies transmit real-time images from outside the ship. These images tell you where you’re located within the ship. If your cabin is by the hull, you’ll see images of what’s ahead.
2. Symphony of the Seas is twice the length of the Washington Monument
Royal Caribbean owns the world’s largest cruise ship called Symphony of the Seas. It has 18 decks and is complete with 2,759 rooms, 24 swimming pools, and 22 dining venues. It also has a park with over 20,000 plants. It also features robotic bartenders, a zip line on the ninth floor, and an ice-skating rink.
Besides, the cruise ship also has a 92-foot-tall water slide. Symphony of the Seas made its debut in 2018 and is 1,188 feet long. This is twice the length of the Washington Monument and almost close to the length of four football fields.
3. A cruise ship sails three times around the world in a year
Every year, the average commercial cruise ship covers a distance of more than 84,000 miles. This means they could travel around the world more than three times. It is also the equivalent of covering more than a third of the way to the moon.
4. Crew members have secret codewords
Crew members of cruise ships have a certain set of secret codewords. They use these codewords to communicate, just like soldiers and secret agents. A ’30-30′ would mean the crew is asking for clean-up of mess. A ‘PVT’ means ‘public vomiting incident’.
An ‘Alpha’ would mean that there is a medical emergency. A ‘Bravo’ would mean that there is a fire on the cruise ship. These codes were revealed by Brandon Presser, the cruise ship director of Royal Caribbean.
5. Titanic was smaller than the size of modern cruise ships
When compared to almost every modern cruise ship, the Titanic falls short in many ways. Let’s take the example of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas. This cruise ship made its maiden voyage in the year 2009. It is about five times more spacious when compared to the Titanic.
Oasis of the Seas can accommodate 5,400 guests while the Titanic had the capacity to accommodate only 2,229 guests.
6. An entire cruise ship is owned by the Church of Scientology
A Caribbean-based cruise ship called Freewinds is owned by the Church of Scientology. It has been in operation since 1998 and has a length of 440 feet. It serves as a religious retreat for the Scientologists. They are provided with the most advanced level of spiritual counselling in the religion in the retreat. Going on such a retreat is the most significant spiritual accomplishment for a Scientologist.