Cruise Bowl MegaShip
 Cruise Ship Designer John McNeece unveiled a concept he calls the "Cruise Bowl" at the Miami Beach Seatrade Shipping Convention that consists of a 240,000-ton theater/arena that can hold 12,000 people, accompanied by two satellite ships of 130,000-tons each for cabins and public rooms.

 McNeece, one of the industry's top ship designers with work on the QE2, Celebrity and RCI, essentially is proposing a floating Las Vegas on the high seas with a central sports and entertainment area called the "mothership" with two detachable satellite ships.

 The sheer dimensions of the mothership, built with lightweight materials, are awesome, Its length is 1,403 feet. Its width is 1,181 feet. Such a space will require revision of international safety standards. The dimensions of the satellite ships are 912 feet in length and 211 feet in width. All three vessels would be multihull for stability and be based on the Swath principle, with a conventional cruiseliner speed of 22 knots.

 The price tag for the project is $1.5 Billion, which could prove more of an obstacle to the realization of the project than anything else. The ship is designed for a maximum of 3 to 4 days spent entirely at sea, with the principal motivation for the cruise to be it's entertainment. According to McNeece, most cruise ships are not offering today's headline entertainers and most passengers would not buy tickets for what is on ships now if it were offered on land. Most people want top-quality entertainment and are prepared to pay for it according to McNeece. He calls his concept a "sports cruise" with events such as boxing, tennis or a "rock cruise" with rock stars etc.

 McNeece sees the vessel sailing along all the coastal areas of the U.S., bringing top-flight entertainment within easy traveling distance of much of the U.S. population. McNeece also sees his vessel as a drawing card for TV shows, award ceremonies, conventions and even political events. A global TV transmission capability, via satellite, could bring the events to worldwide audiences and the result would be revenue generation to the operator on a level never before experienced in the cruise industry. Each of the two proposed 130,000-ton satellite cruise liners would have 2,250 cabins for their 6,000 passengers, as follows: 94 penthouses, 486 suites, 920 two-berth cabins and 750 four-berth cabins.

 

Freedom Ship
  Envision an ideal place to live or run a business—a friendly, safe and secure community with large areas of open space and extensive entertainment and recreational facilities. Imagine that this community levies no local taxes—no income tax, no real estate tax, no sales tax, no business tax, no import duties. Finally, picture this community continually moving around the world. You are beginning to understand Freedom Ship, a soon to be constructed, massive ocean-going vessel. With a length of 4,320 feet, a width of 725 feet, and a height of 340 feet, Freedom Ship will be one of the wonders of the world—a mobile modern city featuring luxurious living, a major world trade center, and an extensive duty-free international shopping mall.

  Freedom Ship is not a cruise ship, but a fascinating and unique place to live, work, retire, vacation, or visit. The ship will continuously circle the globe, covering most of the world's coastal regions. Its large fleet of commuter aircraft and hydrofoils will ferry residents and visitors to and from shore. The airport on the ship's top deck will serve private and small commercial aircraft (up to about 40 passengers). The vessel's superstructure, rising twenty-five stories above its broad main deck, will house residential space, a library, schools, and a first-class hospital in addition to retail and wholesale shops, banks, hotels, restaurants, entertainment facilities, casinos, offices, warehouses, and light manufacturing and assembly enterprises. Finally, a wide array of recreational and athletic facilities, worthy of a world class resort, will make Freedom Ship a veritable "Community on the Sea."

AZ Island
Artist rendition of the "AZ Island" project designed by French architect Jean-Philippe Zoppini and made available Thursday Sept. 26, 2002. The 400 meter (1320 feet) long and 300 meter (990 feet) large vessel could host 4,000 cabins on 15 storeys, its own port and facilities to be like a moving city on the sea. No price was available for the project but a model could be presented at the Sea Trade exhibition of Miami in March 2003.  

 

"The World" ResidenSea
People with enough money for a million-dollar home on land will have an interesting option by the first summer of the new millennium....a luxury home on "The World".The World is an 85,000 ton, 953 foot long luxury liner being built by ResidenSea Inc. The ship will have 250 condo-like homes on it ranging from 1,100 to 3,200 square feet, with prices from $1.2 million to $5.3 million, and a high-class resort atmosphere. ResidenSea builders expect to finish the ocean liner by the summer of the year 2000.

"It's not just a cruise ship. It will be more like a small residential community at sea." said William Koch jr., a Delray Beach real estate broker . Koch's company has the exclusive authority to market ResidenSea's ocean-top properties. Approximately one-third of the homes on the ship are already under contract, Koch said. "Some of the people we've presented this to would like to use the residences as vacation homes they could spend half a year on, and then maybe rent it out for the rest of the year"

 Living on the "World"

 Square Feet

 Bedrooms

 Cost

 Cost per Sq Ft

 Monthly Dues

 1,100

 2

 $1.2 Million

 $1,090

 $5,125

 3,200

 3

 $5.3 Million

 $1,656

 $20,108

If a resident has more guests than he or she can accommodate, the ship will be equipped with 180 guest suites, ranging from 215 to 484 square feet where residents could house their guests for a discounted price. "Most of the residents are not going to live on the ship all year round", said Robert Burnett, president of ResidenSea (USA) Inc. in New York. "We think there will be 50 to 60 percent of the residents from North America, about 30 percent from Europe and the remainder from the rest of the world." The World will have a very large full-time crew and Burnett expects an average of 700 residents and guests will be on the ship at one time, making the crew to passenger ratio the largest of any ship.

 Sample Itinerary for the Year 2000
South Pacific Australia New Zealand Indonesia Malaysia
Sri Lanka India Red Sea Suez Egypt
Israel Cyprus Turkey Greece France
Italy Malta North Africa East Africa Indian Ocean
Burma Thailand Vietnam Hong Kong China
Japan Korea Phillippines Fiji Central America
Ecuador Mexico Caribbean Florida New Guinea

Each home will have two or three bedrooms with a large bathroom in every room, a fully equipped kitchen, living room, dining area and a terrace with a whirlpool. A gourmet food and wine shop will cater to do-it-your self. Each resident will have their own furniture and can cook their own meals if desired. Besides the night life at each port, The World will have seven restaurants and cafes, a variety of lounges and bars, a casino, a nightclub, theater, cinemas and concerts. There are six standard floor plans including the two-story and penthouse residences. Custom homes also can be created by combining two or more units.

In order to begin building the ship, ResidenSea needs to raise $100 million in pre-construction sales. So far, Burnett says they are on their way to closing $70 million and have over $100 million worth of apartments reserved. A contract is binding when a buyer pays a 10% down payment against the purchase price. When someone is interested in buying a unit, they sign a sales agreement and pays a refundable $5,000 deposit. They then have 28 days to rescind their offer.

Sample 3 bedroom penthouse suite on "World".
The round-the-world itinerary will focus on destinations featuring major events, including the Olympic Games in Sydney, the Cannes Film Festival, the Americas Cup, Carnival in Rio De Janiero and the Grand Prix in Monaco. After the first two years, the residents will be able to vote on the destinations in the interary. Maintenance fees vary according to the square-footage of the unit. For a 1,100 square-foot residence monthly dues will be roughly $5,000 per month. They include daily maid service, furniture maintenance, membership to the ResidenSea Club, crew salaries, insurance, electric and all other operating cost of the ship. The top three decks of the ship will include the ResidenSea Club, a 175,000 square foot area housing the dining, entertainment, activities, relaxation and shopping facilities.

 For Information Call: ResidenSea, New York at 1-212-332-1660

 South Florida Representative: Koch Realty, Delray Beach at 1-561-276-6002

 

6500 Passenger "World City" MegaShip
What is 1,268 feet long, 252 feet wide, weighing in at 250,000 Gross Registered Tons, holds 6,200 passengers, and cost over $1 Billion...? It could be the "American World City" Cruise Ship...a U.S. flagged mega-ship that has been on the drawing boards since it was conceived as the "Phoenix Project" in 1987 by Norwegian cruise industry pioneer Knut Kloster.

According to World City Vice Chairman and CEO John Rogers, the total project cost is about $1.4 Billion, the majority of which would come from loan guarantees from the U.S. Government Title XI program, which would provide backing for loans covering up to 87.5% of a qualifying project's cost. The U.S. Transportation Department's Maritime Administration had returned the application from World City in Jan '96 due to the failure of World City to provide satisfactory evidence that it is able to meet the economic, financial and technical reguirements to secure the loan guarantee.

Tage Wandborg, naval architect, with model of "World City"

Rogers claims that World City has raised $100 Million in equity and expects to raise another $153 million in public equity or by private placement, which should help their cause when they re-submit the application to the Maritime Administration.

The project received new attention recently when Westin Hotels and Resorts agreed to manage and market the proposed Mega-Ship, which would be named: "America World City: The Westin Flagship". It would be marketed to the meetings and conventions market as well as to leisure travelers, said Westin chief executive officer Juergen Bartels.

The ship will be built in several U.S. ship yards and then assembled at one site and sail out of Port Canaveral, Florida. If federal approvals and project financing are achieved swiftly, the ship could be ready by 1999.

 

Eagle

FIRST MEGA-EAGLE IS ON ITS WAY ... COMPLETE WITH ICE RINK, ROCK CLIMBING WALL AND TV STUDIO
Eagle-class October 16, 1997: The world's largest cruise ship - twice the tonnage of the QEII - including a floating ice-rink, rock-climbing wall, roller blading track and its own TV studio, is to be built by Royal Caribbean International. The ship, which will enter service in Autumn 1999, will hold up to 3,840 passengers, with a crew of 1,181. The giant ship is the first of Royal Caribbean's Eagle-class vessels and will be built at the Kvaerner Masa yards in Turku, Finland. A second Eagle-class ship will be delivered in the year 2000. Each of the two new vessels will be approximately 130,000 gross registered tonnes, and the contract price is about $1 billion. The new ship, as yet unnamed, will sail from Europe on her Transatlantic voyage to New York in Autumn 1999 and will be one of the last major new passenger ships to be launched this century. Among the onboard features will be A wedding chapel, Many staterooms with balconies, World-class spa, Multi-storey theatre, Three level dining room. The largest youth facilities of any ship afloat or under construction. It will also offer meeting and conference facilities rivalling or exceeding that of many land based conference centres.

 

 Top 20 Cruise Ships by Size

 "Gross Registered Tons" is measured in "Cubic Feet".

 Rank

 Ship

Line

"G.R.T."

 Passengers

 Cruising Area

1

 Grand Princess Princess

109,000

2,600

 Mediterranean

2

 Carnival Destiny Carnival

100,000

3,400

 Caribbean

3

 Disney Magic Disney

85,000

2,400

 Bahamas

4

 Disney Wonder Disney

85,000

2,400

 Bahamas

5

 Rhapsody of the Seas RCI

78,491

2,435

 Alaska,Caribbean,Hawaii

6

 Vision of the Seas RCI

78,491

2,435

 Mediterranean

7

 Galaxy Celebrity

77,713

1,870

 Alaska,Caribbean,Panama Canal

8

 Mercury Celebrity

77,713

1,870

 Alaska & Caribbean

9

 Dawn Princess Princess

77,000

1,950

 Alaska & Caribbean

10

 Ocean Princess Princess

77,000

1,950

 na

11

 Sea Princess Princess

77,000

1,950

 na

12

 Sun Princess Princess

77,000

1,950

 Alaska & Caribbean

13

 Norway NCL

76,049

2,054

 Caribbean & Europe

14

 CostaVictoria Costa

76,000

2,250

 Caribbean & Mediterranean

15

 Enchantment of the Seas RCI

74,000

2,446

 Caribbean

16

 Grandeur of the Seas RCI

74,000

2,446

 Caribbean

17

 Majesty of the Seas RCI

73,941

2,744

 Caribbean

18

 Monarch of the Seas RCI

73,941

2,744

 Caribbean

19

 Sovereign of the Seas RCI

73,192

2,852

 Bahamas

20

 Century Celebrity

70,606

1,750

 Caribbean

 

 World Passenger Cruise Ship Fleet

 Category:

 1998:

 1999:

 2000:

 2001:

 2002:

 2003:

 Ships:

 225

 238

 246

 253

 255

 255

 Berths:

 189,270

209,164

224,944

237,744

242,944

242,944

 Market Capacity:

 9,400,635

10,418,835

 11,238,835

 11,829,835

 12,089,835

 12,089,835

 % Increase from previous year:  

 10.8%

 7.8%

 5.2%

 2.2%

 0%

Oceania - The Atlantis Project
The Atlantis Project is dedicated to the goal of establishing a new country named Oceania. This country will be devoted to the value of freedom, and will first exist as a sea city in the Caribbean. As no collectivist nation is likely to sell us the land we need, we will build an island out of concrete and steel. At this point, the organization behind this new country, The Atlantis Project, is building the necessary financial resources to pay off past debts and to pay for the completed model of Oceania. Once this task is completed, The Atlantis Project will go into full gear and go well beyond its peak reached in early 1994 when it was covered by media across the U.S. and the world -- including the BBC, the Miami Herald, the Art Bell Show, Boating magazine, and Details magazine.

Floatels/Atolls
The original Atoll was designed as a floating recreational facility, complete with restaurant, bar, sun deck, and central seawater pool. Anchored in the Baltic, off Travemund, it was an immediate and continuing success, perhaps too much so. Twice, it’s anchoring lines were cut and it drifted ashore. Zoellner, wanting no part of wasting time and attention coping with either vandals or mindless criminals, donated the Atoll to the German Ministry of Research and Technology for studies in aquaculture. Since that time, it has been operated as an aquaculture research station by the University of Kiel, braving the Baltic winter storms and, at times, accumulating as much as a yard of ice.

Atolls as floating hotels: The recreational success of the prototype Atoll led to designs for dining, dancing, water play, casinos, and above all, floating hotels. Existing Floatel designs range from Floatel 176, with 176 rooms, to Floatel 1000 with it’s 954 rooms. The footprint of all models, except 176, is that of two ovals crossed at right angles.

All these Floatels were designed for different locations and capacities in response to specific request. For example, Floatel 266 was designed for Reunion, an island in the West Indian Ocean, while Floatel 484 was designed for the Bay of Roses on the North-East coast of Spain. Floatel 232 is a recent design for a location on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

These floating hotels are designed with an attached yacht moorage and heliport, and with a floating two way ramp to land for automobile traffic. They have spacious atriums to be provided with tropical plantings and a swimming pool with waterfall. Guests will be able to enjoy health clubs, discotheques with glass bottom areas for viewing sea life, and the finest restaurants. The entire main floor with atrium can be arranged as a casino. Large Atolls of rectangular configuration, which can be relocated as desired, would provide flexible space for trade shows and conventions in port cities.

The development of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) increases the practicality of off-shore casinos and Floatels, marine nodule mining and marine research stations. The GPS unit coupled to a computer to activate four small motors can maintain the desired position within a yard or so.This simple, but endlessly flexible invention, the Atoll and its derivatives, affords us all an increasingly widespread and intelligent use of the waters of our world.