9 Fun Facts about Cruise Lines:
1. An average cruise ship could have six huge diesel engines producing one hundred four horse powers and guzzling three thousand gallons of fuel per hour.
2. Cruise ships on modern design can actually cost about six hundred sixty million dollars.
3. There are nine brand new ships that entered service around the North America coast line every year.
4. A modern luxury cruise vessel is able to be built, fitted out and tested in one-and-a half years though it usually takes about three years.
5. On the average, there are one hundred five thousand meals are prepared every single week onboard a cruise ship. The meals include twenty thousand pounds of beef, twelve thousand pounds of chicken and twenty eight thousands of eggs.
6. There are about one thousand crew members on board the average ships to cater to passengers every need. These people are experts from engineers to waiter to navigators.
7. A modern cruise liner are able to hold three thousand passengers aboard in an absolute luxury.
8. Caribbean is the most popular cruising destination in the world with almost every cruise line operator.
9. The cruise line industry produces two thousand five hundred fifty five gallons of gray water and thirty thousand gallons of black water every single day. Gray waters are wastes from sinks, showers and bath while black waters is what you flush down the toilets.
If the sudden absence of pillow chocolates, umbrella drinks and endless horizons leaves you hollow, you might have Post-Cruise Funk (PCF), an affliction that’s affected nearly 100 percent of cruisers, according to a well-cited study I just invented.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a few of those words must be therapeutic. “I found if I take lots of fun photos while on the cruise, I can stave off some of the depression by reviewing and organizing them into a book,” writes member Tudy. She and her husband periodically host “cruise evenings,” during which they peruse photos, share stories and laugh. Check out our tips for taking better onboard photos.
As with photos, reframing the at-sea narrative — remember that woman with the Royal Caribbean tattoo? — can be like reliving the experience. When you reminisce by way of review, you’re doing thousands of readers a service through your insights, tips and tricks. Heal yourself by writing a cruise review.
If you’re pining over the loss of cruise food — the availability, the variety, the fanfare — there are antidotes. Drool over epicurean content in Cruise Critic’s cruise food section , recreate at-sea meals with readers’ favorite recipes, or chew on some useful member advice in the Cruise Foodies forum. For example, member MissMap keeps all the nighttime pillow chocolates from her cruise and deposits them in a desk drawer at work: “So if I’m having a stressful day at work,” she writes, “I savor one and take a moment to remember the latest great cruise vacation.” Or borrow cruising’s culinary nomenclature, like member Econom405, who admits to referring to the first post-cruise family dinner she cooks as the “chef’s regional specialty.”
For many passengers, that first slurp of sailaway daiquiri marks the official start to a cruise. If you drink to remember, there might be nothing easier than recreating your favorite cruise cocktail at home.
Chronic PCF sufferers argue there is but one cure to the vicious cycle: the pre-emptive booking. The recommended approach is to plop down on your next cruise while onboard. Many lines offer attractive perks — discounts, reduced deposits, onboard credit — for doing so. The fine print is key here. If you’re serious about this treatment, peruse our in-depth piece on booking onboard.
Until sandals touch lido deck, talking about a cruise is what makes it real. Shameless ship’s horn tooting aside, there is no better place to chat with fellow passengers about upcoming itineraries than a Cruise Critic Roll Call. You can swap tips, set up pre-cruise or onboard events or book a group tour if you think your virtual relationships can make the transition to the real world. Meet your fellow passengers here.
No looming embarkation to boost morale? There are thousands of Cruise Critic members enduring the same pain. Their recourse: the virtual cruise experience. Check out the “live from…” logs endlessly spawned on the Cruise Critic message boards. Here’s but oneprime example, which has been read by thousands of PCF sufferers. Cruise Critic editors also regularly report from wherever cruise ships travel, posting photo-heavy vignettes on the Lido Deck Blog and hosting weekly live chats.
Take enough cruises, and you’ll start to discover the secrets the cruise lines don’t tell you. Use your developing expertise to help a friend or family member plan his next cruise. While helping new cruisers is rewarding in and of itself, you just might find a bathrobe, luggage tag and chocolate melting cake mix gift wrapped with your name on it.
There’s no denying it: Most cruisers prefer the company of towel animals to their significant others. Ogle this menagerie of towel creatures, or get your hands linty by learning the time-honored craft.
The next best thing to being there: Install a porthole in your bedroom, and paint the glass with a seascape, like reader Richard S. Alternatively, Member Dodget1964 brings home the breakfast room service menus and hangs them on the bedroom door. “I keep thinking the room service attendant will show up,” she writes. Better still, pass on your love of cruising to your child by filling his nursery with cruise ship accouterments.
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