I have to admit, I’ve got no idea. Following the Passenger Ship Associate’s (PSA) annual report of the cruise industry’s ever-increasing, record-breaking customer base, the PSA have revealed designs of… of some monstrous cruise mothership thing of the future.
An annual cruise report from PSA gave the interesting figures that 1.34 million Brits cruised last year. Going by the current trends, the cruise industry could see the number of customers increase by another 2 million over the next four years. The rising figures were touted as a “boom” by director William Gibbons, who noted:
There has been a sustained boom in cruising for the past decade, with the number of Brits taking a cruise holiday more then doubling…
…There are also 44 new cruise ships on order through to 2012 worth more than [£12 billion] so we expect more than [£2 million] British people will be enjoying cruise holidays in just four years.
The considerable increase in demand allowed the PSA, who were also celebrating their 50th anniversary, to officially announce design plans for a few cruise ships of the future. One, coined as a “Cruise Mothership” (see artist’s impression above), will be capable of holding and releasing an entire fleet of smaller vessels at sea. Another was announced to be a much more space-efficient ferry ship. Gibson continued:
These new ship orders range from mega-ships through to small, intimate five-star ultra-luxury vessels. This diversity means the average age of cruise passengers has reached a record low and cruise holidays are attracting a greater range of travellers than ever before – from families, to ultra-luxury spa enthusiasts or adventurers.
The futuristic designs are being led by Fredik Johansson, the Senior Architect for Tillberg Design AB. You’ll know the name as being responsible for such cruise ship design feats as Cunard’s QE2 and QM2, Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and Crystal’s Serenity. That certainly makes these designs something to keep an eye on.
The annual report went on to show how the average age of cruisers fell to 53 and 38% of passengers in 2007 had never cruised before. “Ultra-luxury” cruising also saw an increase in passengers of 12%. I’m not sure what the difference between Ultra-luxury cruising and luxury cruising is exactly, but I’m assuming the ultra tag means you have a wallet the size of a planet.
It’s also not clear exactly how accurate the above drawing of the Cruise Mothership is but it looks sweet enough to make me want it to all happen very much.
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