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Cruise line gift cards: Where to buy them, how to spend them

If you're racking your brain to come up with the perfect gift for your cruise-loving family member or friend, consider buying them a gift card or certificate from their favorite cruise line.

Cruisers will appreciate a gift they can use toward purchasing their cruise fare or splurging on a beverage package, specialty restaurant or spa treatment. Don't rule out the first-timers on your list; you can help them fund their first foray into cruising or surprise them with something extra to make their upcoming trip special.

If you're a cruiser, you may also want to purchase a gift card for yourself, especially when you can find a deal. AARP sometimes offers digital gift cards for cruise lines like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean at a savings of up to 10%.

Gift cards purchased with Target's RedCard receive a 5% discount. You can also look for Black Friday sales on Disney gift cards at Sam's Club and other promotions offered through the cruise lines or retailers.

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Not every cruise line offers gift cards, and some have alternative ways to help pay for a portion of someone else's vacation. However, if you're in the market for cruise line gift cards, read on to find out which seven lines offer them, where to buy them and how to use them.

Holland America Line

Holland America offers gift cards in denominations between $5 and $2,000 that are available to buy on its website. You can either purchase a physical card to send enclosed with a personal message or choose a digital version that the recipient can open online with personalized audio and photos.

The line offers one or two sales a year that feature an added perk, such as a $100 bonus card with a $1,000 purchase.

You can use the cards to pay for cruise bookings, pre-cruise expenses or onboard charges covering specialty dining, beverages, shore excursions, spa treatments, gratuities and other purchases. They can also be used to buy Holland America's "Have It All" bundle, which includes a beverage package, shore excursion credit, Wi-Fi and specialty restaurant meals.

Holland America's gift cards are also available at online retailers, including Amazon, Target and Walmart, in preset amounts. Certain banks feature credit card programs where you can redeem points for the cruise line's gift cards. If you prefer to shop in person, you'll find gift cards in stores such as Target, Publix, Kroger and Giant Eagle.

Related: The 4 classes of Holland America ships, explained

Gift cards are only available in U.S. dollars. Gift cards are activated upon receipt, and they cannot be resold. In addition, buyers cannot purchase an aggregate amount exceeding $10,000 in one day.

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises also offers gift cards on its website in denominations between $5 and $2,000. Buyers can personalize the line's eGift Card with photos and audio for the recipient. Princess Classic Gift Cards arrive by mail, with free shipping on cards over $100. Expedited shipping is also available.

You can use Princess gift cards to pay for your cruise, including fares with the Princess Plus and Princess Premier all-inclusive packages .

Recipients can also settle part or all of their onboard bill with gift cards at the end of the cruise at the passenger services desk. That means gift cards can essentially pay for meals in specialty restaurants, shore excursions, spa treatments and other onboard splurges.

You cannot use the gift card to pay for land excursions as part of a cruisetour, flights booked through Princess or gratuities.

Related: The ultimate guide to Princess Cruises ships and itineraries

You can find Princess gift cards in grocery stores like Kroger, Harris Teeter and Giant Eagle and online at retail sites such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy.

Gift cards are only available to residents in the U.S. and Canada. Classic Gift Cards cannot be mailed to Canada, so Canadian residents should choose the eGift Card option.

Buyers are limited to a $10,000 online aggregate purchase in one day and a maximum of five transactions a day. Anyone can use the gift card since there's no name on the card.

Carnival Cruises

Carnival Cruise Line 's online gift cards are customizable from $100 up to $1,000. You can purchase a physical card that's mailed and even have it wrapped and delivered in a tin for an additional $1.99 (for up to five cards). If you prefer, you can choose an e-gift card that's sent to the recipient online.

The gift card can be used toward a cruise booking, pre-purchased shore excursions or spa treatments. You can also apply it to beverage packages and gratuities. If you'd like to use the card as an onboard credit, you must go to the guest services desk or Sail & Sign kiosk to apply the gift card as payment for your onboard bill once you're on the ship.

Related: Cruise onboard credit: What it is, where to get it and how best to use it

Carnival's gift cards are available in over 9,000 retail outlets, including Best Buy, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Lowe's, Safeway, Winn-Dixie and Publix. You can also purchase gift cards on board Carnival's ships. You can buy as many cards as you'd like, but there is a maximum online transaction of five gift cards at one time.

All gift cards are in U.S. dollars and not accepted on ships using a different onboard currency. You can transfer the gift card to another user since there are no names on the cards.

Disney Cruise Line

Gift cards for Disney Cruise Line are sold online at shopdisney.com in preset amounts, from $25 to $500. You can choose from over 60 Disney designs of physical gift cards and have them shipped, or you can send a themed eGift Card.

Gift cards are also sold at Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort and Disney retail locations throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. If you're purchasing them in person, you can load them for any amount from $15 to $1,000. The cards are reloadable with as little as $5 and up to $1,000. They can be reloaded at any location that sells the gift cards. That option is not available online.

Related: 11 ways to save money on a Disney cruise

Use Disney gift cards to purchase a cruise, shore excursions, merchandise on the ship and other onboard expenses. You can also spend the cards at Disney-owned properties, like Disney's Vero Beach Resort; on trips or cruises with Adventures by Disney; for Disney on Broadway; and at retail stores and other Disney businesses.

You'll also find them in preset amounts at retailers like Target, Walmart and Best Buy.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line ended its gift card program in 2021, but you still can send gifts to cruisers in the form of an onboard credit or spa credit. Onboard credit is available in $25 increments up to $100. Mandara Spa certificates are offered in amounts of $25, $50 and $100.

To send the gift, you'll need to know some personal information, including the birth date of the recipient or the reservation number for the booking. You can order the gift of onboard credits on Norwegian's website.

CruiseFirst certificates are another gift option. These advance purchase vouchers can be used to pay for cruises of six days or longer and are valued at double the price. For example, you'll pay $150 for a certificate worth $300. You can transfer these vouchers to another person as a gift without a charge.

You can purchase up to 10 certificates per person at a time, and they can only be applied to new reservations on voyages scheduled at least 120 days out from the purchase date of the certificate. Only one certificate can be used per sailing — and there are a few other restrictions. These vouchers expire within three years of the purchase date.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is another line that uses a gift certificate program rather than gift cards. Certificates are available in the following U.S. dollar increments: $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, $1,500, $1,700 and $2,000. These certificates must be redeemed at least 10 days before the cruise.

Use them to pay the cruise fare, with some restrictions, or apply them toward onboard credit to cover specialty dining, beverage packages, spa treatments, gift shop purchases and other items. If you want to apply the gift certificates as payment for expenses on the ship, you'll need to redeem them online 10 days before the sailing date. They cannot be used for government taxes, fees, gratuities or casino play.

Related: 35 Royal Caribbean cruise tips and tricks that will make your voyage better

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises has an online store where you can purchase onboard credit to celebrate someone's birthday, honeymoon, anniversary or other memorable occasion while on their cruise.

Gift certificates are available in $25 increments. These certificates can be purchased online if you know the recipient's reservation information, or you can call Celebrity's Store Customer Support team to place an order.

Note that gift cards cannot be used to pay shipboard charges, including gift shop purchases, casino debts, shore excursions or gratuities.

You can also give specialty dining certificates for $45 each. If the amount charged is less than that, the remaining sum will be applied to the passenger's onboard account.

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Paying with a Giftcard

By Hawg11 , February 14, 2020 in Royal Caribbean International

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So I am able to buy a gift card(e-gift card) with $500 for $460 plus cash back. So I called RC to ask if I would be able to use the gift card online because I didn't see the option to pay with gift card. They literally had no idea what I was even talking about. I asked 2 separate people and the only thing they could tell me was I could use a visa gift card.

Does anyone have experience paying with a gift card through the website? Or using one in general to pay for the balance of their cruise.

I am aware that in the event of a refund the gift card would credited back.

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8 minutes ago, Hawg11 said:   So I am able to buy a gift card(e-gift card) with $500 for $460 plus cash back. So I called RC to ask if I would be able to use the gift card online because I didn't see the option to pay with gift card. They literally had no idea what I was even talking about. I asked 2 separate people and the only thing they could tell me was I could use a visa gift card.   Does anyone have experience paying with a gift card through the website? Or using one in general to pay for the balance of their cruise.   I am aware that in the event of a refund the gift card would credited back.   Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk      

The general consensus on these boards regarding gift cards and Royal is don't do it. They are a absolute PIA. happy cruising

I've done it twice. You need to email them a copy of the gift certificate. It can only be applied to an existing reservation. 

They are a PIA but you need to follow the instructions on the gift card (it should have an email).  Send them in AT LEAST 4 weeks early.  I usually get mine for 10% off, and I can go through a lot of hassle for 10% of a cruise cost. 

https://www.royalcaribbeancertificates.com/

I then usually follow up with an e-mail for confirmation. 

Its asking for a serial number and authorization code. All I have is a card number, so I emailed them the card number. We will see, I purchased a small dollar amount to try out. If it works I'll go with a larger amount. I can't believe a huge company like Royal Caribbean makes it so difficult to use a gift card. It is beyond me. Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

Mommyof3sweetboys

On 2/15/2020 at 7:15 PM, Hawg11 said: Its asking for a serial number and authorization code. All I have is a card number, so I emailed them the card number. We will see, I purchased a small dollar amount to try out. If it works I'll go with a larger amount. I can't believe a huge company like Royal Caribbean makes it so difficult to use a gift card. It is beyond me. Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk  

I paid for our cruise using gift cards. Here is the email you need to use. 

On 2/15/2020 at 4:15 PM, Hawg11 said: I can't believe a huge company like Royal Caribbean makes it so difficult to use a gift card. It is beyond me. Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk  

Considering how rampant fraud is in the gift card industry, I can't believe a corporation as large as Royal would even mess with them.

On 2/14/2020 at 3:08 PM, celoplyr said: They are a PIA but you need to follow the instructions on the gift card (it should have an email).  Send them in AT LEAST 4 weeks early.  I usually get mine for 10% off, and I can go through a lot of hassle for 10% of a cruise cost. 

Where do you get them 10% off?

36 minutes ago, Hawg11 said: Every large company "messes" with them. Consider every restaurant, store and vacation destination has them. In my opinion it's a huge miss and turn off.  

At a store or a restaurant you are physically presenting a card that can be swiped at the establishment and authenticated thru embedded coding and either accepted or declined instantly via the establishment's POS system that is connected to the business's main headquarters.

A non Interbank Gift Card transaction online thru a cruiseline website requires a different level of security authentication for both your and the cruise line's protection..

Royal Caribbean is not The Cheesecake Factory.

If your cruise is canceled and you used a gift card, does it expire after a certain time? Wondering what would happen if you can't book another cruise for a while.

At a store or a restaurant you are physically presenting a card that can be swiped at the establishment and authenticated thru embedded coding and either accepted or declined instantly via the establishment's POS system that is connected to the business's main headquarters.   A non Interbank Gift Card transaction online thru a cruiseline website requires a different level of security authentication for both your and the cruise line's protection..   Royal Caribbean is not The Cheesecake Factory.    

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Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever

Seven agonizing nights aboard the Icon of the Seas

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Updated at 2:44 p.m. ET on April 6, 2024.

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MY FIRST GLIMPSE of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, from the window of an approaching Miami cab, brings on a feeling of vertigo, nausea, amazement, and distress. I shut my eyes in defense, as my brain tells my optic nerve to try again.

The ship makes no sense, vertically or horizontally. It makes no sense on sea, or on land, or in outer space. It looks like a hodgepodge of domes and minarets, tubes and canopies, like Istanbul had it been designed by idiots. Vibrant, oversignifying colors are stacked upon other such colors, decks perched over still more decks; the only comfort is a row of lifeboats ringing its perimeter. There is no imposed order, no cogent thought, and, for those who do not harbor a totalitarian sense of gigantomania, no visual mercy. This is the biggest cruise ship ever built, and I have been tasked with witnessing its inaugural voyage.

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“Author embarks on their first cruise-ship voyage” has been a staple of American essay writing for almost three decades, beginning with David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” which was first published in 1996 under the title “Shipping Out.” Since then, many admirable writers have widened and diversified the genre. Usually the essayist commissioned to take to the sea is in their first or second flush of youth and is ready to sharpen their wit against the hull of the offending vessel. I am 51, old and tired, having seen much of the world as a former travel journalist, and mostly what I do in both life and prose is shrug while muttering to my imaginary dachshund, “This too shall pass.” But the Icon of the Seas will not countenance a shrug. The Icon of the Seas is the Linda Loman of cruise ships, exclaiming that attention must be paid. And here I am in late January with my one piece of luggage and useless gray winter jacket and passport, zipping through the Port of Miami en route to the gangway that will separate me from the bulk of North America for more than seven days, ready to pay it in full.

The aforementioned gangway opens up directly onto a thriving mall (I will soon learn it is imperiously called the “Royal Promenade”), presently filled with yapping passengers beneath a ceiling studded with balloons ready to drop. Crew members from every part of the global South, as well as a few Balkans, are shepherding us along while pressing flutes of champagne into our hands. By a humming Starbucks, I drink as many of these as I can and prepare to find my cabin. I show my blue Suite Sky SeaPass Card (more on this later, much more) to a smiling woman from the Philippines, and she tells me to go “aft.” Which is where, now? As someone who has rarely sailed on a vessel grander than the Staten Island Ferry, I am confused. It turns out that the aft is the stern of the ship, or, for those of us who don’t know what a stern or an aft are, its ass. The nose of the ship, responsible for separating the waves before it, is also called a bow, and is marked for passengers as the FWD , or forward. The part of the contemporary sailing vessel where the malls are clustered is called the midship. I trust that you have enjoyed this nautical lesson.

I ascend via elevator to my suite on Deck 11. This is where I encounter my first terrible surprise. My suite windows and balcony do not face the ocean. Instead, they look out onto another shopping mall. This mall is the one that’s called Central Park, perhaps in homage to the Olmsted-designed bit of greenery in the middle of my hometown. Although on land I would be delighted to own a suite with Central Park views, here I am deeply depressed. To sail on a ship and not wake up to a vast blue carpet of ocean? Unthinkable.

Allow me a brief preamble here. The story you are reading was commissioned at a moment when most staterooms on the Icon were sold out. In fact, so enthralled by the prospect of this voyage were hard-core mariners that the ship’s entire inventory of guest rooms (the Icon can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers, but its inaugural journey was reduced to 5,000 or so for a less crowded experience) was almost immediately sold out. Hence, this publication was faced with the shocking prospect of paying nearly $19,000 to procure for this solitary passenger an entire suite—not including drinking expenses—all for the privilege of bringing you this article. But the suite in question doesn’t even have a view of the ocean! I sit down hard on my soft bed. Nineteen thousand dollars for this .

The viewless suite does have its pluses. In addition to all the Malin+Goetz products in my dual bathrooms, I am granted use of a dedicated Suite Deck lounge; access to Coastal Kitchen, a superior restaurant for Suites passengers; complimentary VOOM SM Surf & Stream (“the fastest Internet at Sea”) “for one device per person for the whole cruise duration”; a pair of bathrobes (one of which comes prestained with what looks like a large expectoration by the greenest lizard on Earth); and use of the Grove Suite Sun, an area on Decks 18 and 19 with food and deck chairs reserved exclusively for Suite passengers. I also get reserved seating for a performance of The Wizard of Oz , an ice-skating tribute to the periodic table, and similar provocations. The very color of my Suite Sky SeaPass Card, an oceanic blue as opposed to the cloying royal purple of the standard non-Suite passenger, will soon provoke envy and admiration. But as high as my status may be, there are those on board who have much higher status still, and I will soon learn to bow before them.

In preparation for sailing, I have “priced in,” as they say on Wall Street, the possibility that I may come from a somewhat different monde than many of the other cruisers. Without falling into stereotypes or preconceptions, I prepare myself for a friendly outspokenness on the part of my fellow seafarers that may not comply with modern DEI standards. I believe in meeting people halfway, and so the day before flying down to Miami, I visited what remains of Little Italy to purchase a popular T-shirt that reads DADDY’S LITTLE MEATBALL across the breast in the colors of the Italian flag. My wife recommended that I bring one of my many T-shirts featuring Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, as all Americans love the beagle and his friends. But I naively thought that my meatball T-shirt would be more suitable for conversation-starting. “Oh, and who is your ‘daddy’?” some might ask upon seeing it. “And how long have you been his ‘little meatball’?” And so on.

I put on my meatball T-shirt and head for one of the dining rooms to get a late lunch. In the elevator, I stick out my chest for all to read the funny legend upon it, but soon I realize that despite its burnished tricolor letters, no one takes note. More to the point, no one takes note of me. Despite my attempts at bridge building, the very sight of me (small, ethnic, without a cap bearing the name of a football team) elicits no reaction from other passengers. Most often, they will small-talk over me as if I don’t exist. This brings to mind the travails of David Foster Wallace , who felt so ostracized by his fellow passengers that he retreated to his cabin for much of his voyage. And Wallace was raised primarily in the Midwest and was a much larger, more American-looking meatball than I am. If he couldn’t talk to these people, how will I? What if I leave this ship without making any friends at all, despite my T-shirt? I am a social creature, and the prospect of seven days alone and apart is saddening. Wallace’s stateroom, at least, had a view of the ocean, a kind of cheap eternity.

Worse awaits me in the dining room. This is a large, multichandeliered room where I attended my safety training (I was shown how to put on a flotation vest; it is a very simple procedure). But the maître d’ politely refuses me entry in an English that seems to verge on another language. “I’m sorry, this is only for pendejos ,” he seems to be saying. I push back politely and he repeats himself. Pendejos ? Piranhas? There’s some kind of P-word to which I am not attuned. Meanwhile elderly passengers stream right past, powered by their limbs, walkers, and electric wheelchairs. “It is only pendejo dining today, sir.” “But I have a suite!” I say, already starting to catch on to the ship’s class system. He examines my card again. “But you are not a pendejo ,” he confirms. I am wearing a DADDY’S LITTLE MEATBALL T-shirt, I want to say to him. I am the essence of pendejo .

Eventually, I give up and head to the plebeian buffet on Deck 15, which has an aquatic-styled name I have now forgotten. Before gaining entry to this endless cornucopia of reheated food, one passes a washing station of many sinks and soap dispensers, and perhaps the most intriguing character on the entire ship. He is Mr. Washy Washy—or, according to his name tag, Nielbert of the Philippines—and he is dressed as a taco (on other occasions, I’ll see him dressed as a burger). Mr. Washy Washy performs an eponymous song in spirited, indeed flamboyant English: “Washy, washy, wash your hands, WASHY WASHY!” The dangers of norovirus and COVID on a cruise ship this size (a giant fellow ship was stricken with the former right after my voyage) makes Mr. Washy Washy an essential member of the crew. The problem lies with the food at the end of Washy’s rainbow. The buffet is groaning with what sounds like sophisticated dishes—marinated octopus, boiled egg with anchovy, chorizo, lobster claws—but every animal tastes tragically the same, as if there was only one creature available at the market, a “cruisipus” bred specifically for Royal Caribbean dining. The “vegetables” are no better. I pick up a tomato slice and look right through it. It tastes like cellophane. I sit alone, apart from the couples and parents with gaggles of children, as “We Are Family” echoes across the buffet space.

I may have failed to mention that all this time, the Icon of the Seas has not left port. As the fiery mango of the subtropical setting sun makes Miami’s condo skyline even more apocalyptic, the ship shoves off beneath a perfunctory display of fireworks. After the sun sets, in the far, dark distance, another circus-lit cruise ship ruptures the waves before us. We glance at it with pity, because it is by definition a smaller ship than our own. I am on Deck 15, outside the buffet and overlooking a bunch of pools (the Icon has seven of them), drinking a frilly drink that I got from one of the bars (the Icon has 15 of them), still too shy to speak to anyone, despite Sister Sledge’s assertion that all on the ship are somehow related.

Kim Brooks: On failing the family vacation

The ship’s passage away from Ron DeSantis’s Florida provides no frisson, no sense of developing “sea legs,” as the ship is too large to register the presence of waves unless a mighty wind adds significant chop. It is time for me to register the presence of the 5,000 passengers around me, even if they refuse to register mine. My fellow travelers have prepared for this trip with personally decorated T-shirts celebrating the importance of this voyage. The simplest ones say ICON INAUGURAL ’24 on the back and the family name on the front. Others attest to an over-the-top love of cruise ships: WARNING! MAY START TALKING ABOUT CRUISING . Still others are artisanally designed and celebrate lifetimes spent married while cruising (on ships, of course). A couple possibly in their 90s are wearing shirts whose backs feature a drawing of a cruise liner, two flamingos with ostensibly male and female characteristics, and the legend “ HUSBAND AND WIFE Cruising Partners FOR LIFE WE MAY NOT HAVE IT All Together BUT TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL .” (The words not in all caps have been written in cursive.) A real journalist or a more intrepid conversationalist would have gone up to the couple and asked them to explain the longevity of their marriage vis-à-vis their love of cruising. But instead I head to my mall suite, take off my meatball T-shirt, and allow the first tears of the cruise to roll down my cheeks slowly enough that I briefly fall asleep amid the moisture and salt.

I WAKE UP with a hangover. Oh God. Right. I cannot believe all of that happened last night. A name floats into my cobwebbed, nauseated brain: “Ayn Rand.” Jesus Christ.

I breakfast alone at the Coastal Kitchen. The coffee tastes fine and the eggs came out of a bird. The ship rolls slightly this morning; I can feel it in my thighs and my schlong, the parts of me that are most receptive to danger.

I had a dangerous conversation last night. After the sun set and we were at least 50 miles from shore (most modern cruise ships sail at about 23 miles an hour), I lay in bed softly hiccupping, my arms stretched out exactly like Jesus on the cross, the sound of the distant waves missing from my mall-facing suite, replaced by the hum of air-conditioning and children shouting in Spanish through the vents of my two bathrooms. I decided this passivity was unacceptable. As an immigrant, I feel duty-bound to complete the tasks I am paid for, which means reaching out and trying to understand my fellow cruisers. So I put on a normal James Perse T-shirt and headed for one of the bars on the Royal Promenade—the Schooner Bar, it was called, if memory serves correctly.

I sat at the bar for a martini and two Negronis. An old man with thick, hairy forearms drank next to me, very silent and Hemingwaylike, while a dreadlocked piano player tinkled out a series of excellent Elton John covers. To my right, a young white couple—he in floral shorts, she in a light, summery miniskirt with a fearsome diamond ring, neither of them in football regalia—chatted with an elderly couple. Do it , I commanded myself. Open your mouth. Speak! Speak without being spoken to. Initiate. A sentence fragment caught my ear from the young woman, “Cherry Hill.” This is a suburb of Philadelphia in New Jersey, and I had once been there for a reading at a synagogue. “Excuse me,” I said gently to her. “Did you just mention Cherry Hill? It’s a lovely place.”

As it turned out, the couple now lived in Fort Lauderdale (the number of Floridians on the cruise surprised me, given that Southern Florida is itself a kind of cruise ship, albeit one slowly sinking), but soon they were talking with me exclusively—the man potbellied, with a chin like a hard-boiled egg; the woman as svelte as if she were one of the many Ukrainian members of the crew—the elderly couple next to them forgotten. This felt as groundbreaking as the first time I dared to address an American in his native tongue, as a child on a bus in Queens (“On my foot you are standing, Mister”).

“I don’t want to talk politics,” the man said. “But they’re going to eighty-six Biden and put Michelle in.”

I considered the contradictions of his opening conversational gambit, but decided to play along. “People like Michelle,” I said, testing the waters. The husband sneered, but the wife charitably put forward that the former first lady was “more personable” than Joe Biden. “They’re gonna eighty-six Biden,” the husband repeated. “He can’t put a sentence together.”

After I mentioned that I was a writer—though I presented myself as a writer of teleplays instead of novels and articles such as this one—the husband told me his favorite writer was Ayn Rand. “Ayn Rand, she came here with nothing,” the husband said. “I work with a lot of Cubans, so …” I wondered if I should mention what I usually do to ingratiate myself with Republicans or libertarians: the fact that my finances improved after pass-through corporations were taxed differently under Donald Trump. Instead, I ordered another drink and the couple did the same, and I told him that Rand and I were born in the same city, St. Petersburg/Leningrad, and that my family also came here with nothing. Now the bonding and drinking began in earnest, and several more rounds appeared. Until it all fell apart.

Read: Gary Shteyngart on watching Russian television for five days straight

My new friend, whom I will refer to as Ayn, called out to a buddy of his across the bar, and suddenly a young couple, both covered in tattoos, appeared next to us. “He fucking punked me,” Ayn’s frat-boy-like friend called out as he put his arm around Ayn, while his sizable partner sizzled up to Mrs. Rand. Both of them had a look I have never seen on land—their eyes projecting absence and enmity in equal measure. In the ’90s, I drank with Russian soldiers fresh from Chechnya and wandered the streets of wartime Zagreb, but I have never seen such undisguised hostility toward both me and perhaps the universe at large. I was briefly introduced to this psychopathic pair, but neither of them wanted to have anything to do with me, and the tattooed woman would not even reveal her Christian name to me (she pretended to have the same first name as Mrs. Rand). To impress his tattooed friends, Ayn made fun of the fact that as a television writer, I’d worked on the series Succession (which, it would turn out, practically nobody on the ship had watched), instead of the far more palatable, in his eyes, zombie drama of last year. And then my new friends drifted away from me into an angry private conversation—“He punked me!”—as I ordered another drink for myself, scared of the dead-eyed arrivals whose gaze never registered in the dim wattage of the Schooner Bar, whose terrifying voices and hollow laughs grated like unoiled gears against the crooning of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”

But today is a new day for me and my hangover. After breakfast, I explore the ship’s so-called neighborhoods . There’s the AquaDome, where one can find a food hall and an acrobatic sound-and-light aquatic show. Central Park has a premium steak house, a sushi joint, and a used Rolex that can be bought for $8,000 on land here proudly offered at $17,000. There’s the aforementioned Royal Promenade, where I had drunk with the Rands, and where a pair of dueling pianos duel well into the night. There’s Surfside, a kids’ neighborhood full of sugary garbage, which looks out onto the frothy trail that the behemoth leaves behind itself. Thrill Island refers to the collection of tubes that clutter the ass of the ship and offer passengers six waterslides and a surfing simulation. There’s the Hideaway, an adult zone that plays music from a vomit-slathered, Brit-filled Alicante nightclub circa 1996 and proves a big favorite with groups of young Latin American customers. And, most hurtfully, there’s the Suite Neighborhood.

I say hurtfully because as a Suite passenger I should be here, though my particular suite is far from the others. Whereas I am stuck amid the riffraff of Deck 11, this section is on the highborn Decks 16 and 17, and in passing, I peek into the spacious, tall-ceilinged staterooms from the hallway, dazzled by the glint of the waves and sun. For $75,000, one multifloor suite even comes with its own slide between floors, so that a family may enjoy this particular terror in private. There is a quiet splendor to the Suite Neighborhood. I see fewer stickers and signs and drawings than in my own neighborhood—for example, MIKE AND DIANA PROUDLY SERVED U.S. MARINE CORPS RETIRED . No one here needs to announce their branch of service or rank; they are simply Suites, and this is where they belong. Once again, despite my hard work and perseverance, I have been disallowed from the true American elite. Once again, I am “Not our class, dear.” I am reminded of watching The Love Boat on my grandmother’s Zenith, which either was given to her or we found in the trash (I get our many malfunctioning Zeniths confused) and whose tube got so hot, I would put little chunks of government cheese on a thin tissue atop it to give our welfare treat a pleasant, Reagan-era gooeyness. I could not understand English well enough then to catch the nuances of that seafaring program, but I knew that there were differences in the status of the passengers, and that sometimes those differences made them sad. Still, this ship, this plenty—every few steps, there are complimentary nachos or milkshakes or gyros on offer—was the fatty fuel of my childhood dreams. If only I had remained a child.

I walk around the outdoor decks looking for company. There is a middle-aged African American couple who always seem to be asleep in each other’s arms, probably exhausted from the late capitalism they regularly encounter on land. There is far more diversity on this ship than I expected. Many couples are a testament to Loving v. Virginia , and there is a large group of folks whose T-shirts read MELANIN AT SEA / IT’S THE MELANIN FOR ME . I smile when I see them, but then some young kids from the group makes Mr. Washy Washy do a cruel, caricatured “Burger Dance” (today he is in his burger getup), and I think, Well, so much for intersectionality .

At the infinity pool on Deck 17, I spot some elderly women who could be ethnic and from my part of the world, and so I jump in. I am proved correct! Many of them seem to be originally from Queens (“Corona was still great when it was all Italian”), though they are now spread across the tristate area. We bond over the way “Ron-kon-koma” sounds when announced in Penn Station.

“Everyone is here for a different reason,” one of them tells me. She and her ex-husband last sailed together four years ago to prove to themselves that their marriage was truly over. Her 15-year-old son lost his virginity to “an Irish young lady” while their ship was moored in Ravenna, Italy. The gaggle of old-timers competes to tell me their favorite cruising stories and tips. “A guy proposed in Central Park a couple of years ago”—many Royal Caribbean ships apparently have this ridiculous communal area—“and she ran away screaming!” “If you’re diamond-class, you get four drinks for free.” “A different kind of passenger sails out of Bayonne.” (This, perhaps, is racially coded.) “Sometimes, if you tip the bartender $5, your next drink will be free.”

“Everyone’s here for a different reason,” the woman whose marriage ended on a cruise tells me again. “Some people are here for bad reasons—the drinkers and the gamblers. Some people are here for medical reasons.” I have seen more than a few oxygen tanks and at least one woman clearly undergoing very serious chemo. Some T-shirts celebrate good news about a cancer diagnosis. This might be someone’s last cruise or week on Earth. For these women, who have spent months, if not years, at sea, cruising is a ritual as well as a life cycle: first love, last love, marriage, divorce, death.

Read: The last place on Earth any tourist should go

I have talked with these women for so long, tonight I promise myself that after a sad solitary dinner I will not try to seek out company at the bars in the mall or the adult-themed Hideaway. I have enough material to fulfill my duties to this publication. As I approach my orphaned suite, I run into the aggro young people who stole Mr. and Mrs. Rand away from me the night before. The tattooed apparitions pass me without a glance. She is singing something violent about “Stuttering Stanley” (a character in a popular horror movie, as I discover with my complimentary VOOM SM Surf & Stream Internet at Sea) and he’s loudly shouting about “all the money I’ve lost,” presumably at the casino in the bowels of the ship.

So these bent psychos out of a Cormac McCarthy novel are angrily inhabiting my deck. As I mewl myself to sleep, I envision a limited series for HBO or some other streamer, a kind of low-rent White Lotus , where several aggressive couples conspire to throw a shy intellectual interloper overboard. I type the scenario into my phone. As I fall asleep, I think of what the woman who recently divorced her husband and whose son became a man through the good offices of the Irish Republic told me while I was hoisting myself out of the infinity pool. “I’m here because I’m an explorer. I’m here because I’m trying something new.” What if I allowed myself to believe in her fantasy?

“YOU REALLY STARTED AT THE TOP,” they tell me. I’m at the Coastal Kitchen for my eggs and corned-beef hash, and the maître d’ has slotted me in between two couples. Fueled by coffee or perhaps intrigued by my relative youth, they strike up a conversation with me. As always, people are shocked that this is my first cruise. They contrast the Icon favorably with all the preceding liners in the Royal Caribbean fleet, usually commenting on the efficiency of the elevators that hurl us from deck to deck (as in many large corporate buildings, the elevators ask you to choose a floor and then direct you to one of many lifts). The couple to my right, from Palo Alto—he refers to his “porn mustache” and calls his wife “my cougar” because she is two years older—tell me they are “Pandemic Pinnacles.”

This is the day that my eyes will be opened. Pinnacles , it is explained to me over translucent cantaloupe, have sailed with Royal Caribbean for 700 ungodly nights. Pandemic Pinnacles took advantage of the two-for-one accrual rate of Pinnacle points during the pandemic, when sailing on a cruise ship was even more ill-advised, to catapult themselves into Pinnacle status.

Because of the importance of the inaugural voyage of the world’s largest cruise liner, more than 200 Pinnacles are on this ship, a startling number, it seems. Mrs. Palo Alto takes out a golden badge that I have seen affixed over many a breast, which reads CROWN AND ANCHOR SOCIETY along with her name. This is the coveted badge of the Pinnacle. “You should hear all the whining in Guest Services,” her husband tells me. Apparently, the Pinnacles who are not also Suites like us are all trying to use their status to get into Coastal Kitchen, our elite restaurant. Even a Pinnacle needs to be a Suite to access this level of corned-beef hash.

“We’re just baby Pinnacles,” Mrs. Palo Alto tells me, describing a kind of internal class struggle among the Pinnacle elite for ever higher status.

And now I understand what the maître d’ was saying to me on the first day of my cruise. He wasn’t saying “ pendejo .” He was saying “Pinnacle.” The dining room was for Pinnacles only, all those older people rolling in like the tide on their motorized scooters.

And now I understand something else: This whole thing is a cult. And like most cults, it can’t help but mirror the endless American fight for status. Like Keith Raniere’s NXIVM, where different-colored sashes were given out to connote rank among Raniere’s branded acolytes, this is an endless competition among Pinnacles, Suites, Diamond-Plusers, and facing-the-mall, no-balcony purple SeaPass Card peasants, not to mention the many distinctions within each category. The more you cruise, the higher your status. No wonder a section of the Royal Promenade is devoted to getting passengers to book their next cruise during the one they should be enjoying now. No wonder desperate Royal Caribbean offers (“FINAL HOURS”) crowded my email account weeks before I set sail. No wonder the ship’s jewelry store, the Royal Bling, is selling a $100,000 golden chalice that will entitle its owner to drink free on Royal Caribbean cruises for life. (One passenger was already gaming out whether her 28-year-old son was young enough to “just about earn out” on the chalice or if that ship had sailed.) No wonder this ship was sold out months before departure , and we had to pay $19,000 for a horrid suite away from the Suite Neighborhood. No wonder the most mythical hero of Royal Caribbean lore is someone named Super Mario, who has cruised so often, he now has his own working desk on many ships. This whole experience is part cult, part nautical pyramid scheme.

From the June 2014 issue: Ship of wonks

“The toilets are amazing,” the Palo Altos are telling me. “One flush and you’re done.” “They don’t understand how energy-efficient these ships are,” the husband of the other couple is telling me. “They got the LNG”—liquefied natural gas, which is supposed to make the Icon a boon to the environment (a concept widely disputed and sometimes ridiculed by environmentalists).

But I’m thinking along a different line of attack as I spear my last pallid slice of melon. For my streaming limited series, a Pinnacle would have to get killed by either an outright peasant or a Suite without an ocean view. I tell my breakfast companions my idea.

“Oh, for sure a Pinnacle would have to be killed,” Mr. Palo Alto, the Pandemic Pinnacle, says, touching his porn mustache thoughtfully as his wife nods.

“THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S your time, buddy!” Hubert, my fun-loving Panamanian cabin attendant, shouts as I step out of my suite in a robe. “Take it easy, buddy!”

I have come up with a new dressing strategy. Instead of trying to impress with my choice of T-shirts, I have decided to start wearing a robe, as one does at a resort property on land, with a proper spa and hammam. The response among my fellow cruisers has been ecstatic. “Look at you in the robe!” Mr. Rand cries out as we pass each other by the Thrill Island aqua park. “You’re living the cruise life! You know, you really drank me under the table that night.” I laugh as we part ways, but my soul cries out, Please spend more time with me, Mr. and Mrs. Rand; I so need the company .

In my white robe, I am a stately presence, a refugee from a better limited series, a one-man crossover episode. (Only Suites are granted these robes to begin with.) Today, I will try many of the activities these ships have on offer to provide their clientele with a sense of never-ceasing motion. Because I am already at Thrill Island, I decide to climb the staircase to what looks like a mast on an old-fashioned ship (terrified, because I am afraid of heights) to try a ride called “Storm Chasers,” which is part of the “Category 6” water park, named in honor of one of the storms that may someday do away with the Port of Miami entirely. Storm Chasers consists of falling from the “mast” down a long, twisting neon tube filled with water, like being the camera inside your own colonoscopy, as you hold on to the handles of a mat, hoping not to die. The tube then flops you down headfirst into a trough of water, a Royal Caribbean baptism. It both knocks my breath out and makes me sad.

In keeping with the aquatic theme, I attend a show at the AquaDome. To the sound of “Live and Let Die,” a man in a harness gyrates to and fro in the sultry air. I saw something very similar in the back rooms of the famed Berghain club in early-aughts Berlin. Soon another harnessed man is gyrating next to the first. Ja , I think to myself, I know how this ends. Now will come the fisting , natürlich . But the show soon devolves into the usual Marvel-film-grade nonsense, with too much light and sound signifying nichts . If any fisting is happening, it is probably in the Suite Neighborhood, inside a cabin marked with an upside-down pineapple, which I understand means a couple are ready to swing, and I will see none of it.

I go to the ice show, which is a kind of homage—if that’s possible—to the periodic table, done with the style and pomp and masterful precision that would please the likes of Kim Jong Un, if only he could afford Royal Caribbean talent. At one point, the dancers skate to the theme song of Succession . “See that!” I want to say to my fellow Suites—at “cultural” events, we have a special section reserved for us away from the commoners—“ Succession ! It’s even better than the zombie show! Open your minds!”

Finally, I visit a comedy revue in an enormous and too brightly lit version of an “intimate,” per Royal Caribbean literature, “Manhattan comedy club.” Many of the jokes are about the cruising life. “I’ve lived on ships for 20 years,” one of the middle-aged comedians says. “I can only see so many Filipino homosexuals dressed as a taco.” He pauses while the audience laughs. “I am so fired tonight,” he says. He segues into a Trump impression and then Biden falling asleep at the microphone, which gets the most laughs. “Anyone here from Fort Leonard Wood?” another comedian asks. Half the crowd seems to cheer. As I fall asleep that night, I realize another connection I have failed to make, and one that may explain some of the diversity on this vessel—many of its passengers have served in the military.

As a coddled passenger with a suite, I feel like I am starting to understand what it means to have a rank and be constantly reminded of it. There are many espresso makers , I think as I look across the expanse of my officer-grade quarters before closing my eyes, but this one is mine .

A shocking sight greets me beyond the pools of Deck 17 as I saunter over to the Coastal Kitchen for my morning intake of slightly sour Americanos. A tiny city beneath a series of perfectly pressed green mountains. Land! We have docked for a brief respite in Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts and Nevis. I wolf down my egg scramble to be one of the first passengers off the ship. Once past the gangway, I barely refrain from kissing the ground. I rush into the sights and sounds of this scruffy island city, sampling incredible conch curry and buckets of non-Starbucks coffee. How wonderful it is to be where God intended humans to be: on land. After all, I am neither a fish nor a mall rat. This is my natural environment. Basseterre may not be Havana, but there are signs of human ingenuity and desire everywhere you look. The Black Table Grill Has been Relocated to Soho Village, Market Street, Directly Behind of, Gary’s Fruits and Flower Shop. Signed. THE PORK MAN reads a sign stuck to a wall. Now, that is how you write a sign. A real sign, not the come-ons for overpriced Rolexes that blink across the screens of the Royal Promenade.

“Hey, tie your shoestring!” a pair of laughing ladies shout to me across the street.

“Thank you!” I shout back. Shoestring! “Thank you very much.”

A man in Independence Square Park comes by and asks if I want to play with his monkey. I haven’t heard that pickup line since the Penn Station of the 1980s. But then he pulls a real monkey out of a bag. The monkey is wearing a diaper and looks insane. Wonderful , I think, just wonderful! There is so much life here. I email my editor asking if I can remain on St. Kitts and allow the Icon to sail off into the horizon without me. I have even priced a flight home at less than $300, and I have enough material from the first four days on the cruise to write the entire story. “It would be funny …” my editor replies. “Now get on the boat.”

As I slink back to the ship after my brief jailbreak, the locals stand under umbrellas to gaze at and photograph the boat that towers over their small capital city. The limousines of the prime minister and his lackeys are parked beside the gangway. St. Kitts, I’ve been told, is one of the few islands that would allow a ship of this size to dock.

“We hear about all the waterslides,” a sweet young server in one of the cafés told me. “We wish we could go on the ship, but we have to work.”

“I want to stay on your island,” I replied. “I love it here.”

But she didn’t understand how I could possibly mean that.

“WASHY, WASHY, so you don’t get stinky, stinky!” kids are singing outside the AquaDome, while their adult minders look on in disapproval, perhaps worried that Mr. Washy Washy is grooming them into a life of gayness. I heard a southern couple skip the buffet entirely out of fear of Mr. Washy Washy.

Meanwhile, I have found a new watering hole for myself, the Swim & Tonic, the biggest swim-up bar on any cruise ship in the world. Drinking next to full-size, nearly naked Americans takes away one’s own self-consciousness. The men have curvaceous mom bodies. The women are equally un-shy about their sprawling physiques.

Today I’ve befriended a bald man with many children who tells me that all of the little trinkets that Royal Caribbean has left us in our staterooms and suites are worth a fortune on eBay. “Eighty dollars for the water bottle, 60 for the lanyard,” the man says. “This is a cult.”

“Tell me about it,” I say. There is, however, a clientele for whom this cruise makes perfect sense. For a large middle-class family (he works in “supply chains”), seven days in a lower-tier cabin—which starts at $1,800 a person—allow the parents to drop off their children in Surfside, where I imagine many young Filipina crew members will take care of them, while the parents are free to get drunk at a swim-up bar and maybe even get intimate in their cabin. Cruise ships have become, for a certain kind of hardworking family, a form of subsidized child care.

There is another man I would like to befriend at the Swim & Tonic, a tall, bald fellow who is perpetually inebriated and who wears a necklace studded with little rubber duckies in sunglasses, which, I am told, is a sort of secret handshake for cruise aficionados. Tomorrow, I will spend more time with him, but first the ship docks at St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie, the capital, is more charming in name than in presence, but I still all but jump off the ship to score a juicy oxtail and plantains at the well-known Petite Pump Room, overlooking the harbor. From one of the highest points in the small city, the Icon of the Seas appears bigger than the surrounding hills.

I usually tan very evenly, but something about the discombobulation of life at sea makes me forget the regular application of sunscreen. As I walk down the streets of Charlotte Amalie in my fluorescent Icon of the Seas cap, an old Rastafarian stares me down. “Redneck,” he hisses.

“No,” I want to tell him, as I bring a hand up to my red neck, “that’s not who I am at all. On my island, Mannahatta, as Whitman would have it, I am an interesting person living within an engaging artistic milieu. I do not wish to use the Caribbean as a dumping ground for the cruise-ship industry. I love the work of Derek Walcott. You don’t understand. I am not a redneck. And if I am, they did this to me.” They meaning Royal Caribbean? Its passengers? The Rands?

“They did this to me!”

Back on the Icon, some older matrons are muttering about a run-in with passengers from the Celebrity cruise ship docked next to us, the Celebrity Apex. Although Celebrity Cruises is also owned by Royal Caribbean, I am made to understand that there is a deep fratricidal beef between passengers of the two lines. “We met a woman from the Apex,” one matron says, “and she says it was a small ship and there was nothing to do. Her face was as tight as a 19-year-old’s, she had so much surgery.” With those words, and beneath a cloudy sky, humidity shrouding our weathered faces and red necks, we set sail once again, hopefully in the direction of home.

THERE ARE BARELY 48 HOURS LEFT to the cruise, and the Icon of the Seas’ passengers are salty. They know how to work the elevators. They know the Washy Washy song by heart. They understand that the chicken gyro at “Feta Mediterranean,” in the AquaDome Market, is the least problematic form of chicken on the ship.

The passengers have shed their INAUGURAL CRUISE T-shirts and are now starting to evince political opinions. There are caps pledging to make America great again and T-shirts that celebrate words sometimes attributed to Patrick Henry: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” With their preponderance of FAMILY FLAG FAITH FRIENDS FIREARMS T-shirts, the tables by the crepe station sometimes resemble the Capitol Rotunda on January 6. The Real Anthony Fauci , by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears to be a popular form of literature, especially among young men with very complicated versions of the American flag on their T-shirts. Other opinions blend the personal and the political. “Someone needs to kill Washy guy, right?” a well-dressed man in the elevator tells me, his gray eyes radiating nothing. “Just beat him to death. Am I right?” I overhear the male member of a young couple whisper, “There goes that freak” as I saunter by in my white spa robe, and I decide to retire it for the rest of the cruise.

I visit the Royal Bling to see up close the $100,000 golden chalice that entitles you to free drinks on Royal Caribbean forever. The pleasant Serbian saleslady explains that the chalice is actually gold-plated and covered in white zirconia instead of diamonds, as it would otherwise cost $1 million. “If you already have everything,” she explains, “this is one more thing you can get.”

I believe that anyone who works for Royal Caribbean should be entitled to immediate American citizenship. They already speak English better than most of the passengers and, per the Serbian lady’s sales pitch above, better understand what America is as well. Crew members like my Panamanian cabin attendant seem to work 24 hours a day. A waiter from New Delhi tells me that his contract is six months and three weeks long. After a cruise ends, he says, “in a few hours, we start again for the next cruise.” At the end of the half a year at sea, he is allowed a two-to-three-month stay at home with his family. As of 2019, the median income for crew members was somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000, according to a major business publication. Royal Caribbean would not share the current median salary for its crew members, but I am certain that it amounts to a fraction of the cost of a Royal Bling gold-plated, zirconia-studded chalice.

And because most of the Icon’s hyper-sanitized spaces are just a frittata away from being a Delta lounge, one forgets that there are actual sailors on this ship, charged with the herculean task of docking it in port. “Having driven 100,000-ton aircraft carriers throughout my career,” retired Admiral James G. Stavridis, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, writes to me, “I’m not sure I would even know where to begin with trying to control a sea monster like this one nearly three times the size.” (I first met Stavridis while touring Army bases in Germany more than a decade ago.)

Today, I decide to head to the hot tub near Swim & Tonic, where some of the ship’s drunkest reprobates seem to gather (the other tubs are filled with families and couples). The talk here, like everywhere else on the ship, concerns football, a sport about which I know nothing. It is apparent that four teams have recently competed in some kind of finals for the year, and that two of them will now face off in the championship. Often when people on the Icon speak, I will try to repeat the last thing they said with a laugh or a nod of disbelief. “Yes, 20-yard line! Ha!” “Oh my God, of course, scrimmage.”

Soon we are joined in the hot tub by the late-middle-age drunk guy with the duck necklace. He is wearing a bucket hat with the legend HAWKEYES , which, I soon gather, is yet another football team. “All right, who turned me in?” Duck Necklace says as he plops into the tub beside us. “I get a call in the morning,” he says. “It’s security. Can you come down to the dining room by 10 a.m.? You need to stay away from the members of this religious family.” Apparently, the gregarious Duck Necklace had photobombed the wrong people. There are several families who present as evangelical Christians or practicing Muslims on the ship. One man, evidently, was not happy that Duck Necklace had made contact with his relatives. “It’s because of religious stuff; he was offended. I put my arm around 20 people a day.”

Everyone laughs. “They asked me three times if I needed medication,” he says of the security people who apparently interrogated him in full view of others having breakfast.

Another hot-tub denizen suggests that he should have asked for fentanyl. After a few more drinks, Duck Necklace begins to muse about what it would be like to fall off the ship. “I’m 62 and I’m ready to go,” he says. “I just don’t want a shark to eat me. I’m a huge God guy. I’m a Bible guy. There’s some Mayan theory squaring science stuff with religion. There is so much more to life on Earth.” We all nod into our Red Stripes.

“I never get off the ship when we dock,” he says. He tells us he lost $6,000 in the casino the other day. Later, I look him up, and it appears that on land, he’s a financial adviser in a crisp gray suit, probably a pillar of his North Chicago community.

THE OCEAN IS TEEMING with fascinating life, but on the surface it has little to teach us. The waves come and go. The horizon remains ever far away.

I am constantly told by my fellow passengers that “everybody here has a story.” Yes, I want to reply, but everybody everywhere has a story. You, the reader of this essay, have a story, and yet you’re not inclined to jump on a cruise ship and, like Duck Necklace, tell your story to others at great pitch and volume. Maybe what they’re saying is that everybody on this ship wants to have a bigger, more coherent, more interesting story than the one they’ve been given. Maybe that’s why there’s so much signage on the doors around me attesting to marriages spent on the sea. Maybe that’s why the Royal Caribbean newsletter slipped under my door tells me that “this isn’t a vacation day spent—it’s bragging rights earned.” Maybe that’s why I’m so lonely.

Today is a big day for Icon passengers. Today the ship docks at Royal Caribbean’s own Bahamian island, the Perfect Day at CocoCay. (This appears to be the actual name of the island.) A comedian at the nightclub opined on what his perfect day at CocoCay would look like—receiving oral sex while learning that his ex-wife had been killed in a car crash (big laughter). But the reality of the island is far less humorous than that.

One of the ethnic tristate ladies in the infinity pool told me that she loved CocoCay because it had exactly the same things that could be found on the ship itself. This proves to be correct. It is like the Icon, but with sand. The same tired burgers, the same colorful tubes conveying children and water from Point A to B. The same swim-up bar at its Hideaway ($140 for admittance, no children allowed; Royal Caribbean must be printing money off its clientele). “There was almost a fight at The Wizard of Oz ,” I overhear an elderly woman tell her companion on a chaise lounge. Apparently one of the passengers began recording Royal Caribbean’s intellectual property and “three guys came after him.”

I walk down a pathway to the center of the island, where a sign reads DO NOT ENTER: YOU HAVE REACHED THE BOUNDARY OF ADVENTURE . I hear an animal scampering in the bushes. A Royal Caribbean worker in an enormous golf cart soon chases me down and takes me back to the Hideaway, where I run into Mrs. Rand in a bikini. She becomes livid telling me about an altercation she had the other day with a woman over a towel and a deck chair. We Suites have special towel privileges; we do not have to hand over our SeaPass Card to score a towel. But the Rands are not Suites. “People are so entitled here,” Mrs. Rand says. “It’s like the airport with all its classes.” “You see,” I want to say, “this is where your husband’s love of Ayn Rand runs into the cruelties and arbitrary indignities of unbridled capitalism.” Instead we make plans to meet for a final drink in the Schooner Bar tonight (the Rands will stand me up).

Back on the ship, I try to do laps, but the pool (the largest on any cruise ship, naturally) is fully trashed with the detritus of American life: candy wrappers, a slowly dissolving tortilla chip, napkins. I take an extra-long shower in my suite, then walk around the perimeter of the ship on a kind of exercise track, past all the alluring lifeboats in their yellow-and-white livery. Maybe there is a dystopian angle to the HBO series that I will surely end up pitching, one with shades of WALL-E or Snowpiercer . In a collapsed world, a Royal Caribbean–like cruise liner sails from port to port, collecting new shipmates and supplies in exchange for the precious energy it has on board. (The actual Icon features a new technology that converts passengers’ poop into enough energy to power the waterslides . In the series, this shitty technology would be greatly expanded.) A very young woman (18? 19?), smart and lonely, who has only known life on the ship, walks along the same track as I do now, contemplating jumping off into the surf left by its wake. I picture reusing Duck Necklace’s words in the opening shot of the pilot. The girl is walking around the track, her eyes on the horizon; maybe she’s highborn—a Suite—and we hear the voice-over: “I’m 19 and I’m ready to go. I just don’t want a shark to eat me.”

Before the cruise is finished, I talk to Mr. Washy Washy, or Nielbert of the Philippines. He is a sweet, gentle man, and I thank him for the earworm of a song he has given me and for keeping us safe from the dreaded norovirus. “This is very important to me, getting people to wash their hands,” he tells me in his burger getup. He has dreams, as an artist and a performer, but they are limited in scope. One day he wants to dress up as a piece of bacon for the morning shift.

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE TITANIC (the Icon of the Seas is five times as large as that doomed vessel) at least offered its passengers an exciting ending to their cruise, but when I wake up on the eighth day, all I see are the gray ghosts that populate Miami’s condo skyline. Throughout my voyage, my writer friends wrote in to commiserate with me. Sloane Crosley, who once covered a three-day spa mini-cruise for Vogue , tells me she felt “so very alone … I found it very untethering.” Gideon Lewis-Kraus writes in an Instagram comment: “When Gary is done I think it’s time this genre was taken out back and shot.” And he is right. To badly paraphrase Adorno: After this, no more cruise stories. It is unfair to put a thinking person on a cruise ship. Writers typically have difficult childhoods, and it is cruel to remind them of the inherent loneliness that drove them to writing in the first place. It is also unseemly to write about the kind of people who go on cruises. Our country does not provide the education and upbringing that allow its citizens an interior life. For the creative class to point fingers at the large, breasty gentlemen adrift in tortilla-chip-laden pools of water is to gather a sour harvest of low-hanging fruit.

A day or two before I got off the ship, I decided to make use of my balcony, which I had avoided because I thought the view would only depress me further. What I found shocked me. My suite did not look out on Central Park after all. This entire time, I had been living in the ship’s Disneyland, Surfside, the neighborhood full of screaming toddlers consuming milkshakes and candy. And as I leaned out over my balcony, I beheld a slight vista of the sea and surf that I thought I had been missing. It had been there all along. The sea was frothy and infinite and blue-green beneath the span of a seagull’s wing. And though it had been trod hard by the world’s largest cruise ship, it remained.

This article appears in the May 2024 print edition with the headline “A Meatball at Sea.” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

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The Best Cruise Restaurants Onboard Jewel Of The Seas

Where to find the best cruise food onboard this radiance class cruise ship.

By Amanda Mesa | Published on March 7, 2024

As a former food writer, I take dining very seriously — especially when I’m on vacation. I’ve even planned itineraries around amazing restaurants I’ve heard or read about, that’s how important a great meal is to my vacation-planning process. But sometimes, it’s nice to be able to book a getaway and not have to worry about looking up restaurants or fumbling through reservations in a foreign language. That’s where cruising comes in. 

Jewel of the Seas is one of my favorite cruise ships for many reasons. First, I love that its smaller size offers a more intimate and relaxed atmosphere than some of the larger mega-ships out there. Second, it foregoes some of the flashier waterslides and onboard attractions in favor of cruising classics, like a 40-foot rock-climbing wall, pickleball courts, movie nights under the stars and a stellar pool scene. 

But my favorite thing about Jewel of the Seas is its cruise dining scene. This beloved Radiance Class cruise ship offers something for every preference and craving, from a classic steakhouse experience with white tablecloth service to izakaya-style eats from the Far East and authentic, Old-World Italian. There are several great complimentary dining options, too, including the fan-favorite Windjammer and always-elegant main dining room. Here’s a run-down of some of the best places to eat on a cruise when you sail onboard Jewel of the Seas. 

1. Windjammer

2. Main Dining Room

4. Chops Grille SM

5. Giovanni’s Table

6. Café Latte-Tudes

7. Chef’s Table

8. Room Service

Some of my favorite cruise meals have been ones I’ve enjoyed from the comfort and privacy of my stateroom. Champagne and chicken tenders? Check. A late-night serving of French fries and a milkshake? Double check. When you sail onboard this cruise ship, it’s easy to enjoy whatever you’re craving, whenever you want thanks to 24/7 room service. The menu is expansive, and you can even order alcoholic beverages if you so desire (they’re included if you purchased a cruise drink package for your vacation). If you’re cruising with kids, room service presents an easy and convenient option — there’s a section on the menu with items curated especially for little ones. 

These are the best cruise restaurants onboard Jewel of the Seas . Is your stomach rumbling yet? In addition to great cruise dining options, this ship offers a laundry list of fun activities for families, adults and kids, spellbinding entertainment and more. See a full lineup of things to do onboard , or find the perfect itinerary  for your next vacation. 

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I sailed on Royal Caribbean's 2 largest cruise ships. They were shockingly similar for the $1,000 difference

• Royal Caribbean operates many of the cruise industry's biggest ships.
• Icon of the Seas  launched in January, dethroning its predecessor, Wonder of the Seas, as the world's largest.
• Here's how the two mega-ships compare in size, neighborhoods, amenities, dining, cabins, and costs.

Icon of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's new mega-cruise ship darling, was deemed a success before it was even built.

In January, the highly anticipated vessel — complete with more than 40 bars and restaurants, a six-slide waterpark, and a waterfall — set sail, dethroning its less than two-year-old precursor, the Wonder of the Seas , as the world's largest cruise ship.

Before its debut, Michael Bayley, the president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, had already repeatedly called Icon its "best-selling product" yet. The company experienced its largest booking day ever when reservations opened for Icon of the Seas more than a year before its launch, it said

Despite all of this fanfare, you might be surprised by how similar it is to its predecessor.

I've sailed on both ships. Let's see how Icon and Wonder compare in six categories: size, neighborhoods, amenities, dining, cabins, and costs.

Both ships stunt the size of their competitors.

Wonder of the Seas debuted in 2022 as the then-world's largest cruise liner, measuring 235,600 gross-tons, 1,188 feet-long, and 18 decks-tall. The ship can accommodate up to 9,288 people, including 2,204 crew.

Icon of the Seas is, comparatively, 13,063 gross-tons heavier, eight feet longer, and two decks taller. It can sail up to 9,950 people, including 2,350 crew, although it's 52 feet less wide than its predecessor.

Both vessels feel more like amusement parks than traditional cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean invited me on complimentary, non-revenue sailings on both ships: two nights on Wonder in late 2022 and three nights on Icon in January.

I spent most of my time lost, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

It's no surprise both ships are operating weeklong itineraries this year. Any less, and you might not have time to experience all the activities and restaurants on your list.

Like other Royal Caribbean ships, Wonder and Icon have eight 'neighborhoods' that serve separate purposes.

The new ship shares three of Wonder of the Seas' neighborhoods : Central Park, Royal Promenade, and Suite.

Icon's other five — Thrill Island , Surfside, Hideaway, Chill Island, and AquaDome — are a first for the cruise line.

Many of the ships' amenities overlap, but in differing quantities.

Wonder has three waterslides. Icon has a six-slide waterpark complete with rafting and racing options.

Both have increasingly popular cruise amenities like decks-long dry slides, mini-golf courses, rock climbing walls, and playgrounds.

But instead of Wonder of the Seas' zipline , Icon of the Seas has Crown's Edge, a thrilling agility course with a small zipline that leaves travelers dangling 154 feet above the ocean.

Wonder’s Boardwalk neighborhood was my go-to.

Boardwalk delivered exactly as it had promised: an open-air space grounded by wood-planked floors, a hot dog stand, a sweets store, and kitschy, colorful decor.

Icon of the Seas' Surfside , designed for families with young children, felt like its closest dupe.

Both neighborhoods had a carousel, an outdoor playground, and family-friendly dining. But Surfside was more toddler-friendly, as suggested by the children's water play area and nighttime story readings.

On to entertainment: Both mega-ships have ice skating performances and exciting multi-disciplinary shows at the AquaTheater.

But travelers who enjoy musicals at sea will want to stick to Icon.

Unlike its predecessor, the new ship shows a rendition of Broadway hit "The Wizard of Oz" — Munchkins, a puppet Toto, and a 16-piece live band included.

The layout of Icon's amenities were better than its cousin.

Some of Wonder of the Seas' enticing outdoor amenities — like the surf simulator, zipline, and mini-golf course — are clustered on the deck above and away from the pools and water slides.

This layout might be difficult for parents with children who bounce from one activity to the next. Wouldn't it be easier to have all of these outdoor extras near each other, or at least on the same deck, for parental supervision purposes?

This is where Icon of the Seas excelled: All its exciting open-air activities were adjacent.

The rows of pools flowed perfectly into Thrill Island's waterpark , rock climbing walls, mini-golf course, and Crown's Edge.

The best part? The adult-only Hideaway — which flexes an infinity pool club with a DJ — is right behind Thrill Island, creating a clear separation between parents and their children without being too far from each other.

'Free' options like the buffet and build-your-own tacos and burritos bar are available on both ships.

But you won't find the larger vessel's five-stall food hall or mini-golf-adjacent finger food stand on Wonder.

As expected, Icon of the Seas has more dining options than its predecessor, although there are some overlaps.

Wonder of the Seas has 11 bars and 21 dining venues (9 complimentary and 12 upcharged).

Icon of the Seas has eight more bars, four more complimentary restaurants, and three more specialty dining choices.

Nor will you find the new ship’s plush $200-a-person Empire Supper Club on any other cruise liner.

The multi-course dinner, paired with cocktails and live music, stunts the cost of either vessel's other dinner options.

But if you love Johnny Rockets, you’ll be disappointed by Icon of the Seas.

Restaurants like the popular burger chain and Southern comfort-inspired Mason Jar are only on Wonder of the Seas. Fine by me: My fried chicken at Mason Jar was as dry as a desert.

The younger ship doesn't have Wonder's robot bartender-armed bar either. It does, however, have new watering holes with dueling pianos and live jazz.

Surprisingly, Wonder of the Seas has 65 more cabins than its new cousin.

But several of Icon's 28 stateroom categories are a first for the cruise line.

This includes the new family infinite balcony cabin, which has a small bunk bed nook for children.

Royal Caribbean assigned me an ocean-view balcony stateroom on both ships.

My Wonder of the Seas' cabin was 20 square-feet smaller than the one on Icon. But my bathroom on the latter was so tiny, I accidentally elbowed the walls at almost every turn.

Sailing on the world's largest cruise ship doesn't mean you'll have the world's largest cabin after all.

Wonder and Icon are both operating seven-night roundtrip itineraries from Florida to the Caribbean.

In 2024, Wonder of the Seas is scheduled for year-round sailings from Port Canaveral to the Caribbean and Royal Caribbean's private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay , starting at $700 per person.

Icon of the Seas is spending its first year in service operating nearly identical itineraries but from Miami instead. The cheapest 2024 option is $1,786 per person.

That's a difference of more than $125 per person per day.

"Bookings and pricing for Icon of the Seas can only be described as 'iconic,'" Naftali Holtz, the CFO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in February.

Icon of the Seas’ name speaks for itself.

If your family is looking for a jam-packed kid-friendly cruise with enough amenities to stay entertained for a week, both ships are a great option.

But if you're a seasoned mega-ship-cruiser looking to experience something new, Icon of the Seas is your best bet.

They may be similar, but no other behemoth cruise liner has a waterpark for children and a pool club for adults just dozens of feet from each other.

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Christmas gift guide to Moscow surroundings

Visitors from America and Western Europe might be surprised to discover that Russia celebrates Christmas on January 7th. That’s because the Russian Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar. After the end of the Soviet Union, some Russians have begun celebrating Christmas on December 25 in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. But many Russians still observe the tradition of fasting on January 6th, breaking the fast with a large feast on Christmas Eve after the first star has appeared in the sky.

During the Soviet era, Christmas and religious traditions were banned in Russia. Santa Claus was replaced by Ded Moroz, or, Grandfather Frost, an old man with a long white beard who would bring gifts to children on New Year’s instead of Christmas. According to Russian tradition, Ded Moroz is accompanied by his granddaughter, Snegurochka, the Snowmaiden, who helps him on his journey to give presents to children.

Although the tradition of having a Christmas tree, known as a yolka in Russian, was also banned during Soviet times, Russians got around this by having New Year’s trees from which they hung homemade decorations. Today, the restrictions of the Soviet Union have faded into history, and during the Christmas season visitors to Russia can even purchase Christmas ornaments in the shape of matryoshka dolls, or religious icons that depict nativity scenes.

Heading counterclockwise around the Golden Ring this holiday season, northeast of Moscow, your first stop will most likely be the city of Vladimir, home to some of Russia’s most striking churches and cathedrals. The Vladimir region is known for its fine crystal. Stop by the Crystal, Lacquer Miniatures, and Embroidery Museum ( 2 Bolshaya Moskovskaya ) for an overview of traditional crafts before visiting the gift shop in the museum to browse the crystal selection. Vladimir Chic ( 2 Dvoryanskaya ) also sells local glass and crystal work.

Typical souvenirs are also for sale in Vladimir’s old town, especially by the Golden Gate, a triumphal arch and defensive tower that is one of the last-remaining parts of the wall that once surrounded ancient Vladimir and a sure stop on any tour of the Golden Ring.

Just 63 kilometers from Vladimir lays the nearby city of Gus-Khrustalny , the ‘Crystal Goose,’ also home to a rich glass and crystal making tradition. You can visit the glassmaking factory in Gus-Khrustalny and buy gifts ranging from plates and vases to decanters, or visit the outlet store back in Moscow ( 4 Ilyinka ) just east of the Kremlin.

North of Vladimir, you’ll arrive in Suzdal, one of the Golden Ring route’s more tranquil towns. Suzdal boasts a number of small bazaars and stands outside the main tourist sites where visitors can purchase local honey mead, called medovukha, along with traditional crafts, like a pair valenki, or Russian woolen boots, which make an ideal Christmas gift for friends and family back home. The shopping stands outside Suzdal’s Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life ( Ul. Pushkarskaya ) are also highly recommended. Market Square ( Torgovaya Pl ) houses a number of shops where visitors can search for arts and crafts.

Following the Golden Ring north of Suzdal, many tours will stop in the city of Kostroma, a former trading outpost on the immense Volga River. One of the city’s highlights is the Museum of Linen and Birchbark ( 38 Tereshkova ), where visitors can view exhibits on traditional Russian crafts woven from flax and bark. A gift shop in the basement sells tablecloths, napkins, baskets, linen dolls, and traditional clothing typical of the region.

South from Kostroma, stop in the city of Rostov-Veliky for enamel jewelry, a craft which allows artists to produce small paintings on metal that are then fired to produce a thin glaze over the image. Rostov became famous for its tradition of enamel work. Today, visitors can purchase rings, earrings, bracelets, brooches, and jewelry boxes in the gift shop of the Rostov Enamel factory ( 3 Borisoglebskoye Highway ).

While you’re in Rostov, visit the House of Crafts ( 16 Vtoraya Tolstovskaya Naberezhnaya ) for local pottery and the Souvenirs shop ( 5 Ul. Kamennyi Most ) for ushanka hats—Russian fur caps with earflaps—paintings, and samovars for tea lovers.

The last two stops on a tour of the Golden Ring are the cities of Pereslavl-Zalesskiy and Sergiev Posad. Pereslavl is most famous for its embroidery work, available at the Art Salon ( 12 Ul. Sovetskaya ) along with souvenirs made of wood and stone. Nearby Sergiev Posad is considered the place where Russia’s matryoshka dolls were first invented, and was the chief production center of the dolls before Soviet times. Visit the city’s Toy Museum ( 123 Pr. Krasny Armii ) to get a better sense of the birthplace of one of Russia’s most recognizable toys, then head over to the market alongside the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius—one of the city’s most important sites—to load up on matryoshka dolls, painted eggs, and icons before going home.

If you’ll be in the Golden Ring during New Years, the city of Vladimir hosts an impressive Christmas fair, with an iceskating rink and performances by local artists, in the main square ( Sobornaya Pl ). In most other Golden Ring cities you’ll find similar events in the center square as Christmas nears.

Most shops and markets in the Golden Ring are open year round. If you’re coming to Russia for a short period of time, whether in winter or summer, consider a trip to this stunning part of the country, and bring an extra bag if you plan to go shopping for Christmas gifts.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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Award-Winning Actress & Performer Hannah Waddingham to Serve as Godmother of Stunning Sun Princess

Newest “love boat” to be officially christened in star-studded ceremony in barcelona on april 23, 2024.

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FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. , (April 8, 2024) - Award-winning actress and performer Hannah Waddingham will serve the time-honored, maritime tradition as the official Godmother of Princess Cruises’ newest “Love Boat” Sun Princess. The star-studded naming ceremony will take place at the Port of Barcelona on April 23, 2024. 

Waddingham joins an esteemed group who have served as Godparent to Princess ships: Diana, Princess of Wales (Royal Princess, 1984), Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales (Royal Princess, 2013); Audrey Hepburn (Star Princess, 1989); Sophia Loren (Crown Princess, 1990); Martha Stewart (Crown Princess, 2006), among many notable celebrities.

British actress and singer, Waddingham is beloved for her role as Rebecca Welton in Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” in which her performance garnered a Primetime Emmy, Critics Choice Television Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as two individual Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. She will next be seen in the highly anticipated Universal film “The Fall Guy” opposite Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in theaters on May 3, 2024. Earlier this year, Waddingham earned a BAFTA TV Award nomination for her own Apple TV+ holiday special “Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas.” Waddingham made her worldwide hosting debut in April 2023 at The Olivier Awards (she returns as host for the 2024 ceremony on April 14) followed swiftly by the BBC Eurovision Song Contest 2023, for which she has gained her second BAFTA TV nomination and won The Royal Television Society award for “Best Entertainment Performance” in 2024. Her upcoming films include Sony Animation film “Garfield” out May 24, 2024 and in 2025 “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.”

“We’re delighted to welcome the illuminous and elegant Hannah Waddingham to serve as Godmother for our sensational new Sun Princess,” said John Padgett, Princess Cruises president. “Just like Sun Princess, she exudes sophistication, beauty and wonderment through her inspiring work as a talented and award-winning actress and performer. We’re truly honored Hannah will officially name our most impressive, luxurious and stunning Love Boat ever created, and join an esteemed group of Princess Godparents including members of the Royal family.”

The new 177,882-ton, 4,300-guest Sun Princess introduces an innovative new ship platform designed exclusively for the world’s most iconic cruise brand. A true engineering marvel, Sun Princess officially started the inaugural cruise season on February 28, 2024, and currently is sailing a series of Mediterranean voyages before debuting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in October for the ship’s first Caribbean season. 

Princess ships are renowned for offering spacious venues and Sun Princess takes that to the next level. Sun Princess debuts new eye-catching experience venues including The Dome, a groundbreaking geodesic, glass-enclosed structure at the top of the ship inspired by the terraces of Santorini. The outward and suspended Sphere Atrium, the namesake of this new class of ship, takes the central Piazza hub of the ship into a new dimension. Here guests are enveloped with expansive ocean views and an open concept, inspired to deliver the desired lifestyle of relaxed indoor and outdoor living.

Sun Princess offers an extraordinary cruise experience with not-to-be-missed culinary, entertainment and luxury accommodations, including: 

The Greatest Foodie Destination at Sea

Sun Princess serves up 30 inviting restaurant and bar venues with an unprecedented collection of celebrity collaborators, high-end ingredients and culinary experiences from: 

Spellbound by Magic Castle : Blending the captivating world of magic with the art of culinary and mixology to create an extraordinary, innovative and immersive dining experience, steeped in magic and adventure. 

Makoto Ocean : Reshaping traditional sushi with a creative approach, the Master of Edomae-style sushi, Chef Makoto Okuwa brings his 25 years of experience with a new concept crafting playful, exquisitely presented dishes paying tribute to Japanese traditions. 

Love by Britto : A high-end boutique restaurant with the most romantic view from the ship celebrating love and art from world-renowned artist Romero Britto. 

The Butcher’s Block by Dario : A new specialty pop-up restaurant from the world’s most famous butcher Dario Cecchini, guests enjoy perfectly prepared beef and steak, including Cecchini’s signature cuts. 

The Catch by Rudi : An exceptional dinner concept from renowned Chef Rudi Sodamin showcasing delectable treasures from the sea. 

Good Spirits at Sea with Rob Floyd : Destination-inspired, one-of-a-kind cocktail creations from celebrity mixologist Rob Floyd.

Debuting a three-story dining room with endless aft views, inaugural menus have been created in collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America. While retaining what guests love about Princess, the ship also features favorites like Crown Grill, Sabatini’s and Crooners with new design elements to impress.

Showstopping Entertainment in Technically Advanced Spaces

The Princess Arena is the most technologically advanced theater at sea, offering showstopping and original productions including performances in the round. At night, The Dome astonishes audiences with acrobatic Cirque Éloize performances while the Piazza dazzles with a retractable stage and immersive Champagne Waterfall. 

Elevated & Welcoming Areas & Accommodations

Sun Princess also features the cruise line’s largest casino, two-story Lotus Spa, and an expanded retail environment with more than 200 premium brands. The retail space also includes several firsts a sea including an upscale showroom dedicated to luxury horology showcasing TAG Heuer and Breitling and more than 25 new brands available to cruise guests like Italian handbag brand, Pinko and athleisure favorites Beyond Yoga and Varley. 

The first-ever family activity zone, Park19, offers multi-generational fun from the top deck. Within decks 19, 20 and 21, guests can experience everything from the Sea Breeze, a glider ride that offers panoramic views of the ocean and breathtaking ports of call to the Coastal Climb, an engaging climbing structure where guests can take in the gorgeous views.

With diverse accommodations to suit every preference and more than 1,500 cabins with balcony views, Sun Princess’ re-imagined staterooms include exceptional suites and new Cabana Mini-Suites with extra space for secluded outdoor relaxation.

Rooted in sustainability, Sun Princess is the first LNG (liquefied natural gas) vessel for the cruise line, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and features ingenious energy recovery systems for eco-conscious cruising. 

Sun Princess cruises to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean are on sale now. More ship details can be found at  www.princess.com/sunprincess . 

Additional Sun Princess assets can be found here .

More information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel advisor, by calling 1-800-Princess (1-800-774-6237) or by visiting  www.princess.com . 

Media Contacts

Contact information for members of the media

Negin Kamali, +1 661-753-1539, [email protected]

Briana Latter, +1 661-753-1538, [email protected]

About Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises is The Love Boat, the world’s most iconic cruise brand that delivers dream vacations to millions of guests every year in the most sought-after destinations on the largest ships that offer elite service personalization and simplicity customary of small, yacht-class ships. Well-appointed staterooms, world class dining, grand performances, award-winning casinos and entertainment, luxurious spas, imaginative experiences and boundless activities blend with exclusive Princess MedallionClass service to create meaningful connections and unforgettable moments in the most incredible settings in the world - the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, Mexican Riviera, Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand, the South Pacific, Hawaii, Asia, Canada/New England, Antarctica, and World Cruises. The company is part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:CCL; NYSE:CUK).

Additional media information is available at princess.com/news

Not a member of the media? 

Contact us at: 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) or 1-661-753-0000

More contact information is available on our Contact Us page

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THE SUPERYACHTS 36

The new 2023 edition of The Superyachts showcases 21 of the finest new private luxury yachts, profiled in exquisite photos, deck plans and detailed specifications.

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The superyachts 36.

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The Superyachts 36 continues the unbroken sequence of the most spectacular book on the most spectacular yachts…

• Tour 21 stunning yachts, all with remarkable diversity, quality and beauty
• The spectacular yachts are all the fulfilment of owners dreams, showcasing the fastest, sleekest and most beautiful to grace the waves
• Don’t miss stunning yachts such as ALPHA, OCTOPUS, POLARIS, VICTORIOUS and many more
• Discover the yachts that won the 2022 Boat International Design & Innovation Awards, alongside winners of the World Superyacht Awards
• Browse the latest register of the world’s top 200 largest yachts
• Alphabetical listing of all yachts profiled in all volumes

YOUR 21 BREATHTAKING YACHTS:

AL WAAB, ALFA, AHPO, ARKADIA, AUDREY THE FIRST, BLEU DE NIMES (REFIT), BOARDWALK, C, CLUB M, GRACE III, KOJU, MOON SAND, MOONSTONE, OCTOPUS, PATH, PERSERVERANCE, POLARIS, RESILIENCE, SANLORENZO 44 (ANNABELLA), TOP FIVE II, AND VICTORIOUS.

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This New Coffee Table Book Showcases the Greatest Yachts of the Last 170 Years

"yachts: the impossible collection" is a visual history showing the evolution of the ultimate status symbol., michael verdon, michael verdon's most recent stories.

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Yachts, from the ancient 140-foot pharaoh’s “solar barque” to modern, wild-looking superyachts like Adastra , have always been considered society’s ultimate status symbols. A new book, released this weekend, provides a fresh take on superyacht history in a beautiful pictorial display.

Miriam Cain’s Yachts: The Impossible Collection ( Assouline ; $895) is an assemblage of the most historically significant luxury vessels that represent different periods: From America , the victorious sailing vessel from 1851 that founded the America’s Cup, to iconic 1980s megayachts that established the modern era, all the way to the most recently launched gigayachts.

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With more than 3,000 superyachts in the global fleet, as well as thousands of others that are long gone, Cain was able to distill the crème de la crème into a manageable collection. The 236-page volume is more than a coffee-table book. Rather, it’s an ensemble of superyachts shown in a timeline illustrated by charts, visuals and photos by many leading yachting photographers. Robb Report spoke with Cain about yachting’s past and where she thinks modern superyachts are heading in the next decade.

The 317-foot superyacht Faith has a glass pool suspended above the lounge bar.  Courtesy Assouline Publishing

Why did you write this book?

Publications have done a good job of showcasing the best cars, houses, and other luxury items, but it felt like there was a real gap for a book that displayed the most luxurious of luxury products. For most people, yachts are the pinnacle of status symbols—not just today but throughout history.

The concept behind the book is to show a range of different yachts over the years that say something unique, whether it’s their size, features, technical complexity, luxury, or historical significance.

The schooner Sea Cloud , built in 1931 and still sailing around the world. Its master suite has an ornate, post-Victorian look, complete with travel chests.  Courtesy Sea Cloud Cruises

Why the historical approach?

If you wanted to merely show the largest yachts it would be a very different publication. Almost all of the largest yachts have been built in the last two decades, so that would have made for a very uniform collection.

Instead, our aim was to pick out the best yachts from multiple eras. They all have a story, not just about themselves, but about the period when they were created.

Adastra ‘s striking silver exterior and spaceship looks are iconic, but it was also designed for efficiency. The boat can crisscross the Atlantic without refueling.  Courtesy Jochen Manz

Did one period impress you the most?

For me, the 1980’s was the decade when yachting went from a pastime only enjoyed by a very few, often with a nautical leaning, to being a more mainstream status symbol, desired by everyone from Arab princes to Texas oil barons.

That period also heralded a totally different approach to design, with designers like Jon Bannenberg breaking completely new ground, sometimes building yachts that looked more like spaceships than a traditional sailing yacht.

With all the historical figures who have been on board, the 325.3-ft. Christina O is a piece of living history.  Courtesy Stef Bravin, Morley Yachts

What do you like best about the most recent superyachts?

The most impressive thing now is that almost nothing is considered impossible or unachievable, especially when it comes to the items that can be incorporated into a yacht.

From real fireplaces to snow rooms, submarines, helipads and even a full-size paddle tennis court, the possibilities seem endless. The ability to incorporate just about any whim shows how talented designers and engineers are these days.

Launched last year, the 353-ft. Luminosity is a showcase for the latest propulsion technology, with the largest hybrid battery drive on any superyacht.  Courtesy Benetti/Burgess

Do you have a favorite yacht in the book? 

  In terms of looks, my favorite yacht is the most recent Excellence . I just love the bow on that yacht. It is so eye-catching and bold.

But if I had to select the yacht closest to my heart it would probably be Christina O . She may not be a pedigree yacht, but I just love her story and all of the great and good people who have been on board over the years—from JFK to Winston Churchill, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, she is a yacht that really brings history alive when you are on board. That is hard to beat.

At 247 feet, Cloudbreak was built for extreme global exploration. Launched in 2016, it set the standard for expedition yachts.  Courtesy Guillaume Plisson

With all this historical context, where do you see the superyacht sector going? Hybrid propulsion? Ever larger sizes? 

I’m not sure that size is going to increase much more. Once you get to 150 meters [492 feet], a yacht ceases to be a yacht and becomes more like a cruise ship. I don’t think many owners want to own yachts that size, unless they have a purpose, such as a research yacht like Rev Ocean . In fact, we are starting to see owners downsizing from the gargantuan-sized yachts to more manageable sizes with fewer crew. Technology, of course, is always a driver of change.

Coming from an environmental background, I am excited to see how the superyacht industry can incorporate the latest technologies being developed for cars and jets onto yachts. Lürssen’s recent progress with fuel-cell technology is some of the most exciting news I’ve heard in a while.

The 249.5-ft. Amadea features a unique superstructure that resembles overlapping shells, culminating with a sculpture of an albatross, wings outspread, on the prow.  Courtesy Guillaume Plisson

It is incumbent on those who have the most, to do the most when it comes to the environment, so it would be great to see superyachts leading the way.

What about designers? Have you seen that segment change much? 

It really is a small industry in which no more than a dozen firms really dominate, but there is always room for new, young designers making their way. Talent will always come through in the end.

The retractable stern ladder aboard the sailing superyacht Nero .  Courtesy Burgess

Any other thoughts about the book you’d like to share? 

Having worked in the superyacht industry for more than 20 years, it was nice to have the time to be able to look back at some of the yachts I’ve always known about, but only superficially, and be able to research other yachts that I didn’t know so well. Finding the interesting back stories that many vessels have was one of the delights of researching this project.

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  THE SUPER YACHT INDUSTRY BOOK

The Super Yacht Industry Book

• The first textbook ever written about the Superyacht industry. The book focuses mainly on motor yachts of over 50 meters long.
• In collaboration with 95 experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate and manage the world’s largest yachts. They are sharing their experience and true gold nuggets of information that will give you years of competitive advantage to understanding the superyacht industry.
• The state of the art reference for the yachting industry.

YACHT BASICS E-BOOK FREE PREVIEW

This will give you a preview of what the entire book is about. 

Download this free e-book of "Yacht Basics" Chapter 1 of The Superyacht Industry Book:

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Testimonials.

"In this book Marcela has been able to bring together the knowledge and expertise of some of the leading names in the yacht business, and the outcome is a deeper insight into what I call “the business of yachting”. From the earliest elements of design and engineering through to new construction, sales and charter, yacht management and the legal elements of yachting. In this book, you will have an opportunity to learn about the superyacht industry, from the people who make the superyacht industry. The designers, builders, brokers and lawyers. Informative and insightful information that will be helpful to everyone from an aspiring yacht captain and manage through to an owner and prospective owner."

-  Jamie Edmiston, Edmiston 

"This book has finally given us a chance to throw open the doors of our highly exclusive and sometimes elusive industry, inviting the reader to learn about the intricate workings of the yachting business. With such highly respected names sharing their expertise, this book is sure to be a must-read for anyone interested in joining the world of yachting, not to mention a valuable tool for expanding the comprehension of those who are already part of the industry."

- Paris Baloumis – Marketing Director Oceanco  

This book is a celebration of knowledge offered by some of the most influential people in yachting.

Jonathan Beckett, CEO Burgess

I strongly believe that a book like this is generally missing for our industry so it will become the de-facto reference guide for owners, new professionals, for supporting training courses, and for refreshing the ecosystem knowledge of professional already performing in industry.

Matteo Magherini, Lateral

The Quintessential yachting reference encyclopedia that should be on every company and serious broker bookshelf.

Peter Thompson, Managing Partner (YPI)

Finally someone has produced such book which was missing in the industry!

Fadi Pataq, Nobiskrug

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The world’s first book on superyachts published in Monaco

In collaboration with over 95 superyacht experts, Onboard Monaco has published the first book on the yacht industry.

The Superyacht Industry Book , released on 1st December 2020, calls itself “a state of the art reference for the yachting industry.” As the very first guide on the topic, this book promises readers an in-depth insight into the world of yachting.

The publication is the result of author Marcela de Kern Royer’s collaboration with experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate and manage the world’s largest yachts.

>> MORE ON THE TOPIC : How yachting escaped the Covid crisis by offering a ticket out of the pandemic

“A book like this was missing from our industry”

The book has already received widespread acclaim from the industry. “This book is a celebration of knowledge offered by some of the most influential people in yachting,” said Jonathan Beckett, CEO of Burgess, a yacht brokerage company.

Matteo Magherini, naval architect at Lateral, predicted that the book would “become the de-facto reference guide” to the industry. “A book like this was missing from our industry.”

How many yachts are there? How to choose a broker? Marcela de Kern Royer’s work focuses on mainly yachts of over 50 meters long and talks about everything from superyacht market to maritime law.

>> MORE ON THE TOPIC: Riviera’s authorities crack down on superyachts to protect environment

An insight on yachting written by a Monaco resident

Marcela de Kern Royer is a Monaco resident and a member of the Yacht Club of Monaco. She combines a passion for yachting with a strong international academic background. She holds an MBA from Hult Business School in Boston and a bachelor in Business Administration from the International University of Monaco. Marcela is also the founder and first president of Young Professionals in Yachting (YPY) Monaco chapter.

Yachting is at the heart of the Principality. In fact, there are so many yachts in Monaco that the Principality, running out of space, has now bought the dealership of the Port of Ventimiglia in neighbouring Italy.

>> MORE ON THE TOPIC: Monaco opens a third port… in Italy!

Travel | Travel: Alaska is ready for another…

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Travel | travel: alaska is ready for another record-breaking cruise season.

Alaska is home to more than 30,000 grizzlies, but the state’s cruise industry is experiencing anything but a bear market as momentum of last year’s record-breaking season is expected to continue in 2024.

Looking at the most-visited Alaskan port as a proxy for the ship-shape southeastern side of the state, Juneau set a new mark a year ago with 1.65 million passengers descending on the capital city during cruise season, which generally runs from early April to late October. That figure from the Juneau Chamber of Commerce is a Danali-sized jump of 30% compared to the previous mark set in pre-pandemic 2019.

Coinciding with Alaska’s 65th anniversary of statehood, the upcoming cruise season appears to be just as robust with 19 cruise lines sending 43 ships to the Last Frontier. Kicking things off for the second straight year is the 4,008-passenger Norwegian Bliss, which is scheduled to dock in rustic Skagway on April 8. With four mainstream-category ships homeported in either Seattle or Vancouver, Norwegian Cruise Line ( ncl.com ) has nearly 100 more after that. Impressive, but two competing companies have staked out larger claims in this modern-day, maritime Alaskan gold rush; Holland America Line ( hollandamerica.com ) is sending seven premium-class ships for 141 total cruises, and at the top of the totem pole is Princess Cruises ( princess.com ), which is celebrating its 55th year in these waters with seven premium ships sharing 158 departures.

Not counting grand voyages with itineraries so rich that they make a visit to Alaska seem more like a pitstop, this cruise season will see more than 800 trips of mostly seven to 10 days starting or ending on this side of the Pacific. Where they’re all going is a destination rich in unparallel wilderness, wildlife and native culture. In other words, bucket list stuff.

“Alaska is one of those places that draws you in and sets the hook right away,” said Kristi Switzer, destination marketing manager for Travel Juneau ( traveljuneau.com ). “Visitors come for the otherworldly experience of being in the presence of glaciers and fjords, seeing whales and bears, and finding the balance of Alaska Native cultural heritage with the rustic sophistication found in the capital city and other places within this magnificent state.”

Although Switzer recommends visits lasting several days instead of several hours, the city’s destination evangelist hopes that a partial day in Juneau and each major Alaskan cruise port has over 1.5 million passengers wanting more.

“This magical corner of the world has so much to offer beyond being a checkmark on people’s bucket lists,” she said. “Make time to enjoy the fascinating culture, spectacular outdoor recreation, unique shopping, amazing restaurants and artist galleries that Juneau and all of Southeast Alaska have to offer.”

Alaska is a checkmark for about three-quarters of all passengers headed there, according to the Alaska Tourism Industry Association, and the same can be said for two ships this season.

Starting with a six-day sail out of Vancouver on May 11, the namesake of Celebrity Cruises’ ( celebritycruises.com ) popular Edge class will make her Alaskan debut with weeklong roundtrips from Seattle through Sept. 13. The 2,918-passenger vessel features a unique “outside-in” architecture that provides more floor-to-ceiling glass on the exterior and expanded outdoor spaces to soak up the Alaskan coastlines.

Edge will be joined by a pair of fleet mates for the season, albeit Summit’s seven-day roundtrips are turnarounds out of Anchorage or Vancouver and Solstice’s weeklong jaunts are solely based in the British Columbian seaport. Celebrity, a premier-category cruise line, meaning it’s between the economical mainstream class and pricy luxury level, has 57 departures to Alaska scheduled this year.

The other new recruit is Silver Nova, the youngest Silversea Cruises ( silversea.com ) ship in the luxury fleet to ever service Alaska. Capped at 728 guests, Silver Nova was launched last year and has the goods to do justice to a dreamlike place that captures the imagination of wilderness lovers and history buffs.

“Silver Nova is the ideal ship for Alaska cruising,” said company spokesman Brad Ball. “Her innovative design, which prizes openness over symmetry and incorporates an unprecedented use of approximately 4,000 square meters of glass, immerses guests into the incredible scenery of Alaska from virtually all venues and suites, with far-reaching views at every turn.”

The ship’s reimagined pool deck, which overlooks the water on her starboard side, and all-new outdoor venues — the Dusk Bar and the Marquee — allows unique openness to view spectacular Alaskan glaciers and wildlife. Those who want to experience an older and smaller Evolution-class Silversea vessel can book the Silver Muse, which also will sail mostly seven- to 14-day trips between Anchorage and Vancouver.

Because nearly every Alaskan cruise includes the staples — Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Inside Passage, and Denali with a land add-on — some cruise lines like to shake things up with unique itineraries.

Holland America has a roundtrip that makes it easy to visit the 49th and 50th states without a long flight. A new “Glaciers & Volcanos: Alaska to Hawaii” cruise, part of the premium line’s Legendary Voyages collection of journeys from 25 to 59 days, departs on Aug. 31 from Seattle or Sept. 1 from Vancouver aboard the 1,916-passenger Westerdam. The near-four-week-long itinerary includes seldomly visited Kodiak and Dutch Harbor before heading down to the tropics to make four calls to three Hawaiian islands.

Seabourn ( seabourn.com ) strives to offer a more tasteful Alaskan cruise and not only because it’s an ultra-luxury cruise line. “Caviar on the Ice” is a savory and swanky soiree on every Alaskan voyage, and when the 450-passenger Odyssey is in Sitka, a town originally built by Russian traders in the early 1800s, Seabourn guests can enjoy a culinary adventure that includes a scenic drive to a taproom for a sampling of local brews and a few eateries to try Siberian-rooted pelmeni dumplings and a hot dog made with caribou that the locals call “reindeer dawgs.” Sorry, vegetarians and friends of Santa, but Blitzen on a bun is da bomb.

Carnival Cruise Line ( carnival.com ) is staying with a three-ship deployment in Alaska this season. Sharing the workload of 55 roundtrips generally lasting seven to 11 days are Carnival Spirit (2,610 passengers) and Carnival Luminosa (2,260) out of Seattle, and Carnival Miracle (2,667) from San Francisco. Another mainstream cruise line, Royal Caribbean ( royalcaribbean.com ), has four ships making 85 runs to Alaska from Seattle, Vancouver and Anchorage: Ovation of the Seas, (4,905) and older sister Quantum of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas (2,543) and Radiance of the Seas (2,466).

Disney Cruise Line ( disneycruise.com ) is sending its 2,700-passenger Disney Wonder out of Vancouver for 15 week-long roundtrips, one five-day spin leaving on July 24 and an extended nine-day voyage on July 15.

Other cruise lines showing passengers a whale of a time in Alaska include Crystal, Cunard, Hurtigruten, Lindblad/National Geographic, Oceania, Ponant, Regent Seven Seas and Viking.

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Putin taunts the West with 'first ever' visit to remote ice-covered 'frontier region' just 55 miles from the US - as Zelensky tries to drum up war support in Lithuania

• Chukotka is Russia's easternmost region, sharing a maritime border with Alaska

President Vladimir Putin  has arrived for his first-ever presidential visit to Chukotka in Russia 's Far East - just 55 miles from the US state of Alaska . 

Putin arrived in Anadyr, the local capital of the Chukotka region this morning after flying from Moscow some nine time zones away. 

Chukotka is the easternmost region of Russia, with a maritime border on the Bering Strait with Alaska.

The Russian president was met in Anadyr by a motorcade and was whisked away in a limousine amid frigid temperatures of -28C. 

It's the closest he has come to US soil since he met with President  Barack Obama in New York City in 2015.

Chukotka is so close to Alaska that Roman Abramovich - the ex-Chelsea FC owner - was reported to fly to Anchorage in Alaska for lunch when he was the governor of the region from 2001 - 2008.

Putin's visit comes at a time when US-Russian relations are at their lowest ebb in decades amid the war in Ukraine and a growing East-West divide. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today landed in Lithuania as part of an unannounced trip to the Baltic states to drum up more support for the conflict. 

Global war for control of the ARCTIC: Climate change is unlocking untapped natural resources, new trade routes... and a new international conflict that RUSSIA is already winning  

The three Baltic states - all former Soviet republics which are now EU and NATO members - are among Ukraine's staunchest allies.

'Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are our reliable friends and principled partners. Today, I arrived in Vilnius before going to Tallinn and Riga,' Zelensky said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

'Security, EU and NATO integration, cooperation on electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European support are all on the agenda,' he said.

The Baltic tour marks Zelensky's first official trip abroad this year.

In Lithuania, a key donor to Ukraine, Zelensky said he will hold talks with the president, prime minister and the speaker of parliament, and meet with the Ukrainian community.

The visit comes as other Kyiv allies waver on fresh aid, nearly two years into Russia's invasion.

Ukraine has come under intense Russian shelling in recent weeks, retaliating with strikes on Russia's border city of Belgorod.

Zelensky has urged allies to keep military support flowing and held in-person talks with officials from the United States, Germany and Norway last month.

But an EU aid package worth 50 billion euros ($55 billion) has been stuck in Brussels following a veto by Hungary, while the US Congress remains divided on sending additional aid to Ukraine.

Following his trip to Chukotka, Putin is expected to visit several regions in the Russian Far East to boost his re-election campaign amid the war with Ukraine, which has seen more than 300,000 Russians killed or maimed.

He is due to stand in March, seeking another six years in the Kremlin.

The only Kremlin leader ever to travel to Chukotka previously was Dmitry Medvedev in 2008.

Putin's trip sees him escape a wave of ugly protests in western Russia over hundreds of thousands of people scraping by in freezing conditions due to breakdowns in communal heating supplies.

In Elektrostal, Moscow region, desperate residents say they have had no communal heating - which Russians routinely expect the state to supply usually through piped hot water - for the entire winter so far.

'We have been without heating since [9 October],' one resident said in a video circulating on Telegram.

'It is impossible to be in our homes… We are freezing! We are freezing! We are freezing!' they said. 

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Superyacht Captain: Life and leadership in the world's most incredible industry Paperback – June 14, 2022

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In Superyacht Captain, a professional at the zenith of the world's most lavish and exclusive industry gives a rare insight into a career that is entertaining, instructive and at times daunting in its scale. The tale of an ordinary boy whose career takes him on a most extraordinary journey, this book begins with Brendan messing about in boats in a sleepy coastal Australian town, and ends with him becoming one of the most successful and respected superyacht captains in the World – the consummate 'Billionaire's Captain'. Spanning two decades and circling the globe, his story intimately draws readers into the real world of superyachts, their crew and their owners. It is Brendan's love letter to an industry he respects and holds so dear to his heart. It's the story of stepping out and embracing uncertainty - failing, learning and repeating - weaving in in the lessons he's learned as he's progressed from deck hand to captain, Brendan's insights are valuable for anyone leading teams with demanding objectives. Surprisingly humble and self aware, in a world of glitter and extravagance you can see why he's trusted. All of this is told against a backdrop of seemingly impossible glamour at the most extravagant edge of the global wealth spectrum, with plenty of entertaining stories of the superyacht lifestyle. A brilliant read for all, for the superyacht fans, as well as anyone interested in leadership and management techniques from someone at the top of their game, working for those who define the rules of the game.

• Print length 272 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Adlard Coles
• Publication date June 14, 2022
• Dimensions 6.05 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• ISBN-10 1472992660
• ISBN-13 978-1472992666
• See all details

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About the author.

Brendan O'Shannassay grew up in Fremantle, Australia, and gained his degree and officer education with the Royal Australian Navy. In 2001 he joined his first superyacht as a deck hand, and worked his way up through the ranks to gain his first captaincy in 2006. His yacht racing career has also seen him participate in multiple Sydney Hobarts and the Fastnet Race, amongst others, Brendan is a Board Member of the International Superyacht Society, Chairman of the Captain's Committee, and has helped to establish superyachtcrewhelp.org – a charity working to support the mental health of yacht crews. Superyacht Captain is his first book.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Adlard Coles (June 14, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1472992660
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1472992666
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.05 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• #739 in Boating (Books)
• #3,177 in Rich & Famous Biographies
• #11,162 in Leadership & Motivation

About the author

Brendan o’shannassy.

I was a shy, bookish boy in a small Western Australian coastal town. By age 11 I was a little overweight, and the last to be picked for any team sports. Fortunately, a growth spurt during my 12th year helped me climb the sports social ranking, but I always carried the shadow of those days when I was a little on the outside and not quite expecting to be chosen.

I would never have thought that I would one day as the Captain of some of the World's Greatest Yachts I would be at ease with the wealthiest people on the planet and I would feel more at home in Monaco, Geneva, St Barths, Moscow and London than I did returning to my home town.

This is a captain’s story, my story, where I look back on the physical, emotional and professional challenges that I have faced working in support of the most exclusive client group in the world and their relentless demands. It also charts a journey into the ‘heart of brightness’ that is the superyacht environment. It took me 15 years to earn the title of Captain and I walk through the narrow lanes, the dead ends and the bumpy distractions to that place.

The world of superyachts is far removed from most of the planet’s ‘normal’. It is a world where boundaries blur and the everyday rules of life seem to disappear. A world where lessons and insights are not read about and studied, but lived in an environment of constant pressure, where the consequences of actions result in immediate success or failure. This high stakes, no-safety-net workplace provided me with rolling insights that transfer directly for anyone looking for that edge to be their best version of themselves. My lessons are not hypothetical, gathered from postgraduate studies and delivered in a TED talk; I lived through the glory (but mostly the pain) of the constant scrutiny and expectations of billionaire superyacht owners.

A superyacht is also a study in globalisation. Yacht captains do not speak of diversity as a slogan or a company goal: we live it. The crews are multinational and multilingual and disperse around the globe when not on board. The same is true of the owners. It is common for a conversation to cross multiple languages and for all parties to be speaking in their second or third languages. Many businesses operate globally – this is nothing unique – but not many businesses move their office every few weeks to a new country, a different language, a new climate, a different legal system, and are expected to be experts on arrival.

This is the expectation placed on a yacht and its captain. Whether it be Monaco, Miami, Palau or Papeete, there is an assumption that the captain will have the intimacy of a local by the time their feet are on the dock. They may have ducked an Atlantic hurricane (or two) during the office relocation, but this is not even considered.

The business must be open on arrival. Yes, there are leadership lessons for all from this environment.

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Electrostal History and Art Museum

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Electrostal History and Art Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

• (0.19 mi) Elektrostal Hotel
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The biggest yachts to look out for at the 2024 St Barths Bucket

St Barths is the epicentre of superyacht racing during the Caribbean season, often with an impressive array of superyacht spectators in tow . In the final days leading up to the 2024 St Barths Bucket (21-24 March), BOAT rounds up the largest yachts seen pulling into Gustavia for the famed regatta, beginning with Lürssen's 138-metre Rising Sun ...

Builder: Lürssen Length: 138.01m

If not for her sheer size, Rising Sun will be easy to spot from the shores of Gustavia thanks to her distinct glass panels running across the two upper decks. The yacht was the last ever design of Jon Bannenberg and boasts 8,000 square metres of living space that includes a wine cellar, double-height cinema and a basketball court. Rising Sun was originally commissioned by American business magnate Larry Ellison , who later sold the yacht to media mogul David Geffen. 

Builder: Kleven Length: 116.15m

One of the largest explorer yachts in the world , Multiverse (ex Ulysses ) was commissioned by New Zealand's richest man, Graeme Hart. She is equipped with a heli-hangar on the top deck for a Bell 429 helicopter, as well as a large swimming pool, cinema and spa for the ultimate guest experience. Inside, the yacht's massive 18-metre beam provides accommodation for an owner's party of up to 66. 

Maltese Falcon

Builder: Perini Navi Length: 88m

Fresh out of a full-scale refit, Maltese Falcon is undoubtedly one of the most unique and technologically innovative sailing superyachts in the world – kitted out with radical unstayed masts made of "weapons-grade" carbon fibre, a FalconRig and computerised sail and mast control system. Be sure to look out for the yacht's eponymous emblem on its middle sail, which also appears in the form of a bronze sculpture next to the indoor cinema. 

Builder: Admiral – The Italian Sea Group Length: 74.85m

Instantly recognisable, Kenshō' 's flowing lines and metallic green-blue hull took six years to create with design from Dutch firm Azure Yacht Design and Naval Architecture and Berlin-based archineers.berlin . The Admiral flagship was awarded the coveted Motor Yacht of the Year title at the 2023 BOAT International World Superyacht Awards and picked up another Neptune at the 2023 BOAT International Design & Innovation Awards for Best Interior Design. Onboard highlights include a glass-fronted spa pool on the sundeck, a sunbed shaped in the image of a manta ray and a diesel-electric system based on five variable-speed generators that earned the yacht its Eco classification. 

Builder: Heesen Yachts Length: 65m

The multiple award-winning Illusion (ex Galactica Star ) was delivered by Heesen in 2013, featuring the Fast Displacement Hull Form (FDHF) developed by Dutch naval architects Van Oossanen & Associates . Her streamlined appearance and generous guest amenities have made her a favourite on the charter scene, with Beyoncé and Jay Z among her list of returning clients . Illusion was also singled out by Dickie Bannenberg – who designed the yacht's interior – as one of his most memorable projects owing to its considerable onboard art collection. 

Builder: Benetti Length: 60m

Another popular charter vessel, St David will once again appear on the hit reality TV show Below Deck , but this time with a new captain at the helm. The yacht is characterised by a classic Baroque theme with intricate marquetry made from satin woods, and a mosaic floor on the skylounge that draws inspiration from a "Tuscan palazzo". While St David is known to frequent high-profile events such as the Cannes Film Festival, she has also ventured to off-the-beaten-path locations including the Seychelles, Red Sea and Abu Dhabi. 

Builder: Trinity Yachts Length: 58.83m

Launched in 2016, Imagine... is one of the largest yachts to be built in the United States . The tri-deck vessel was penned by long-time collaborator Geoff Van Aller , with both the hull and superstructure built from aluminium to AB classification. The yacht's primary social area is found on the sundeck, where guests can relax in the Jacuzzi, on multiple sun loungers or at the bar. Inside, Imagine... also has a bonus cabin that doubles as a massage room. 

Builder: Feadship Length: 55.5m

This Feadship superyacht has sailed under a litany of names since her 2005 delivery, including Twizzile , Drizzle , Issana , Madsummer , Cynthia and most recently, Mary A . In 2018, her owner joined forces with American interior designer Claudette Bonville Associates to give Mary A an exhaustive makeover that included a top-to-bottom paint job, technical tweaks and a brand-new interior – all while carefully preserving the yacht's pedigree. 

Builder: Benetti Length: 52m

Lady B (ex Latitude ) appears to be making the most of the winter cruising season, with back-and-forth trips between the British Virgin Islands and St Barths since early December 2023 according to BOATPro 's Global Fleet Tracker. Before that, the yacht spent the off-season touring fan-favourite destinations in the South Pacific, such as Fiji, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia. She is consistently ranked among the most popular charter vessels with amenities such as an outdoor cinema, a Jacuzzi and a recently updated dive centre. 

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The Superyachts is intended to be a keepsake book filled with stunning photographic details, deck layouts, full specifications and special insights into many ongoing discussion points such as the influence of technology. A spotlight is also given to how design has changed over the 35 years since The Superyachts: Volume 1.

The Superyachts is a collector's treasure, and the luxury yachts found within its pages are all the fulfilment of owners' dreams, showcasing the fastest, sleekest and most beautiful vessels to grace the waves. Pre-order today to guarantee you receive the upcoming edition of The Superyachts 37, due for release in December 2023.

THE SUPERYACHTS 4 BOOKS COLLECTION SET. £540.00. PRE-ORDER Superyacht Interiors Volume 7. The 2024 edition of the SUPERYACHT INTERIORS - VOLUME 7 is your guide to the world's leading luxury looks - and the people behind them. £50.00. THE SUPERYACHTS 37.

The Superyachts 36. Payable by Credit/debit card. £180.00. Quantity. Add to basket. The Superyachts 36 continues the unbroken sequence of the most spectacular book on the most spectacular yachts…. Tour 21 stunning yachts, all with remarkable diversity, quality and beauty. The spectacular yachts are all the fulfilment of owners dreams ...

The design of The Superyachts continued to evolve this year under the direction of Christopher Whale and Mark Gillman, with layouts featuring more and larger photos, plus a fresh colour palette. Along with the new fleet of featured yachts, the book carries an updated list with photos of the world's Top 200 yachts by length.

After a few days aboard 'Symphony' or '11.11,' you'd be hard pressed not to find complete inner peace! In The Superyachts Book, Tony Harris, one of the most knowledgeable observers of the scene, provides stunning photos and informative descriptions of the flagships of 20 top shipyards. This book is a luxury everyone can afford.

Published on August 16, 2021. By Michael Verdon. Courtesy Guillaume Plisson. Yachts, from the ancient 140-foot pharaoh's "solar barque" to modern, wild-looking superyachts like Adastra, have ...

The book focuses mainly on motor yachts of over 50 meters long. In collaboration with 95 experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate and manage the world's largest yachts. They are sharing their experience and true gold nuggets of information that will give you years of competitive advantage to understanding the superyacht ...

Buy The Superyachts by Roger Lean-Vercoe (Volume editor) online at Alibris. We have new and used copies available, in 4 editions - starting at $26.67. ... like new condition, Sold by PASCALE'S BOOKS rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NORTH READING, MA, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Edisea Limited:. Edition: 1997, Boat International ...

In Superyacht Captain, a professional at the zenith of one of the world's most lavish and exclusive industries gives a rare insight into a career that makes for eyebrow-raising reading, as entertaining as it is instructive. The tale of an ordinary boy whose career takes him on a most extraordinary journey, this book begins with Brendan messing about in boats in a sleepy coastal Australian town ...

The Superyacht Industry Book, released on 1st December 2020, calls itself "a state of the art reference for the yachting industry."As the very first guide on the topic, this book promises readers an in-depth insight into the world of yachting. The publication is the result of author Marcela de Kern Royer's collaboration with experts who design, build, buy, sell, equip, support, operate ...

The Superyacht Industry book starts with yachting basics such as yachting vocabulary, terms and definitions and then moves into subjects such as yacht design, building a yacht, sales, charter, management, ownership, crew, maritime law, and the future of yachting. Each chapter has numerous subheadings and sub text making it easy to follow.

In The Superyacht Book, edited by Tony Harris, one of the most knowledgeable observers of the scene, the flagships of 21 top shipyards are showcased in stunning exclusive photos and informative descriptions. En passant, you will learn about the most important new trends in superyacht design. This book is a luxury everyone can afford!

The Superyacht Directory is the world's largest database of private luxury yachts, with over 12,000 megayachts listed. It's the most authoritative place to find everything you need to know about superyachts - including new builds, historic vessels and the most famous boats of all time. You can filter your Superyacht Directory search ...

One-third of the yachts in the book are among the world's 100 largest yachts. Specifically, those stand-out yachts are Aquijo, Aquila, Aviva, Christina O,Kismet, Maltese Falcon, and Quattroelle. In addition, two of the latter—namely Aviva and Christina O —are among the 50 largest privately owned yachts. Regardless of yacht size, 140 pages ...

The BOOK ENDS Yacht is a product of the esteemed Heesen Yachts, designed by Omega Architects. Powered by robust MTU engines, she boasts a top speed of 23 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots. The yacht comfortably accommodates 12 guests and a crew of 9. Robert H Book, the owner of Jet Support Services Inc., owns the BOOK ENDS Yacht.

Those who want to experience an older and smaller Evolution-class Silversea vessel can book the Silver Muse, which also will sail mostly seven- to 14-day trips between Anchorage and Vancouver.

Daily Mail. Putin taunts the West with 'first ever' visit to remote ice-covered 'frontier region' just 55 miles from the US - as Zelensky tries to drum up war support in Lithuania

The Singer's top-to-bottom renovation includes its guest rooms, suites, balconies, lobby, pool deck, outdoor pavilion, common areas, meeting rooms and more than 10,000 square feet of function ...

In Superyacht Captain, a professional at the zenith of the world's most lavish and exclusive industry gives a rare insight into a career that is entertaining, instructive and at times daunting in its scale. The tale of an ordinary boy whose career takes him on a most extraordinary journey, this book begins with Brendan messing about in boats in a sleepy coastal Australian town, and ends with ...

Despite some initial wobbles in 2020 when Covid-19 first struck, the superyacht industry has largely shrugged off the pandemic to record a third year of consistent order book growth. The 2022 Global Order Book records an impressive 1,024 projects in build or on order, a rise of 24.7 per cent on last year's 821. To continue reading this article...

Elektrostal, city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia.It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning "electric steel," derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II, parts of the heavy-machine-building industry were relocated there from Ukraine, and Elektrostal is now a centre for the ...

The Books had found themselves in a rather unusual place - without a superyacht. Their previous Book Ends , a 40 metre Westport, had sold surprisingly swiftly, and they were in the middle of a two-year shopping trip to find the perfect yacht, one that would have the range and space they desired to go further afield than their usual cruising ...

Tortuga Island Anhinga Trail Le Bois de Boulogne TRM - Thika Road Mall Hungarian State Opera House (Magyar Allami Operahaz) Museu de la Xocolata Trenitalia Frecciarossa Alligator Alley Old Arcade Small-group Milan Highlights e-Bike Tour SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown Walking Tour in New York Sri Lanka Tour, Kandy to Ella by Tuk-tuk and Train Nordnes Walking Tour: Bergen's History & Charming ...

Builder: Perini Navi Length: 88m Fresh out of a full-scale refit, Maltese Falcon is undoubtedly one of the most unique and technologically innovative sailing superyachts in the world - kitted out with radical unstayed masts made of "weapons-grade" carbon fibre, a FalconRig and computerised sail and mast control system. Be sure to look out for the yacht's eponymous emblem on its middle sail ...