How to Build a Mega Cruise Ship
No matter what your cruising preference, megaships are astonishing feats of human innovation. 'Any function you can imagine a land-based city should have—from electricity to water treatment plants—that's all here,' Bernhard Stacher, MSC Cruises' senior vice president of shipboard hospitality operations, told me. But unlike a city, 'it has to float.' A megaship requires its own security force, food production facilities, waste disposal systems, medical centers, and even its own jail and morgue. And its inhabitants must be kept entertained. That means water parks, Broadway-caliber musicals, comedy shows, karaoke, casinos, hundreds of hours of live music, and an almost unimaginable amount of booze.
Behind every sailing is a level of logistical planning that surpasses even that of the largest resorts. 'If you're on land, you can easily call a supplier and say, 'Listen, I'm running out of flour. Can you deliver some tomorrow?'' Stacher said. 'With a ship that is not possible.'
When I boarded MSC World America for its inaugural voyage, I saw no signs of the months of planning or years of construction. Instead of workers hanging in harnesses from the ceiling, there were acrobats in silver bodysuits dangling in aerial silks. The ship's steel bones had been fashionably concealed in Italian marble and polished chrome. 'It's magical to see a ship of this size come to life,' Lynn Torrent, MSC Cruises' president for North America, told me after our embarkation. 'It's really an overwhelming feeling.'
As I sipped my first glass of Champagne while singers belted tunes from Dirty Dancing, the whirling noises of drills and saws felt worlds away. And that's the point, after all: to create a universe unto itself that is untethered to any semblance of reality.
The next morning on my balcony, I glanced up to see a giant red swing set hanging over the side of the upper deck. High above the blue Bahamian sea, its riders shrieked in excitement, feeling the adrenaline—and the magic of an experience like no other.
This article appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
US-EU trade deal wards off further escalation but will raise costs for companies, consumers
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have announced a sweeping trade deal that imposes 15% tariffs on most European goods, warding off Trump's threat of a 30% rate if no deal had been reached by Aug. 1. The tariffs, or import taxes, paid when Americans buy European products could raise prices for U.S. consumers and dent profits for European companies and their partners who bring goods into the country. Here are some things to know about the trade deal between the United States and the European Union: What's in the agreement? Trump and von der Leyen's announcement, made during Trump's visit to one of his golf courses in Scotland, leaves many details to be filled in. The headline figure is a 15% tariff rate on 'the vast majority' of European goods brought into the U.S., including cars, computer chips and pharmaceuticals. It's lower than the 20% Trump initially proposed, and lower than his threats of 50% and then 30%. Von der Leyen said the two sides agreed on zero tariffs on both sides for a range of 'strategic' goods: Aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, semiconductor equipment, certain agricultural products, and some natural resources and critical raw materials. Specifics were lacking. She said the two sides 'would keep working' to add more products to the list. Additionally, the EU side would purchase what Trump said was $750 billion (638 billion euros) worth of natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel to replace Russian energy supplies, and Europeans would invest an additional $600 billion (511 billion euros) in the U.S. What's not in the deal? Trump said the 50% U.S. tariff on imported steel would remain; von der Leyen said the two sides agreed to further negotiations to fight a global steel glut, reduce tariffs and establish import quotas — that is, set amounts that can be imported, often at a lower rate. Trump said pharmaceuticals were not included in the deal. Von der Leyen said the pharmaceuticals issue was 'on a separate sheet of paper' from Sunday's deal. Where the $600 billion for additional investment would come from was not specified. And von der Leyen said that when it came to farm products, the EU side made clear that 'there were tariffs that could not be lowered,' without specifying which products. What's the impact? The 15% rate removes Trump's threat of a 30% tariff. It's still much higher than the average tariff before Trump came into office of around 1%, and higher than Trump's minimum 10% baseline tariff. Higher tariffs, or import taxes, on European goods mean sellers in the U.S. would have to either increase prices for consumers — risking loss of market share — or swallow the added cost in terms of lower profits. The higher tariffs are expected to hurt export earnings for European firms and slow the economy. The 10% baseline applied while the deal was negotiated was already sufficiently high to make the European Union's executive commission cut its growth forecast for this year from 1.3% to 0.9%. Von der Leyen said the 15% rate was 'the best we could do' and credited the deal with maintaining access to the U.S. market and providing 'stability and predictability for companies on both sides.' What is some of the reaction to the deal? German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the deal which avoided 'an unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations' and said that 'we were able to preserve our core interests,' while adding that 'I would have very much wished for further relief in transatlantic trade.' The Federation of German Industries was blunter. 'Even a 15% tariff rate will have immense negative effects on export-oriented German industry,' said Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the federation's leadership. While the rate is lower than threatened, 'the big caveat to today's deal is that there is nothing on paper, yet,' said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank. 'With this disclaimer in mind and at face value, today's agreement would clearly bring an end to the uncertainty of recent months. An escalation of the US-EU trade tensions would have been a severe risk for the global economy,' Brzeski said. 'This risk seems to have been avoided.' What about car companies? Asked if European carmakers could still sell cars at 15%, von der Leyen said the rate was much lower than the current 27.5%. That has been the rate under Trump's 25% tariff on cars from all countries, plus the preexisting U.S. car tariff of 2.5%. The impact is likely to be substantial on some companies, given that automaker Volkswagen said it suffered a 1.3 billion euro ($1.5 billion) hit to profit in the first half of the year from the higher tariffs. Mercedes-Benz dealers in the U.S. have said they are holding the line on 2025 model year prices 'until further notice.' The German automaker has a partial tariff shield because it makes 35% of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the U.S. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the company said it expects prices to undergo 'significant increases' in coming years. What were the issues dividing the two sides? Before Trump returned to office, the U.S. and the EU maintained generally low tariff levels in what is the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, with some 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in annual trade. Together the U.S. and the EU have 44% of the global economy. The U.S. rate averaged 1.47% for European goods, while the EU's averaged 1.35% for American products, according to the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. Trump has complained about the EU's 198 billion-euro trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more from European businesses than the other way around, and has said the European market is not open enough for U.S.-made cars. However, American companies fill some of the trade gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services. And some 30% of European imports are from American-owned companies, according to the European Central Bank.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Von der Leyen and Trump strike EU-US trade deal with 15% tariff for the bloc
The trade deal will introduce a 15% tariff for the vast majority of EU products. But some will benefit from a "zero-for-zero" scheme. View on euronews
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool close in on SPECTACULAR €78m deal
Liverpool are now close to securing a massive deal. It isn't their first of the summer and it won't be the last. Liverpool have struck some of the biggest deals anywhere this summer. Florian Wirtz arrived for a club-record amount, of course, while Hugo Ekitike wasn't too far behind that. Shop the LFC Store LFC Kits Shop Now LFC x New Era Shop Now LFC Signed Merch Shop Now LFC x Titleist Shop Now Both full-back positions have record signings, too. Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are now the most Liverpool have spent at left-back and right-back, respectively. It's been an unprecedented summer of deals for the Reds, who have moved massively to upgrade their title-winning team. What we haven't really seen yet, though, are moves in the other direction. Trent Alexander-Arnold left quickly to join Real Madrid, with Los Blancos paying a small fee for the last month of his contract. Caoimhin Kelleher and Jarell Quansah have both moved on, too, though neither were first-team regulars last season. But those regulars do have to depart - Liverpool must make room for the arrivals, after all. Now it seems like that is in fact happening as the Reds close in on a major sale. Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich Sky Sports reports that Bayer Munich and Liverpool are now very close to sealing a deal for Luis Diaz. Bayern will pay around €79m for the Colombian. That's essentially what Liverpool wanted as an asking price this summer. €80m was the quoted figure and while Bayern have avoided putting up that much, they're awfully close. Liverpool were always going to be open to selling Diaz for the right price given he's in the final two years of his contract. It's taken some time to get there - both Bayern and Barcelona saw offers rejected - but it appears an agreement is here.
