Cruise Ship Construction Process

The world of cruising to get bigger and better

Here are the facts:

» Spain founded its first settlement in the New World in Panama and made this tiny country its shipping center for all the riches it acquired in South America.

» In 1851, the California gold rushers needed a way to transport their fortunes to the East Coast, so that's why the United States was given permission to build the first intercontinental railway between the two oceans.

» In 1904, the French convinced the Panamanian people a canal would be better than a railroad. Unfortunately, their attempt at this gigantic construction task was so thwarted by climate, disease and bad management that the United States had to step in and rescue the project.

» To build the 50-mile-long Panama Canal connecting two oceans took 10 years, $400 million and the lives of more than 27,000 men, but its completion saved seamen 8,000 miles of travel time on a journey from New York City to California.

» The average cost of a toll to transit the canal is $54,000. The most expensive toll to date was $331,200 paid by the Disney Magic cruise liner; the cheapest toll was 36 cents paid by Richard Halliburton who swam the canal — in 10 days.

» On Dec. 31, 1999, the U.S. officially transferred Canal ownership and full responsibility to the government of Panama.

This strategic crossroad of the world seems to be faring well under Panamanian leadership. Today, the canal ushers through some 14,000 vessels — an astounding 4 percent of the world's maritime commerce. The ingenious system put in place still works well.

However, change is happening. Plans to turn the present "two-lane canal" into a "three-lane water highway" are in the works. One of the reasons for the 3rd lane is to ensure the U.S. fleet has unobstructed passage between the oceans in case of emergency. Designed to comfortably accommodate the largest battleships in our Navy's fleet, the locks will be equipped with every anti-sabotage safeguard known. The idea is to keep the zone open and safe at all times and to prevent another Pearl Harbor from happening.

As a travel agent, I think this is a great idea, because if the canal locks are widened to accommodate the biggest men-of-war battleships, then that also means every cruise ship — from the Queen Mary to the Oasis of the Seas — will one day be able to transit the canal, too. Lucky for us...the world of cruising will just get bigger and better! You cannot but be amazed at the American ingenuity and sheer guts that devised this workable plan to get from one ocean to another.

Cruise Ship Design And Construction — DreamVacation123

Ship building is an old and crafted form or engineering, and even today it’s as relevant and important as it was 100 years ago. Much design, time and labour goes into the production of cruise ships, and it’s no surprise that sometimes it can take years before a ship is ready to get out on the water.

Of course, there is more to cruise ship construction than ship building. The amount of planning that goes in to making sure all of the types of facilities you’d expect to find on a cruise holiday can be included, is considered right from the earliest steps of the design process, to make sure that the layout and appearance of the ship can accommodate everything that’s required on board.

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Cruise Travel

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