Cruise ships, it turns out, are expensive pieces of equipment to build.
According to The Points Guy, modern cruise ships can cost between $500 million to $900 million.
The Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, which is about 1,187 feet long and took its maiden voyage in 2010, cost about $1.4 billion to make, according to Statista.
That's why cruise ships are rarely outright abandoned if they're ever decommissioned or retired due to the ship's age or, in some cases, catastrophic disasters.
Oftentimes, these vessels are taken to scrapyards to be dismantled for their valuable parts such as the metal. Materials from a single ship can bring in around $4 million, Business Insider reported in 2021.
When a ship is retired and sent to the scrapyard, it can end up at a ship-breaking facility like Aliag in western Turkey.
There, workers perform the dangerous job of taking apart a ship that once held thousands of passengers.
But sending ships to a breaking facility also comes with costs that can make it less prudent for companies to, for example, retrieve a capsized ship, according to Cruise Hive.
In one of the more unique cases, the MS World Discoverer, a small German cruise ship built in 1974, struck a reef near the Solomon Islands in April 2000, according to the cruise blog.
The ship was declared a total loss and abandoned in part because of the remote and shallow location of the wreckage.
But another reason why the ship had to be abandoned was because the Solomon Islands were experiencing civil unrest. In June 2000, a militant organization overthrew the prime minister during a coup d'état.
According to Cruise Hive, a local tribe shot arrows at the salvage crew sometime later that year. Thus, the MS World Discoverer remains near the islands to rot.
In other cases, a cruise ship can be given a second life as a tourist attraction, hotel, or even a temporary hospital in emergency cases, Business Insider previously reported.
The most well-known example is the Queen Mary, which sailed between 1936 to 1967 before it made its final stop in Long Beach, California, and remains at the port to this day.
The ship has since been repurposed into a tourist attraction and hotel with 347 staterooms and suites.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when cruises and other travel industries came to a screeching halt, some ships also were used as a "floating hospital" for sick patients.
FAQs
All cruise ships have morgues, though this is not publicized. The passenger's remains should be kept in the morgue undisturbed until the cruise ship gets to its next port which accepts human remains, at which point the body will be unloaded from the ship and transferred to local authorities.
What happens to cruise ships when they are no longer in use? ›
What happens to cruise ships when they are no longer being used? Most owners will attempt to sell them - though sometimes they end up being sold for scrap. The owners themselves do not scrap them - they sell them to a company that specializes in scraping ships and lets them do the actual scrapping.
What do cruise lines do with old ships? ›
Beyond the cruise ship graveyard: How old cruise boats get a second life as hotels, shelters, and artificial reefs. Decommissioned cruise ships often end up in scrapyards where they're pulled apart. But others have been repurposed as floating hotels and artificial reefs.
Do cruise ships do burial at sea? ›
Guest Services and the Environmental Officer will coordinate the burial at sea. Depending on the ship's itinerary, a time and location will be coordinated based on the guest's suggestions and operation requirements. The location of the event may take place in a non-accessible area of the ship.
Do cruise ships have morgues on board? ›
There's a morgue …
Most vessels are required to have a morgue and additional body bags in the event of an emergency. The morgue, usually a small stainless steel refrigerated room on the ship's lowest deck, accommodates between two to 10 bodies, depending on the size of the vessel.
Do cruise ships have jail cells? ›
What Is a Cruise Ship Jail? Most cruise ships have a facility known as a “brig” or “holding cell.” These are small, secure rooms designed to detain passengers or crew members who pose a threat to themselves or others.
What is the lifespan of a cruise ship? ›
On average, a healthy, well-built cruise ship can last for around 30 years, including regular services and design refreshes. But some cruise ships last for much longer. We take a look at the oldest cruise ships still sailing the seas and chart some of the different stages in their lifespan.
Has a Carnival cruise ship ever sank? ›
Has a Carnival cruise ship ever sank? No. But one has been shipwrecked.
What happens to a cruise if there is a hurricane? ›
The ship either will return to the home port early to arrive before the storm or stay out at sea for extra days to wait for the storm to pass. In rare cases when a home port closes due to a storm, ships have been known to sail to an alternative port to drop off passengers.
What do cruise ships dump into the ocean? ›
Cruise ships not only dump sewage and food waste, but they also dump harmful fuel waste into the oceans as well. Cruise ships often use cheap, dirty, heavy fuel to power their engines. And their smokestacks must be cleaned to remove the harmful elements from the exhaust.
In the 'settlement chamber', dense substances sink to the bottom and the water floats to the top. The residual sludgy material is repeatedly returned for reprocessing. At the end of the cycles the remaining material is disposed of in low-emission incinerators.
How do cruise ships get rid of human waste? ›
Rules for cruise ships vary - but disposal is generally dumping untreated waste at sea beyond a set limit from the shore. Such waste is stored in tanks and pumped out and into the toiletbsystem at airports or ports.
Does the Navy dump caskets in the ocean? ›
Burial at Sea is a means of final disposition of remains that is performed on United States Navy vessels. The committal ceremony is performed while the ship is deployed. Therefore, family members are not allowed to be present.
How big is the morgue on a cruise ship? ›
The facilities are refrigerated, stainless steel rooms accommodating between two and 10 bodies on the lowest deck of the vessels, The New York Times reported.
Do cruise ships have coffins on board? ›
Cruise ship morgues are equipped with facilities to preserve bodies until they can be disembarked at the next port of call. The process involves cooperation with local authorities, embassies, and funeral services to arrange for the repatriation of the deceased.
What is the main cause of death on a cruise ship? ›
Accidents and injuries are not uncommon, and recent studies have identified these as some of the most likely causes of deadly cruise consequences. Falling overboard. Murder. Suicide.
Do cruise ships cover up deaths? ›
Neither the consulate or cruise ship covers the costs of getting the body home – this comes down to the loved ones or the insurer. If the death occurs on a short-cruise, the body is usually stored until the end of the cruise, making things easier for the loved ones.
What do cruise ships do if someone falls off? ›
As soon as an incident happens, cruise ship crew will activate a button that pinpoints the place where the person went into the water. The ship will then stop and turn back to that area. The ship and its crew will perform a lengthy search and rescue operation, lasting several hours.
Are there doctors on cruise ships? ›
Medical staff varies by ship size, but typically ships have a doctor and at least two nurses. The world's largest cruise ships may have two doctors and five or six nurses. River ships and small ships that hover close to shore have less staff since they can easily access health facilities on land.
