I have this mental image of how they decided this one at the Royal Caribbean board meeting:
EVP #1: "What can we do so we can give the biggest middle finger to Al Gore?"Facetiousness aside, I wonder to what extent will the current economic turmoil affect the cruise ship industry. The decision to commission these large ships occurred years in advance (2004, according Wikipedia), and I'm guessing their MBAs did not anticipate this level of economic disruption . Will the AARP crowd still be there after losing half their retirement fund? Are cruise companies sufficiently capitalized to survive this hit to their cashflow?
EVP #2: "How about a freakin' ice rink on a cruise ship so that you can do the triple lutz while the ship is crossing the equator?"
EVP#1: "Brilliant!"
2 comments:
http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/19/saving-the-waves/
What I found most cool was what they did with the hull of the ship. The hull is coated with a non-toxic silicone to create less friction with the water. The coating also reduces the growth of barnacles and algae on the ship, which helps reduce the chances of transporting an invasive species into a habitat it shouldn’t be in. (Like the Zebra Mussels that are creating havoc throughout the Great Lakes.)
As for physical design, they moved the longitudinal center of buoyancy forward to create smaller angles in the aft of the ship, resulting in smoother flow of water to the propeller. They also put a kind of reverse spoiler on the stern to help reduce drag. More than 90 wind tunnel and water tank tests were done to help design a hull that is 30 percent more fuel efficient than older ships. That’s a huge reduction on greenhouse gases AND a huge cost savings to the bottom line. (Though like just about any large oceangoing vessel, Celebrity Solstice still runs on diesel. A lot of it.)
http://www.latimes.com/theguide/holiday-guide/la-et-family20-2008nov20,0,3710369.story
Never mind that it's supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny in Redondo Beach today. Ice beckons at a new seasonal skating rink at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. You read that right: There's an ice skating rink. Just 150 feet from where the waves lap the shore.
The appropriately named Seaside Ice debuted Tuesday in Redondo Beach and will be open every day throughout the holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, until Jan. 11.
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