Cruise Ship Meets Space Ship
Image Credit: origin unknown
Is this The Cruise of The Future?
During this hiatus of my beloved cruising, I have spent many hours just daydreaming all things cruise, and wondering what the future might hold, and just how cruising might change.
The thought of what measures cruise lines may have to take to become Covid-secure Is too depressing for a grey Sunday morning (the subject of a future post no doubt). No, I decided to think of what could be, in a future Covid-free dimension, where anything is possible.
Space-Cruise Ships
There have been many versions of the space/sea hybrid in sci-fi moves, such as the Fhloston Paradise featured in Fifth Element (see above).
The space tourism industry is now planning space cruises with companies including Virgin Galactic, Boeing, SpaceX, and World View Enterprises leading the way. Entrepreneur, Elon Musk dreams of conquering space and believes it is totally doable in his lifetime
In response, many space-ship designers are taking their inspiration from cruise ships, and no wonder. What better design could there be, but they will have a lot of work to do if they are to make their vessels anywhere near as exciting (although I will concede that the destination might take some beating).
Frank Bunger, founder and CEO of Orion Span, said in a recent interview that his planned orbital hotel will be “like a small cruise ship”. Apparently at least 26 people have already paid the $80,000 deposit to reserve their stay - I wonder if that includes a drinks package?
Space-themed Cruises Back on Earth
If you are both a cruise and a space fan, here is a bit of cruise/space related trivia. Viking Orion is named after the constellation Orion and also in recognition of NASA's Orion spacecraft, which was the first crewed capsule designed to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit. It was also the final project that the ship’s godmother, retired NASA astronaut Anna Fisher, worked on before she retired in May 2017.
Want more? Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 set sail in 2019 to celebrate World Space Week on a special space-themed Transatlantic Crossing. The journey featureD a variety of space-themed experiences, including talks from distinguished space explorers and astronomers.
Sadly you’ve missed the boat for that and also Norwegian Jade’s Star Trek cruise which sailed in January 2018 but I’m sure there will be more space adventures planned in the future.