Cruising
In an age when words take on increasingly diverse meanings, it can be challenging to make the nature of your intended topic clear. Take the word ‘cruising’ as an interesting example. It can refer to driving slowly or repeatedly along a popular road route for fun, to see and be seen, and to socialize, a practice popular in many towns and cities. Another meaning is that it refers to walking or driving around looking for a sexual partner, often in specific locales, and in this use, it is a term that became historically associated with gay male culture in the second half of the 20th Century. In my use of the term, I am taking up another common use of the term, referring to ‘ocean cruising,’ which describes taking a vacation on a large ship, and calling in at different ports for sightseeing, entertainment, and relaxation.
The ocean cruise market has grown dramatically, and in 2025, an estimated 37 million passengers enjoyed a holiday travelling by ship for a number of days. Industry projections suggest the global cruises market revenue is expected to grow from $44 billion today to reach r around $54 billion by 2029. There are around some 323 cruise ships currently in operation globally, managed by 51 ocean cruise lines, and a further 27 river cruise lines. It isn’t just a growing area of business, but the ships are growing, too! Today, on average a cruise ship can host around 3,000 passengers. One final statistic: it is an activity somewhat focussed on older passengers, with an average age of around 47 years old.
In practice, cruise ships are really rather large passenger ships, and they are run in a way that suggests the best way to think of them is basically as floating hotels, with a large number of hospitality staff in addition to the usual ship’s crew. Given what are often significantly high passenger numbers, ships restaurants often organize two dinner sittings per day, and besides having one or two formal dining rooms, most cruise liners also have one or more casual buffet-style eateries. Total meal outlets on a ship can number eight to fifteen of more.
Cruising began to be a serious vacation pastime in the middle of the Nineteenth Century, but the industry experienced fluctuations in popularity over the next hundred years, almost ceasing in the 1970s and 1980s. However, this began to change in the late 1980s with the appearance of “megaships” built specifically for the mass cruising market. Cruise ships appeared with such innovations as having multi-story lobby, often with a glass elevator and one or more decks with cabins each with a private balcony. In more years, cruise ships have been designed to maximize the range of passenger amenities including several different kinds of cuisine in the various restaurants and other meal venues, meeting spaces, cinemas and cabaret venues. They have been described as ‘balcony-laden floating condominiums’. It is not uncommon for the more luxurious ships to have more crew and staff than passengers.
Since the 1980s, the pace of change has been amazing. One clear indicator is that between 1988 and 2009, the largest class cruise ships have grown a third longer from 268 to 364.7 metres, (879 feet 3inches in 1988, up to 1,196 feet 8 inches), they have doubled their widths (going from 32.2 to 65.7 metres, (105.5 feet up to 215.6 feet 7), nearly tripled the total passenger count (2,744 to 7,600), and more than tripled in volume (going from 73,000 to 248,000 gross tons). In addition they have changed from offering a single deck with verandas to all decks having cabins with verandas. However, to offer a sense of perspective it remains the case that hotels still dominate, with the total number of cabins on all of the world’s cruise ships amounting to less than 2% of the world’s hotel rooms.
Cruise ships are organized much like floating hotels, with the numbers of hospitality staff equal to exceeding those for the ship’s crew. They’re needed, as most cruise ships offer a wide variety of facilities, including:
- Buffet restaurants
- Card room
- Casino – Only open when the ship is at sea to avoid conflict with local laws
- Childcare facilities
- Cinema, and/or theatre with Broadway-style shows
- Fitness centre
- Hot tubs
- Indoor and/or outdoor swimming pool with water slides
- Library
- Lounges, often including an ‘Observation lounge’
- Indoor activities including karaoke, ping pong and pool tables
- Shops – usually only open when the ship is at sea to avoid merchandising licensing and local taxes
- Spa
- Teen lounges
Some of the huge ships travelling on the oceans today can also include such features as bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, sky-diving simulators, miniature golf courses, video arcades, ziplines, surfing simulators, water slides, basketball courts, tennis courts, ropes obstacle courses, and even roller coasters. They are floating cities!
Most cruise ships sail the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, but some travel to other areas including the Arctic and Antarctic oceans (pack-ice free areas, of course), the South Pacific, the Baltic Sea and New England, among others. There are also ‘Expedition ‘cruise lines, which usually operate small ships, and visit certain more specialized destinations such as ports in the Arctic and Antarctica, or the Galapagos Islands.
The Caribbean region is one of the largest cruising areas in the world, responsible for over $2 billion in direct revenue to the Caribbean islands in 2012, employing over 45,000 locals. An estimated 20 m cruise passengers visited the islands annually, with The Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Jamaica and other locales seeing at least 1 m visitors a year. Alaskan cruises see more than 5 million passenger and crew visits, annually, but Europe is the world’s second-largest cruise market, only a little behind North America. Over 8 million European passengers cruised globally in 2024, with around 18 million passengers going through EU ports in 2023. Today, there may be 100 million people going ocean cruising annually.
All this data leaves to one side the nature of life aboard a cruise ship. If these huge ships are often described as similar to a small – and exclusive – town, that description slips past many of the interesting interpersonal issues. Perhaps that takes us to another meaning of the word ‘cruising’, in this case referring to spending time with a previously unknown group of people, where there are no continuing ties to be considered (even if people often create friendships). This gives the people on a cruise ship a novel kind of freedom, both between themselves and other passengers, and between themselves and crew.
There are a number of aspects to this – including the much discussed ‘shipboard liaisons’ in popular literature. However, a rather different perspective comes from looking at matters to do with class, status and social deference.
Social status issues on ocean liners historically involved stark class divisions (steerage vs. cabins), crew-passenger hierarchy, national/ethnic segregation among crew, and challenges for marginalized groups like female seafarers facing gender bias, all affecting access, amenities, and respect, and creating distinct social classes or segments which mirrored or even exacerbated real-world inequalities. In many ways it might seem ocean liners offer a microcosms of society, reflecting and sometimes amplifying existing class structures, a function of ticket prices, crew demographics, and operational structures. Together these can create distinct social worlds within the same vessel. For many ocean liners, their business model is to identify top-of-the-line customers and, for a minimum of $10,000 a week, to pamper them with special amenities like a full-time butler, house them in an elegant suite with two-story views of sunsets over the waves, with access to a private swimming pool and the guaranteed company of elite people like themselves.
Is that also true for cruise lines? Some of the research suggests that there is some softening of these distinctions. Modern cruise lines target a middle-class audience, creating contained “metaspaces” that can ameliorate existing social hierarchies, although there is always a clear distinction between the passenger experience of luxury and escapism, and the working conditions of the crew. The workforce is often segmented by nationality and race, with workers from the “global South” (particularly the Philippines and the Caribbean) frequently occupying lower-waged, service-oriented roles like cabin cleaning. In many ways, it is the divisions between crew from different backgrounds and in lower level positions that most clearly mirror global economic inequalities.
Another criticism of the cruise line industry is that it presents ‘Europeanised’ representations of destinations, which some have compared to ‘plantation tourism’. Some have built private destinations (like Royal Caribbean’s Labadee, Haiti, and CocoCay, Bahamas), and most vertically integrate their services, ensuring passenger spending generally stays within the company’s ecosystem rather than significantly benefiting local economies. However, cruise operations can bring some revenue to local governments through port fees, which have been increasing in recent years, and through the commercialization of local culture to meet tourist expectations, creating a potential disconnect between the insulated onboard experience and the realities of the destinations visited. However visits can be so well managed, using carefully chosen transport and tour guides, that the local experience is essentially curated.
All this is true, but part of the ‘luxury’ on being on a cruise is that, albeit briefly, passengers can forget about the realities of daily life. The overall broad homogeneity of the people on the ship in terms of relative social status is reinforced, by some cruises lines, in making certain there are no obvious class-based activities or areas. In that sense, the cruise is an ‘out of the everyday world’ experience, an escape. Isn’t this the intention of a holiday, to get away from normal work, tensions and social issues, and indulge in a fantasy by living in a way that is unlike everyday life. The guest on the cruise ship knows this, just as the same form of artificial living is evident by enjoying hotel and resort experiences, experiences that are costly and special and thereby quite different from and ‘outside’ normal activities.
Perhaps this is like going to the cinema or reading a book. You are being ‘transported’ to another realm, albeit briefly, where you can enjoy a series of experiences that you know aren’t ‘real life’. This alternative is far more expensive, of course, but people will save for that ‘once in a lifetime’ chance to escape and enjoy a life that is otherwise inaccessible. As with reading, there is a distinction between being merely entertained and learning.
It is helpful to distinguish between two aspects of ocean cruising. These are the experiences on the ship itself, and then the visits and tours of the places that are included on any cruise itinerary. The ways these two aspects of the cruising experience are managed are very revealing.
Some cruises are almost exclusively focussed on the on-board experiences. Ships offering this approach are often full of entertainment options, with cinemas, gambling, functions and even libraries to give the passengers alternative activities. Of these, there is one, the swimming pool, that is an attraction for many. All these experiences are focussed on the same underlying purpose: you eat, sleep and enjoy yourself on board, an approach that can easily turn into mindless relaxation. This is the ‘indulgence’ side of ocean cruising.
The alternative focus in cruising is to call at many ports on the itinerary, and arriving at some ports there can be ten or more different onshore visits available for ship guests. Some support that theme of indulgence, offering a day at a spectacular beach, or dining at a special restaurant. Many provide opportunities to learn and explore, visiting sites in famous cities, museums, stately homes and other attractions. Here, the explicit aim is educational, inviting those passengers going on land tours to learn, and broaden their understanding of past events and present communities. This is the ‘learning’ side of ocean cruising.
Another perspective on cruising is to step aside from cruise lines and ships and focus instead on the varieties of passengers. As noted at the beginning of this essay cruising can refer to “driving slowly or repeatedly along a popular road route for fun, to see and be seen, and socialize, a practice popular in many towns and cities. Another meaning is that it refers to walking or driving around looking for a sexual partner … [but] another common use of the term, referring to ‘Ocean Cruising,’ which is taking a vacation on a large ships, visiting different ports for sightseeing, entertainment, and relaxation.” What are those cruise line passengers seeking when they go on a cruise?
The challenge sits in that word ‘cruising’. It implies entertainment and relaxation. Certainly, many of the passengers seem to be focussed on those two, perhaps with the addition benefit of eating and drinking without preparation or washing up! For them, the cruise ship is one big service provider, and all they need to do is to sit back, relax and enjoy, although they may indulge in some sightseeing, taking videos or photographs to show to family and friends back home. Key in for many people who go on cruises is to avoid housework, cooking, washing clothes and bed linen, and bedmaking. It is like going on a beach holiday, but in this case the bedroom goes with you, along with facilities and staff to meet your needs.
For others, the cruise is an adventure, not a merely a way to relax. They want to see new places, to go on trips to visit towns and buildings all the way from hamlets to palaces and cathedrals, and look at novel vegetation, landscapes and mountains. Not just to see, but to learn, to tour with an expert who will point out the obvious and the hidden, and who will provide a historical overview to sights on each trip. For them, the ship is more like an elegant caravan, principally a place where they can eat and sleep. Their moving hotel is taking them to places they really want to explore. While they enjoy having meals prepared for them, sleeping and resting in a cabin kept clean by staff, while being able to look out of their window and see the passing scenery, they want more than the ship and its facilities . It is possible this might be a minority of cruise passengers today, these are the people for whom it is the places they visit, rather than merely what is on the ship that is at the core of their enjoyment. They are in a hotel that takes them to fascinating new places every day!
