They DID it! Costa Concordia is afloat!

[nosborne48]

Elsewhere on this forum I expressed my doubts that such a thing was possible but they did it. Amazing! The ship will now be towed to Genoa for breaking.

[Roald]

That's quite a feat of engineering, very impressive. When you look at the aerial photos of the site, it's absolutely shocking how close to the shore that ship was sailing.

Incidentally, the article I read stated that Costa Concordia was twice the size of the Titanic. I understand that by today's standards the Titanic was not exceptionally large, but still, twice the size? That surprises me.

Are they referring to gross tonnage, or the increased square footage due to modern "wedding cake" construction?

[nosborne48]

Who knows. Best guess would be gross tonnage, which is a measure of volume rather than weight. Or maybe it's length over all?

Titanic was a very large ship even by current standards for passenger vessels but the idea of the cruise ship didn't yet exist. Personally, I wouldn't send a lousy suitcase on a cruise ship but I'm generally seen as a crank on the subject.

[Roald]

It seems to be only a matter of time before one of these floating casinos capsizes and kills thousands. Imagine an Andrea Doria style accident today. The loss of life would be extreme.

Personally, I've never really understood the whole cruising phenomenon. The ships themselves seem sort of tacky, and just cruising around seems a bit boring. The ports of call can be interesting, but I guess I'd rather visit them via the overland route.

Admittedly, part of my hang up is that I'm terribly prone to seasickness which makes the idea of a holiday at sea less appealing. I've spent a few miserable nights on pitching, rolling ferries in the Irish Sea and now prefer to fly!