Cruise ships

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I hate them.

They are gargantuan, obese, vulgar monstrosities which cost billions to build and millions to run. They are environmentally filthy and have led to vast swathes of coral reefs on endangered islands being hacked out so these behemoths can get to the ferry docks.

Most are fitted out like some childish Disneyworld ..... "oh, look, it has an authentic English pub on board" - NO IT FUCKING HASN'T. It has a parachute free fall on it - WHY, for fuck's sake? Horrible infantising bullshit, bland meaningless banality to entertain brain dead consumers. Present company excepted, of course

"Its a good way to see the world" ..... no, it's not. Disgorging thousands of ignorant tourists onto a small economy, just for a few hours at a time, means they only ever venture a few miles onshore, where the local economy is ridiculously skewed to serve cruise ship tourists. They drive prices up in a five mile radius of the port and lead to ghost towns being created elsewhere. Poor locals become dependant of the dregs of their largesse until the cruise ship company can tell them they won't be paying port fees anymore (abusing their power just like supermarkets)

They lead to horrific things like dolphin petting zoos springing up. They hardly benefit the local economy anyway, as most passengers money goes straight to the cruise company and only a tiny proportion to the country they dock at. Cruise ship tourists never ever see any real culture or country whatsoever.

They use maritime legal loopholes to exploit cheap Filipino and other labour. The conditions the crews are employed under is shocking, but nobody really gives a fuck because they have a big water slide, a Bubba Gump's and an ice skating rink.