Hotel Drifting In The Ocean - Would You Go?

[sengsational]

There's a concept that's kind of like a cruise ship...a floating resort...but it doesn't go anywhere except where the currents take it. I see so many problems with this that probably won't be overcome any time soon. It's supposed to be self sustaining, but they'd need to work magic to get the effluent from the affluent clean enough to discharge. Without forward motion, they'd not have stabilizers (but maybe the spine design addresses the motion problem). Certainly those people who don't like cruises for fear of being bored would really hate this idea, since there are no ports of call.

[Senator]

Is there a way to go to the deck and drop a line to fish with?

I always enjoyed the 'at sea' days more than the port days. This may be more common as the planet gets more populated. It used to be zero population growth was the big thing, not it seems not so much.

[sengsational]

It would seem if they were looking to be self-sufficient, catching fish would be a good way to do that. I'd love to catch some fish, drop them off with the kitchen, and have them for dinner! They could even "chum" with food scraps. I'm sure this huge floating thing would attract a ton of wildlife.

[Midpack]

Probably not. A few days might be novel. But it sounds boring with no place to go, just as I wouldn't want to be confined to a hotel, no matter how nice the hotel. And I am sure could be built to be safe, but might be pretty uncomfortable drifting in a storm with big waves for days.

I did a search on the MORPHotel but not much info?

[pb4uski]

And the first nasty storm would break it into pieces. No thanks.

[Mr._Graybeard]

It might make for an interesting winter vacation if the hotel drifted into the Gulf Stream and was carried northward about 100 miles per day.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational There's a concept that's kind of like a cruise ship...a floating resort...but it doesn't go anywhere except where the currents take it. I see so many problems with this that probably won't be overcome any time soon. It's supposed to be self sustaining, but they'd need to work magic to get the effluent from the affluent clean enough to discharge. Without forward motion, they'd not have stabilizers (but maybe the spine design addresses the motion problem). Certainly those people who don't like cruises for fear of being bored would really hate this idea, since there are no ports of call.

No way - - I agree with your assessment and to me this looks like a disaster waiting to happen. I don't know details of construction, but it looks like it could break in two (or more) the first time its path intersects with that of a big storm or hurricane. Not only that, to me it's sort of a big "so what?".

It looks like something that someone dreamed up while severely stoned on the substance of choice and then blew a tremendous amount of money making his hallucination become reality. OK, maybe that's a little overly critical. But no, I wouldn't go.

[RE2Boys]

An unpowered cruise ship? Boring....even with power.

[hurricane harry]

A motorcycle drifting through Mexico sounds more appealing.

[LauAnn]

Daily activities might include jet skiing, daily sail boating, underwater wildlife viewing. And if construction allowed, awesome storm watching potential. Yeah, it could be fun.

[harley]

It's just going to wash up on the Florida coast like everything else.

Bustelo Coffee, Ramen noodles wash up on Florida beaches | www.palmbeachpost.com

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I'd love to catch some fish, drop them off with the kitchen, and have them for dinner!

The seafood restaurant across the street from me does that, although you have to clean and fillet it first. Not sure what the point is after you've done all the hard work. I guess it keep the fishy smell out of your house, though. I like it, DW not so much.

[Christine]

So what would it cost? Don't think it will be for the frugal people.

A somewhat similar concept costs from $800k aboard The World:

Home on the High Seas—WSJ Mansion - WSJ

but it's more like a permanent residence on a cruise ship:

Our Home - Live Aboard The World, Available Residences, Cruise Ship Apartments


My guess is that it would get stuck in the pacific:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_..._garbage_patch

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational ....since there are no ports of call.

At least no scheduled ports of call.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RE2Boys An unpowered cruise ship? Boring....even with power.

So it would be similar to Carnival Cruise in the Gulf of Mexico

[MooreBonds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christine A somewhat similar concept costs from $800k aboard The World: Home on the High Seas—WSJ Mansion - WSJ but it's more like a permanent residence on a cruise ship: Our Home - Live Aboard The World, Available Residences, Cruise Ship Apartments

I briefly looked into the "The World" concept out of curiosity, and it was sky-high pricing, as expected. It started off as a private development, where 1-bedroom rooms (albeit, LARGE 1 bedroom, for a cruise ship) ran about $800k in the early 2000s. Then they ran into financial trouble, and had to start doing temporary stays to get cash coming in. Residents paying millions were pissed, so they got together and had to pony up huge additional sums per person to buyout the developer so it would be an exclusive ship. Annual dues are (I think) maybe $30k for a 1 bedroom unit. And that's just for bare staff - that doesn't fund a reserve fund to replace the engines/generators/whatever else needs to be overhauled every 10-20 years!

When I read the topic, I first thought it was going to be about "The World" ship, but surprised to see another stab at it, with a far worse concept.

Without any propulsion, how do you get to this floating insanity out towards the middle of the Pacific/Atlantic/Indian oceans? Pay some unknown amount for someone in a 3rd world country to airlift you in a helicopter (if within a full tank distance), or wait 10 days for a crummy, dirty ship to come out to pick you up and spend several days to take you back to shore, at some random location on its travel path, then travel a day to the nearest international airport, to then pay insanely high last-minute tickets to get you back to wherever you want to go to? People pay extremely high prices for first-class flights, but I don't see them paying the same costs (or more!) for getting transportation service from some local yahoo outfit with a dirty freighter or some oil tanker to take them out to the middle of the ocean for even higher sums.

The World concept has very high fees, but I can only imagine what this would cost when you add in insurance, since it's a new concept, and a disaster waiting to happen! Not to mention the various costs to get on and off.

And with the "no power" thing, I'd imagine they would utilize some solar arrays, so don't know what they plan on doing when they get 3 cloudy days at sea. In a storm. (LOL - imagine trying to walk around this floating thing in 20-50 ft seas in the dark because there is no power). I know there are ways to harness the thermal incline in the ocean to produce electricity, but I can't see it producing enough power for the refrigerators/freezers to keep the food safely cold, and cooking the food, along with all of the other bare minimum requirements, in addition to providing all of the other electricity needs on the ship.

You could always go with a nuclear option for power (if permissible by whatever nation it is flagged under) - but I doubt those wearing the green shaded glasses would consider that.

[Closet_Gamer]

Right now there are Somalian pirates thinking "An unpowered ocean barge full of rich people? Oh please build this!!"

Anyone who boarded this thing would be an instant Darwin Award candidate for many different reasons.

[Nemo2]

^ ^^

Yeah, but surely there has to be a down side?

[rodi]

I don't have any desire to go on something like this... too boring.
It reminds me of the ice hotels that pop up every winter. Friends went to one last year - said the novelty was interesting but would NEVER do it again or recommend it because, not surprisingly, it was freezing!!!! Cold to the point of not being able to sleep. This would be boring the way that was cold.

[brett]

Never.

We did a transatlantic cruise a few years ago. We were both ready to jump overboard at the end of day 3!