Cruise ship
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
A cruise ship (or cruise liner) is a ship that takes people on holidays and vacations. Hundreds of thousands of people take cruises each year, because they can go to different places, and because the ships are so large and beautiful.
Cruise ships began when people needed to cross the Atlantic Ocean, before airplanes. These ships were called ocean liners. To get more passengers, companies added beautiful rooms, expensive food, and so on.
In the late 19th century, the Hamburg-America company began doing regular winter cruises across the Atlantic. Other companies then did the same thing; some of them built special ships that could be used in any season.
When large airplanes began moving people around the world in the 1960s, nearly all travelers switched from ships to planes; but some enjoyed the few days of relaxation, so while the ocean liner business was ruined, cruising voyages never stopped completely.
Later other cruises became popular, such as to the islands of the Caribbean, and through the Mediterranean. New ships were built as more and more people wanted to take these cruises. The 1970s American television (T.V.) show The Love Boat helped people to understand what cruises were like, and helped them to become even more popular.
Today, hundreds of cruise ships sail all over the world. Some carry over 3,000 passengers - these are among the largest ships ever built. For some places, such as Antarctica, cruise ships are nearly the only way for tourists to visit.
Today's cruise ships are like floating hotels, with a complete "hospitality staff" (to serve food and help passengers in other ways), in addition to the usual ship's crew. The most expensive cruises often have more crew/staff than passengers.