Portcities Southampton
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Cruise passengers


Cabins too small, ships too big

Ships that had three or more classes of accommodation were unsuitable for cruising, because passengers on a cruise did not expect to be restricted to just one part of the ship. Conversion was often very expensive, especially as many tourist class cabins were small and basic, lacking toilet facilities. 

Passengers in a cabin

Magnifying glassPassengers in a cabin

Then some existing ships were too large for cruising. A cruise needed to visit scenic places and towns and ports near cities that appealed to the tourists. These places and ports cannot always accommodate the bigger ships. As a result, there have been some embarrassing incidents where ships such as Canberra or Queen Elizabeth 2 have run aground in waters not quite deep enough for them. Unlike CanberraQueen Elizabeth 2 was built for a dual role of line voyages and cruising. Canberra herself has been replaced by one-class ships specially designed for cruising, like P&O`s Oriana and Aurora.