Cruise ships are often called "floating hotels." But Oasis of the Seas, the one of the largest vessels afloat in its industry, is more like several floating hotels.

The boat is big.

Amusingly, it's not quite as big of its sister ship, Allure of Seas.

Allure — also operated by Royal Caribbean — is reportedly two inches larger!

Oasis was built in Finland, at a cost of $1.4 billion, and been in service with Royal Caribbean since 2009, sailing from its home port in Florida.

And what luxurious cruises it takes its thousands of passengers on! The tricky thing is to not get lost amid the ship's many, many features.

At the time of the Oasis of the Seas' launch, she was the undisputed largest cruise ship in the world, measuring 1,186.5 feet. Recently, she was officially surpassed by Allure of the Seas, another Royal Caribbean cruise ship, by a whopping 2 whole inches, though some have called into question the temperature differences between the two ships at the time of measurement.

When compared to other large ships, the Oasis of the Seas is stunningly huge.

The ship features 2,606 rooms that can accommodate a maximum of 6,296 passengers. The ship cost $1.4 billion to build and weighs 225,000 tons.

Business Insider toured Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas as it underwent a 32-day bow-to-stern rejuvenation at Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine’s Sembawang shipyard.

Up to 3,000 people worked around-the-clock to rebuild the vessel at a cost of $66 million (£42 million)

Workers live both on-site and in local villages and ride bicycles to and from work as well as using them to move quickly around the enormous shipyard.

Tugs are used to manoeuvre large vessels in and out of the shipyard. Many have firefighting capabilities, allowing them to assist in emergencies.

The multinational workforce is offered workshops on parenting and marriage. There are excursions for children, sports, and weight management programmes.

Luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas Cruises just pulled the curtain off its new ship, which is being called "the most luxurious cruise ship ever."

And that's not an empty boast. The Explorer is filled bow to stern with as much luxury as you could possibly ask for. All the rooms in the ship are suites with balconies and everything included.

Plus, one of the megasuites measures almost 3,900 square feet — 50% bigger than the average American home, according to USA Today — and will cost $5,000 per person per night.

There's also plenty of luxury outside the bedrooms. The 56,000-ton liner includes a casino, a library, and three specialty restaurants, as well as a main dining room.

The Explorer will make its maiden voyage in July 2016, but you can already reserve your space in history — Regent is taking reservations for the inaugural season now.

Welcome aboard the Seven Seas Explorer. Its builders, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, are already calling it "the most luxurious cruise ship ever built."

The ship will only have room for 750 guests, and claims to have the highest staff-to-passenger ratio in the business. This is the super-opulent lobby of the ship.

The Observation Lounge is a few decks up. It sports a silver-and-gold color scheme that Seven Seas calls "ripped form the pages of 'The Great Gatsby.'" The lounge also features a dance floor and floor-to-ceiling windows for a spectacular ocean view.

Randi Zuckerberg, founder of Zuckerberg Media and sister to Facebook billionaire Mark, wants to make sure you unplug while you're on vacation. 

Together with Celebrity Cruises, Zuckerberg has launched the "Take Care of YourSelfie" program, a spa treatment that will be available in facilities onboard the cruise line.

The program includes several treatments aimed towards people who may be a bit too attached to their devices.

There's "fACEial Time," a facial that uses vitamin therapy to treat "a wide range of skin care needs related to staring at computer and tablet screens." 

There's the "Texticure," a warm parrafin manicure that includes a nail polishing, buffing, and skin moisturizing treatment. According to a press release announcing the program's launch, "this experience is the perfect treat for hands always texting and responding to emails."

Zuckerberg told the Daily Mail the texticure is her favorite treatment in the package because it forces her to take a break from her phone.

"It’s so luxurious and immediately moisturizes your hands," she said. "And because they’re in gloves, you can’t even send a text message while you’re getting it."

The "Take Care of YourSelfie" program also includes a detoxifying scrub called the "InstaGlow," a seaweed body wrap called "Get wrAPPed," and a yoga workout called "Control ALT Delight."

 Zuckerberg has long been interested in how we balance the use of technology in our daily lives. She explored the topic in a book called "Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives," which she published in 2013. 

"I'm a working mom with two young children, so I feel like technology is my lifesaver and the whole reason that I can be doing what I'm doing,"she said to the Daily Mail. "But being always connected can be a blessing and a curse, especially when you feel like you're always reachable. And when you're on holiday, those little devices in your pocket make it so easy."

SEE ALSO: San Francisco General Hospital will be named after Mark Zuckerberg after he and his wife donate $75 million

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It took less than four years for Adam Wildman to go from teenager on a cruise liner to sporting champion.

How? The ship had a wave machine, a FlowRider. Wildman was 15 when he tried it for the first time and was hooked.

Flowboarding is a stationary, artificial wave, created by powerful pumps that project a thin layer of water at speeds ranging from 30-to-50km/h. The water flows up and over surfaces engineered to replicate the shape of ocean waves.

World champion surfer Kelly Slater was among those involved in developing the hybrid sport, along with skateboarders, snowboarders and bodyboard inventor Tom Morey. It’s fast-paced, high energy and boasts tricks with names such as double back-flips and strapless superman airs.

Wildman entered the Australian Flowboarding Championship in 2010, placed fourth and started on his path to securing a world title.

In 2013, he became European Champion and is currently ranked fifth in the world in the Pro Bodyboard division. He’s also the number one rider outside of America.

At 19 years old, he’s still catching waves on cruise ships as the FlowRider ambassador for cruise company Royal Caribbean, passing on his enthusiasm to the next generation and demonstrating crazy flips, acrobatic stunts, spins and spills.

“It’s incredible. The feeling of being on the wave especially in the middle of the ocean,” Wildman said.

Here’s a video of Wildman in action:

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The largest cruise ship to ever visit Australia, Ovation of the Seas, is coming to Sydney in summer 2016.

The Royal Caribbean megaliner is currently being built in Germany at a cost of $US1 billion ($AU1.3 billion).

This giant floating apartment block can carry up to 5000 passengers and 1500 crew. It will be 348 metres long and more than 50m tall, with 18 decks. At a gross weight of 168,666 tonnes, it’s the equal third largest cruise liner in the world. Royal Caribbean will have the top 5 largest cruise ships in the world when it’s complete.

It will join the other four superliners calling Australia home during summer: Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas in Sydney and Legend of the Seas in Brisbane.

In a move that will please nearby residents concerned about sulfur emissions, it will have a new purification system, known as scrubbers, that removes 97% of sulfur dioxide emissions from the engines, although the Baird government has promised to ban the use of bunker fuel, which has 3.5% sulfur, before Ovation comes online.

Among the attractions the Ovation will carry are an onboard virtual skydiving chamber, a capsule observatory on a robotic arm rising above the ship for 360-degree views, and a “bionic” bar where cocktails are ordered on tablet, then made by two bionic arms and served without human intervention.

Bookings for Ovation of the Seas open in mid 2015.

The Australian cruise industry is currently worth around $2.3 billion.

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Divers on Tuesday pulled three people alive from inside a capsized cruise ship and searched for other survivors, state media said, giving some small hope to an apparently massive tragedy with well over 400 people still missing on the Yangtze River.

The tally of those brought to safety stood at 15 and at least five people were confirmed dead after the ship capsized during a storm Monday night with 458 people aboard, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The cruise was from Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing, and many of those aboard were elderly.

Some of the survivors swam ashore, but others were rescued more than 12 hours after the ship went down, after search teams climbed aboard the upside-down hull and heard people calling out from within.

Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers in orange life vests climbing on the upside-down hull, with one of them lying down tapping a hammer and listening for a response, then gesturing downward.

Divers pulled out a 65-year-old woman and, later, two men who had been trapped, CCTV said. It said additional people had been found and were being rescued, but did not say whether they were still inside the overturned hull.

Other survivors include the ship's captain and the chief engineer.

The overturned ship had drifted about 3 kilometers (almost 2 miles) downstream before coming to rest close to the river shore, where choppy waters made the rescue difficult. The location is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan.

The fact that the capsized ship drifted downstream was a good sign for rescuers because it meant there was enough air inside to give it buoyancy, and could mean there are enough air pockets for survivors to breathe, said Chi-Mo Park, a professor of naval architecture and ocean engineering at South Korea's Ulsan University.

"It all depends how much space there is inside the vessel," Park said.

Xinhua cited the captain and the chief engineer as saying the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone. CCTV said the two were under police custody. The Communist Party-run People's Daily said the ship sank within two minutes.

CCTV said the four-level ship had been carrying 406 Chinese passengers, five travel agency employees and 47 crew members. The broadcaster said most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years of age.

Many of the ship's passengers started out in Shanghai, taking a bus to Nanjing for the departure to Chongqing. Relatives of passengers gathered in Shanghai at a travel agency that had booked many of the trips, and they later headed to a government office to try to get more information about the accident.

Huang Yan, 49, an accountant in Shanghai, wept as she told a reporter that she believes that her husband, 49, and his father, who is in his 70s, were aboard the boat. But she said she couldn't be sure because she hadn't seen an official passenger list yet.

"Why did the captain leave the ship while the passengers were still missing?" Huang shouted. "We want the government to release the name list to see who was on the boat."

A group of about a dozen retirees from a Shanghai bus company were on the trip, said a woman who identified herself only by her surname, Chen. Among them, she said, were her elder sister and her elder sister's husband, both 60, and their 6-year-old granddaughter.

"This group has traveled together a lot, but only on short trips. This is the first time they traveled for a long trip," Chen said.

The ship sank in the Damazhou waterway section, where the river is 15 meters (50 feet) deep. The Yangtze is the world's third-longest river and sometimes floods during the summer monsoon season.

Several rescue ships were searching the waters, and divers had been deployed. The broadcaster said rescue personnel were trying to determine whether they could right the sunken ship.

More than 50 boats and 3,000 people were involved in search efforts.

The Eastern Star measured 251 feet long (76.5 meters) and 36 feet wide (11 meters) and was capable of carrying a maximum of 534 people, CCTV reported. It is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp., which focuses on tourism routes in the popular Three Gorges river canyon region. The company could not be reached for comment.

CCTV reported that 6 inches (150 millimeters) of rain had fallen in the region over the past 24 hours. Local media reported winds reached 80 mph (130 kph) during the accident.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is reported to be traveling to the accident site. Xinhua reported that President Xi Jinping had ordered a work team of the State Council, the country's Cabinet, to rush to the site to guide the rescue work.

SEE ALSO: Bangladesh ferry capsizes with 100 passengers on board

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JIANLI, China (AP) — Rescuers cut into the upside-down hull of a river cruise ship and pulled out 39 drowned passengers early Thursday, bringing the death toll to 65 since the Eastern Star capsized in the Yangtze River in a heavy storm with more than 450 people aboard.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said rescuers had stabilized the ship with the help of a crane so that it doesn't sink and planned to cut into at least one other part of the hull in hopes of finding more survivors of Monday night's capsizing.

So far, authorities say at least 14 people survived, some by jumping from the ship during the early moments and swimming or drifting ashore. Three survivors were pulled by divers from air pockets inside the overturned hull Tuesday after rescuers heard yells for help coming from inside.

The sudden overturning of the Eastern Star is on track to become the country's deadliest maritime disaster in seven decades, and Chinese authorities have launched a high-profile response while tightly controlling media coverage.

Premier Li Keqiang, the country's No. 2 political leader, traveled to the disaster site in the Hubei province county of Jianli where he urged "all-out," 24-7 efforts.

But the vast majority of those on board remain missing. Many were elderly tourists taking in the scenic vistas of the Yangtze on a cruise from Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Records from a maritime agency show the capsized ship was cited for safety violations two years ago. Authorities in Nanjing held the ship and five other Yangtze cruise vessels after it found them violating standards during a safety inspection campaign in 2013, according to a report on the city's Maritime Safety website. It didn't specify the Eastern Star's violations.

The shallow-draft boat, which was not designed to withstand as heavy winds as an ocean-going vessel can, overturned in what Chinese weather authorities have called a cyclone with winds up to 80 mph (130 kph).

"The river ships tend to have a lower standard on wind-resistance and wave-resistance than ocean ships," Zhong Shoudao, president of the Chongqing Boat Design Institute, said at a news conference along with weather and Transportation Ministry officials.

"Under the special circumstance of cyclone, the pressure on the one side of the boat went beyond the standard it was designed for, resulting in the overturning of the boat.

"The boat had lifejackets and lifeboats, but due to the sudden capsizing, there was not enough time for people to put on lifejackets or for the signals to be sent out," Zhong said.

More than 200 divers were on hand Wednesday, working in shifts virtually around-the-clock as part of a last-ditch attempt to find survivors, the last of which was found Tuesday afternoon.

Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang said divers would search the ship for as long as possible.

"Until all hope is lost and more accurate information becomes available, we will not give up on our final efforts, although I know that our colleagues at the scene are facing a great many difficulties," Xu told reporters.

Access to the site was blocked by police and paramilitary troops stationed along the Yangtze embankment, and local Communist Party officials and the Foreign Ministry organized a boat trip for about four dozen journalists to a location about 100 to 200 meters (yards) from the overturned hull, where they were able to see some of the rescue work.

The rescue and salvage efforts are being run from a massive barge tethered a few kilometers (miles) upstream of the wreckage. Reached through a watery wasteland of flooded crops and trees torn in half by high winds, it was a bustle of activity, as rescuers, paramilitary troops and army and navy specialists arrived and left by smaller boat.

The survivors included the ship's captain and chief engineer, both of whom have been taken into police custody. Some relatives have questioned whether everything was done to ensure the safety of the passengers and have demanded help from officials in Nanjing and Shanghai in unruly scenes that have drawn a heavy police response.

CCTV said most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years old.

The Eastern Star was 251 feet (76.5 meters) long and 36 feet (11 meters) wide, and could carry a maximum of 534 people, CCTV reported. It is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corp., which focuses on tourism routes in the popular Three Gorges river canyon region. The company could not be reached for comment.

China's deadliest maritime disaster in recent decades was when the Dashun ferry caught fire and capsized off Shandong province in November 1999, killing about 280.

With 65 dead and more than 370 people still missing, the Eastern Star disaster could become China's deadliest since the sinking of the SS Kiangya off Shanghai in 1948, which is believed to have killed anywhere from 2,750 to nearly 4,000 people.

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All hands on deck: China's propaganda machine has cranked into top gear after a ship disaster, extolling the official response while dousing any public criticism and tightly controlling foreign media.

Thousands of police, soldiers, and rescue workers were dispatched to the banks of the Yangtze, where the "Eastern Star" capsized Monday evening with more than 450 people on board. But with only 14 survivors found, there is little hope for the rest.

Premier Li Keqiang has been the omnipresent face of the rescue operation since Tuesday morning.

"The sleeves-rolled-up, megaphone-in-hand image of the premier directing rescue efforts at the scene has become a recurring feature of China's domestic media coverage of disasters," said Nicholas Dynon, an expert in Chinese media at Macquarie University in Sydney. 

The Chinese media on Wednesday also gave prominent coverage of the "miraculous" rescue of Zhu Hongmei, who was pulled from the upturned hull of the boat.

The 65-year-old woman was shown being hoisted to safety in a concerted effort by divers and rescue workers.

It was a scene perfectly in keeping with the communist line of society coming together to support each other in times of trouble.

In contrast, the New York Times ran a photograph of a corpse fished from the river on the front page of its international edition, a more jarring image suggesting that the toll will be high.

Communist Party leaders are well aware that missteps over a major disaster can quickly turn to criticism of their effectiveness at governing.

A deadly high-speed train crash in July 2011 triggered a torrent of criticism that authorities had compromised safety in their rush to expand the network.

Deadly floods in Beijing in 2012 and a stampede that killed 36 people at last New Year's Eve in Shanghai also stirred a barrage of criticism of the authorities.

And Beijing is aware of the serious repercussions from the sinking of the Sewol ferry in South Korea — a disaster with many parallels — which saw the prime minister resign.

"Heroes and villains"

Unsurprisingly under these conditions, Chinese media have been told to use only the official Xinhua news agency and state CCTV television as their sources to cover the tragedy, according to instructions aired by China Digital Times, a website that monitors Chinese media and internet.

The leaked statement included instructions to recall journalists who were already at the site of the disaster. 

Authorities have largely limited official access for foreign journalists to brief trips along the river, and roadblocks are sited about two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the capsized vessel.

"Media at the scene of the sinking have been restricted, including foreign media, which is unsurprising," Dynon told AFP.

"For Beijing, this is an exercise in managing domestic emotions, which means controlling unequivocal messaging around who exactly are the heroes and who are the villains," he said.

At the main press briefing Wednesday, no questions were taken and no figures on deaths or survivors were given — but Guan Dong, one of the divers who brought two survivors out of the water, gave his gripping account of the rescue.

Li the leader

Li's activism has taken centre stage. Over the course of 24 hours he was seen holding a crisis meeting on his plane, poring over a map, then giving orders to rescue workers in front of the largely submerged hull of the capsized vessel.

Reports on Wednesday also showed Li, wearing a hospital gown, at the bedside of a survivor.

The message to the masses is clear: The top leadership of the party oversees operations down to the last detail and the victims are not forgotten.

"While there clearly has been no news blackout as such, there has been a careful coverage management favouring stories about the rescue effort, the role of political leaders and the measures taken by the state to swiftly respond," Dynon said.

The propaganda drive was illustrated in a report by qianlong.com, the news portal run by the Beijing city party commission, on a Weibo post that was reposted more than 100,000 times in one day. 

It quoted a news report saying that authorities had limited the water flow coming out of the Three Gorges Dam to reduce the speed downstream, where rescue work was ongoing. 

"(I) could see the responsibility and capability of leading the whole country to prioritise people's life," the post by netizen Dong Mai Ying read. "I really doubt any other country than China has such determination and capability to do this."

The report has been reposted by mainstream media outlets including Xinhua and CCTV's websites.

Yet on Wednesday, "Eastern Star" was the most censored term on Weibo, according to Free Weibo, which copies and republishes censored Weibo posts.

From a wider perspective, whenever disaster strikes China the authorities seek to sweep aside any negative elements that could tarnish the reputation of the one-party state, such as suggestions of unsafe public transport, lax security or standards not being respected.

"Ultimately, Beijing's primary audience is its citizens, and satisfying international media demand comes a very distant second," said Dynon.

SEE ALSO: China is trying to censor another disaster

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As if the poop cruise wasn't enough, Carnival has come up with a new worst way to travel.

The fathom cruise is a new 7-day cruise to the Dominican Republic, which doesn't bill itself as a cruise, but rather "a social impact travel experience that happens at sea on a small repurposed ship," the CEO told BuzzFeed.

According to CNBC, "travelers will work side by side with Dominican school teachers to help students learn English. They will also have the opportunity to work on environmental issues, including helping to build much-needed water filters in communities."

There will be "three impact activity days on the ground," according to BuzzFeed.

But don't call it voluntourism! 

Carnival says this is not a cruise or "voluntourism" it is "a social impact experience that happens at sea"http://t.co/TwbldxB15H

— Mariah Summers (@mariahjsummers) June 4, 2015

Contacted by Business Insider, a spokesperson for Carnival said that once the ship reaches the Dominican Republic, it will remain docked in the same place, "but there are several service activities for the travelers" in that place.

This seems like a step up from a regular cruise. But the problem with "impact travel" or voluntourism is that so often the goal seems to be making the travelers feel good about themselves, rather than focusing on doing good work for others. If a few hours a day of volunteering for three days is all it took to alleviate poverty, it would have been done by now. 

Take this quote that the CEO of fathom, Tara Russell, gave to BuzzFeed: "“We make it really easy for a traveler to plug in and have a meaningful impact experience. We want them to see themselves as a giver of themselves on the trip.”

The goal here is for the trip to mean something to the passengers paying upwards of $1,500 for the experience. It doesn't matter if it means anything to anyone in the Dominican Republic. 

Imagine you are an English teacher in the DR. A mob of American tourists land in your classroom for a day to "have an impact experience." And then the next week, a new group. Does that actually help any students, or just create chaos? 

I'm sure that most people choosing this trip really want to make a difference. But it's nearly impossible to do anything meaningful in three days' time, no matter what your intent. 

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Jianli (China) (AFP) - Authorities admit there is no hope for more survivors from a capsized Chinese cruise ship, as cranes on Friday slowly raised the sunken vessel with exhausted relatives preparing themselves for further agony.

Just 14 of the 456 people on board the Eastern Star were rescued after it sank on the Yangtze River late Monday, and "comprehensive research and analysis of the facts" showed the chances of finding anyone still alive were "increasingly slim", a transport ministry spokesman said. 

"Based on the general judgement that there is no possibility of survival" authorities decided to right the ship, Xu Chengguang told a press conference late Thursday.

So far, 97 people are confirmed dead, Xu said Friday, but hundreds were still missing, many believed trapped in the ship's hull. 

The current tally of survivors means that the final toll of dead and missing is likely to reach 442, making the tragedy China's worst shipping disaster in nearly 70 years, state media have reported.

Rescuers operating massive cranes battled from Thursday night to right the Eastern Star at the site of the disaster in Hubei province's Jianli county.

Daybreak demonstrated some success, with state media images showing the ship upright but with much of it still below water.

Xu also said that with the aim to "search for and find the missing people in the shortest possible time" and "protect the dignity of the deceased to the greatest extent", authorities wanted to lift the ship "as soon as possible", the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Workers on Thursday welded giant hooks onto the hull, an AFP reporter witnessed, as they prepared to lift the 76.5 metre long (250 feet) vessel with a reported weight of 2,200 tonnes in a delicate and risky operation that could have destabilised the wreck and sent it further down the river.

Xu said Friday that the next step is to raise the ship completely above the surface and start searching through it.

Families of those on board gathered Thursday night in a public square in Jianli, clutching candles and flowers to pray for those lost in the disaster.

Hundreds of people, many of them relatives of the missing who have come from across China, tearfully laid out candles in the shape of crosses, hearts and 6.1 -- the date the ferry capsized.

"Stay strong, stay strong," one woman said to another, as the pair sobbed while clutching flowers.

Anger of relatives

Days of poor weather that had hampered rescue operations cleared on Friday, while security was increased outside Jianli's funeral parlour, though families did not appear to be gathering there.

Most of the passengers on the ship were aged over 60 and on a tourist trip when the ship sank, reportedly in less than a minute.

Weather officials said a small but fast-moving tornado hit the area at the time, but few other details have been released. The captain and other crew members have been questioned. 

The state-run China Daily newspaper on Friday identified the captain as 52-year-old Zhang Shunwen, who it said has 35 years of experience and was rescued alive two hours after the accident by a patrol ship.

The China Daily quoted a senior executive at Chongqing Eastern Shipping, the boat's operator, suggesting Zhang was not at fault.

"It happened suddenly," Feng Haiming told The Paper, an online outlet, according to China Daily, adding that Zhang and his chief engineer may have been thrown from the ship.

Information about the sinking and media access to the site have been tightly controlled, and any public criticism of the search operation quickly doused. 

The vessel was cited for safety infractions two years ago, according to a notice by the Nanjing Maritime Bureau, but no further details have been given about the state of the ship.

More than 1,200 relatives have arrived in Jianli, according to state media. Many, frustrated by the lack of news, have converged on the disaster site in the hope of finding out more about their loved ones, where they are being closely monitored by police.

Jianli residents mobilised on Friday with a huge volunteer operation, with many local people taking the day off to offer support and transport to rescue workers, the media and relatives.

Thousands of cars had yellow ribbons tied to their wing mirrors, to show that they were available for volunteer work.

"This is what we should do," said Tan Yun, a 39-year-old ethnic dance teacher, who was delivering cakes to a welcome centre for relatives. "Heartbreak has come to my hometown."

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River cruises are taking over as the new vacation of choice.

Uniworld specializes in these types of cruises. The luxury river cruise ship operator has 19 ships that travel along rivers in Europe, Russia, Egypt, and China.

The company recently introduced a new ship to its fleet: the S.S. Maria Theresa.

The ship has a staff of 57, a total of 75 rooms, and can accommodate up to 150 guests. The lavish interior makes the ship comparable to a baroque palace.

Cruises on the ship range from eight to 15 days and cost anywhere between $3,200 to around $12,000 per person.

Here's the S.S. Maria Theresa ship from the outside. It's 443 feet in length, has three decks, and an elevator.

The ship has three different routes, all of which are in Europe. The longest — European jewels — goes from Budapest to Amsterdam in 15 days and makes stops in Cologne, Germany, among other cities.

The two other routes go between Passau and Budapest. One of the main stops is the town of Salzburg in Austria.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A sightseeing float plane carrying eight cruise ship passengers and a pilot crashed against the granite rock face of a southeast Alaska cliff Thursday, and rescuers were trying to reach the site 800 feet above a lake to determine if there were survivors.

The DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop crashed under unknown circumstances above Ella Lake near Ketchikan, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email to The Associated Press.

The conditions of those on board weren't immediately known, Alaska State Troopers said. 

Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Steenson said the agency received a report around 2:15 p.m. that the plane was overdue. Troopers said an emergency locator transmitter activated in the Misty Fjords National Monument, and a helicopter pilot spotted the downed aircraft above Ella Lake, about 800 miles southeast of Anchorage. 

Promech Air, an airline based in Ketchikan, operated the shore excursion sold through Holland America Line, the cruise ship company said in a statement. The eight passengers are guests on the Westerdam, which is on a seven-day cruise that departed Seattle on Saturday.

"We are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard the plane and their families," the statement said. "Holland America Line is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved." 

The Ketchikan Daily News reports the Westerdam had been scheduled to leave the city about 20 miles from the crash site at 1 p.m., but it remained in port Thursday evening. 

Promech Air didn't have an immediate comment beyond confirming that the downed plane belonged to the company. 

The airline's website advertises tours of the 2-million-acre Misty Fjord National Monument in its float planes. 

"Towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes make up this incredible landscape," it says.

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For anyone who has ever struggled with the idea of spending their savings buying a home or using it all to travel the world, condo cruises present a perfect solution.

These floating communities are increasingly popular modes of fulfilling travel fantasies — without having to leave the comforts of home. Plus, every home is oceanfront.

The World, a luxury ocean liner, calls itself a "residential yacht" and is the most famous ocean residence, as well as the largest and oldest, having set sail in 2002. And, according to our research, it seems to be the only active one right now. 

However, the idea of a permanent home at sea seems to be picking up.

The World will soon be joined by The Utopia, a 200-unit condo cruise ship that will be almost twice the size of The World, built to the tune of around $1.1 billion and set to launch next year, as well as The Marquette, which will have 185 residences navigating 5,500 miles of rivers and 1,100 miles of Intracoastal Waterways in the US year-round. The Marquette is currently 42% presold and expects to launch in 18 months. Its apartments range in cost from $327k to $1.2 million.

Just last week, Crystal Cruises announced three new cruise ships that will have up to 48 private residences for sale, ranging in size from 600 square feet to a whopping to 4,000. While prices aren't available yet, they were quoted as being in the multi millions, and the ship compared to New York's uber luxe Baccarat hotel. 

On the luxurious World, which has 165 residences ranging from studio apartments to three bedrooms, as well as a six bedroom penthouse suite, apartments start at $1 million and reach up to $13 million. Then there's the hefty annual ownership charge (for maintenance, operations, crew compensation, and food and drinks), which, depending on the size of the apartment, can be another 10% or more of the purchase price.

However, residents of this "community-at-sea" collectively own the ship, and can thus choose their own itinerary along with the captain. This year, The World will stop at 104 ports in 30 countries, covering around 41,000 nautical miles. The itinerary includes three in-depth expeditions; the Namibia & Mid-Atlantic Expedition, which goes from Cape Town to the Canary Islands; the Greenland Expedition, which explores the remote Faroe islands; and the Antarctica Expedition, which passes through the Panama Canal.

So far, residents have kayaked among icebergs, visited native tribes in Papua New Guinea, tracked polar bears in the Russian Arctic, and gone scuba diving in St. Barths. In 2012, The World became the largest passenger ship to make it through the Northwest Passage, a sea route through the Arctic. 

Units on The World range from studios to three bedrooms, and each unit features a kitchen (there's a grocery shop onboard, as well as plenty of port calls in which to stock up), spacious living and dining areas, en-suite bathrooms for every bedroom, and multiple verandas depending on your apartment size. 

The luxury ship has a 7,000-square-foot spa and gym, a jogging track, two pools, a tennis court, golf facilities including a golf simulator, putting green and driving range, as well as four restaurants, a deli, a grill, five bars, a tea room, and private chefs for hire. Like a floating village, the ship also features an art gallery, movie theater, florist, grocery market, library, chapel and medical center, and a constant stream of activities like lectures and plays, classes in cooking, arts and crafts and dance, and nightly entertainment. There's also a concierge that's able to organize hard-to-get reservations and access to exclusive events around the world, like private dinners Michelin-starred restaurants.

While the average age aboard The World is 64, a solid 35% is under 50. Most residents use these condos as second homes, and stay on the ship for a few months at a time, renting them out for the rest of the year.

Basically, living on a condo cruise ship means avoiding the usual travel hassles — packing, unpacking, lost luggage, customs, etc. Plus, it means traveling with a pretty international set of neighbors; families on The World hail from 19 different countries, and the crew of 260 from 40 different countries. Residents have two to five day stops at each port, and can join or leave the ship at any point, as itineraries are usually set two years in advance.

The only alternative to this kind of lifestyle is buying a yacht, which makes buying a condo on a cruise ship look like a steal.

SEE ALSO: The most expensive countries for tourists to visit

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Even experienced cruisers make mistakes, whether it’s at the time of booking, on embarkation day, or on the water.

Here are Traveler’s tips for avoiding these common pitfalls.

SEE ALSO: People are buying second homes on cruise ships

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Pick your ship based on price alone.

Sure, cruise ships may all look alike when you’re browsing the line websites. But they aren’t actually all alike; as with hotels, lines have their own personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, and you have to pick the best cruise line for you.

Disney Cruise Line, for example, often offers fares that are very similar to those of Celebrity Cruises (pictured). But while Disney serves boisterous families with young children best, Celebrity is the better choice for empty nest and retiree couples looking for a quietly chic experience. The prices are comparable, but the experiences are very different, so it pays to do your homework before plunking down your deposit.

Consider your cruise cabin's location.

Picking a cabin category on some lines can be tough—the newest mega-ship builds can have more than 30 categories—but once you figure out which category is best for you, it’s important to look at the individual cabin location.

Consider where you will spending your time on board, and be sure to avoid staterooms that are under the pool deck or the nightclub, as well as any highly trafficked areas.

Fly to your port of call the day of your cruise.

Unlike on a land vacation, your holiday actually has a firm departure time. Cruise ships don’t wait for delayed flights so—especially if you’re cruising in winter when snow can ground planes—you’ll want to fly into your embarkation port the day before your sailing.

One exception: If you live in a major city and have a non-stop flight to Miami, and there are several more after yours that would get you in before the ship sails away, we might look the other way if you fly in that morning.

Summer is high cruise season, but not just any ship will do.

Here are the ships that Condé Nast Traveler readers gave the highest scores.

SEE ALSO: Step inside one of the world's most luxurious river cruise ships

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15. National Geographic Explorer

Overall Rating: 87.103

Line: Lindblad Expeditions - National Geographic

Passengers: 148 

14. Nieuw Amsterdam

Overall Rating: 87.615

Line: Holland America

Passengers: 2,106

13. River Splendor

Two thousand influencers — from tech entrepreneurs like Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Google chairman Eric Schmidt to musicians like John Legend — took to the high seas this past weekend for the second-ever Summit at Sea.

The four-day summit took place on a Norweigan Cruise Line boat and was filled with musical performances, fireside chats, and Q&A sessions. 

The cruise was put on by Summit Series, an organization founded in 2008 to build a community of younger, "cooler" entrepreneurs. 

Jennifer Gilbert (left), founder of special events company Save the Date, shared this photo from outside the boat. 

 As seen in this photo taken by VC Alexander Lloyd and shared by Kellie Gerardi, a candidate for the 2025 Mars One expedition, many of the talks took place on the main cruise deck, with a view of some water slides in the background.

The view was beautiful, as Uber's billionaire cofounder Garrett Camp shows us here.

 Singer John Legend, Equal Justice Initiative Founder Bryan Stevenson, and actor Harry Belafonte, spoke about art and social justice. 

Legend played Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" after the panel was over.

During one session, the crowd got the chance to participate in a Google Hangout with Edward Snowden.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick spoke about the way technology is transforming modern society. 

But one goal of the summit was to unplug from technology — the only place on the boat you could get WiFi service was the Internet Lounge. Many participants did yoga on the deck in the morning, while others tried out a ropes course and a 3D figure painting class.   

 And there was lots of relaxing by the pool.

 At night, participants were treated to musical performances by St. Lucia, the Wailers, and others. 

 It looked like a blast.

SEE ALSO: A tech power couple sold their beautiful New York City apartment for $2.1 million

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Someday long in the future, the idea of waving a fist full of cash trying to get your local bartender's attention will be a thing of the past — until that time there is the Bionic Bar from Makr Shaker. These robots, currently aboard Royal Caribbean's 'Anthem of the Seas', can create an endless number of drink combinations.

Produced by Darren Weaver. Additional camera by Kevin Reilly.

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Inside Royal Caribbean's "Anthem of the Seas" ship, you can stay in the 1,640-square foot "Royal Loft Suite." That is — if you have $23,000 to spare. Here's what you get in the ultra swanky suite fit for royalty.

Produced by Darren Weaver. Additional camera by Kevin Reilly.

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This unique floating hotel stands to change the cruise industry. The MORPHotel is a vessel concept by engineer and architect Gianluca Santosuosso. The hotel is built around a flexible spine 1/2 mile long, that changes shape based on the ocean currents. It would slowly travel around the world, docking in cities to let passengers board or disembark.

Produced by Rob Ludacer

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