World's largest cruise ship to set sail as industry rebounds

With cruise bookings seeing a resurgence after the COVID-19 pandemic caused luxury liners to mothball, a Finnish shipyard is putting the final touches on what will be the world's largest cruise ship. "This ship is as of today, as far as we are aware of, the biggest cruise ship in the world," said Tim Meyer, CEO of shipbuilder Meyer Turku tasked with the construction. "We have seen over the last decade that cruise ships have become bigger," said Alexis Papathanassis, professor of Cruise Management at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. This "in turn enables cruise companies to be more profitable," he added. "It's going to be a challenging time with financial austerity for cruise companies," Papathanassis said, adding that he expected ticket prices to rise.