Five Faves: Cruise Ship Re-Creations
Porthole’s Five Faves
Cruise Ship Re-Creations
Shipyards will probably continue to use steel and teak wood, but not all cruise-ship builders fall back on the standbys.
The intricately gorgeous design of a cruise ship has been a muse for decades, inspiring people to explore the globe with iconic travel poster close-ups and stirring silhouettes on distant horizons. Shipyards may craft the magic, but a ship’s basic, heartening design is surely its universal appeal, one attainable by any amateur builder. And while we only have room here to acknowledge five of the more interesting media used, we encourage you to share your found favorites in the comments. Or, better yet, to try your hand at creating your own masterpiece. (Because until this world has a Bacon Cruise Ship, this world has some work ahead of itself.)
Roses
To be honest, seeing the Regal Princess (and its godparents, the cast of The Love Boat) stealing the show at last week’s Rose Parade inspired this re-creation celebration. The 60-foot-long float boasted more than 24,000 roses, orchids, carnations, dendrobs, tulips, cymbidiums, delphiniums, gerbera daisies, and other flowers and natural materials, not including whatever was in the cocktails Isaac made.
Legos
The Love Boat also served as the inspiration for a 250,000-Lego-brick-strong ship designed by Ryan McNaught, one of only 12 certified Lego builders back in 2011. Today, Lego-maniacs ages 7 to 12 can get in on the fun with a 612-piece set to create a two-story yacht called the Dolphin Cruiser. One designer is even trying to garner support on the Lego Ideas page for mass-producing a 4,500-piece Disney Wonder replica.
See for yourself here.
Cans
There are can drives … and then there is CANstruction, a charity that hosts exhibitions that showcase (and ultimately donate) canned food in unique ways. Over a two-week stretch last year, 30,000 individual food items were donated to the Palm Beach County Food Bank in Florida, resulting in numerous awe-inspiring structures. Winning the Juror’s Favorite Award was the S.S. Can Cruise, a 7,300-can-creation by Suffolk Construction that was made without tape or glue and even included a top-deck pool.
Cake
When it came time to celebrate Carnival Corp.’s 100th ship (Carnival Magic), all of Carnival’s brands wanted to create the perfect cake.
A competition with a $10,000 grand prize was announced, and the culinary team on Holland America Line’s Rotterdam ultimately took the prize with its sweet fleet, seen here navigating the retreat pool while in port in Manta, Ecuador.
— Rico Bronte
Photos: Princess Cruises, Ryan McNaught/thebrickman.com, Wayne Kusy, Suffolk Construction, Holland America Line