Cruise Ship, Meet Go-Kart Track
Because people in China apparently enjoy mixing their transportation modes.
When Norwegian Cruise Lines's new ship Norwegian Joy puts to sea next summer it will be the company's first ship designed exclusively for the Chinese market. Sailing out of Beijing and Shanghai, the ship will be outfitted with all the luxury boutiques, swanky casinos, and elegant restaurants that well-heeled Chinese have come to expect. And apparently, the burgeoning Chinese middle class really digs motion sickness, because Norwegian Joywill be the very first ship in history to offer a working go-kart track on its decks.
Okay, that might be a little dramatic. Considering Norwegian Joy weighs one and a half times the tonnage of a Ford-Class aircraft carrier, odds seem good that kart drivers will barely realize they're not zipping around on terra firma, And assuming cruise-goers can get past any irrational apprehension about driving off the course and into the Pacific, they'll be in for one hell of an experience: according to the concept illustrations, the track will be a tight, two-level affair filled with switchbacks and underpasses. Big props to the track's designers for making the most out of the boat's (comparatively) tight proportions.
If the go-kart line turns out to be too long, though, there will be plenty of other ways to pass the time on board the ship. Norwegian Joy will also be outfitted with a bumper car track, an interactive virtual reality theater, a multi-level park, and more duty-free shops than you can shake a Toblerone at. And, should a rogue wave or power outage force the roughly 4,000 passengers to cower in their cabins, they can take comfort in the stylish, modern design. Those boutique hotel-spec bathrooms, for example, will still look great even when they're overflowing with diarrhea-related sewage.
