What’s the future of cruising look like? We asked an AI agent to picture what a modern ship will look like well into the future, and the results are definitely something you want to see.
Anyone that’s been a cruise fan for more than a few years knows that the pace of innovation with cruise ships is breathtaking. A ship built today offers so much more — both in size and features — than one built just a decade ago.
And ships built a generation ago? There’s simply no comparison. A cruise ship with a major line has a “lifespan” of about 30 years before it’s retired. Over that span, the changes that come to sailing are like night and day.
For comparison, Carnival Elation — one of the oldest ships in Carnival’s fleet — began service in 1998. That ship has a 72,000 gross tonnage and carries about 2,100 passengers. The cruise line’s upcoming newest ship Carnival Festivale will be 182,000 gross tons and carry more than 5,000 passengers. And beyond that there is a completely new class of ships aimed to arrive in 2029 that will measure upwards of 230,000 gross tons.
That dramatic change got us wondering what Carnival’s fleet will look like in another 30 years. And with the help of AI, we can at least get an idea… and the results are eye-popping.
What a Carnival Ship Could Look Like in 2056… According to AI
Specifically, we asked ChatGPT to take into account the growth in cruising and cruise ships to create a rendering of what a Carnival cruise ship would look like 30 years from now in 2056.
AI created a ship called Carnival Horizon 2056. Take a look:
As you can see, the 2056 ship keeps a familiar shape. There’s no wild hallucinations like a catamaran-style hull. In fact, the lines of the ship are similar to what you’d see today, down to Carnival’s red, white, and blue hull painting. The ship’s iconic funnel also isn’t going anywhere.
Down the side of the ship you have tons of balconies, and if you look carefully, you can also see a glass wall, allowing light and views from within the ship. There is also a lot of greenery along an outdoor promenade that circles a lower deck. All in all, we think it’s a great looking ship.
But this view is just the start of what AI envisioned for Carnival.
We then asked it to create renderings of what the ship’s promenade, pool deck, and cabins looked like:
By far the most eye-catching is the new promenade. It’s not only stylish, but also looks extremely wide when compared to current Carnival builds. We also notice a massive glass ceiling that indicates this is at the top of the ship where the pool deck would be, instead of being lower down (Ok, so maybe AI still has some kinks to work out!)
The pool deck itself looks similar to what you’d find today, although it does look much more wide and spacious than typical. We do notice that the swimming pool also looks larger than today’s versions.
And the cabin? Frankly, it would look right at home on a ship today. We’re not sure what might be in style 30 years from now, but at least right now, we think it looks great, albeit a bit generic.
Finally, we wanted to get a sense of the size of this new ship. First, we asked for the sizing specs from ChatGPT. This concept design comes in at a staggering 325,000 gross tons. That’s 75% larger than the cruise line’s largest Excel-class ships (Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee). In fact, it’s about 75,000 gross tons larger than the largest cruise ships in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Icon class.
And with that much space, you better believe that the passenger count will be high. According to ChatGPT, this 2056 ship can carry a maximum of 12,000 passengers!
Given the size, we asked for a rendering of the ship in port to get a sense of scale. It created an image of Carnival Horizon 2056 sailing in a fictional version of Cozumel, where the ship dwarfs the port and passengers:
Could Ships Really Look Like This in 30 Years?
So how likely is this vision of cruising? Well, never say never, but we’re doubtful that anything this large will actually come into service.
At this size, there are logistical issues that come with sailing such a behemoth ship. This ranges from moving that many people on and off the ship, but more importantly how many ports can actually dock a ship this size. It’s likely that a ship this large would be restricted to only a handful of cruise ports.
That said, the look and the styling on the ship doesn’t seem too crazy to us. In fact, the look is somewhat similar to what we see today, just larger.
So will the Carnival Horizon 2056 rendering turn out to actually be predicting the future? We will find out… in three decades.
