Taking a break with a cruise can give you a new lease of life
All work and no play is not good for anyone and a couple of weeks on a luxury liner is one of the most relaxing types of holiday you can imagine. The competition between cruise lines to have the biggest ship in the world means that every few years an even larger and better equipped vessel hits the streets (or the seas in this case). As you can imagine, these giants of the sea are not cheap to build, and with costs running into hundreds of millions of dollars, all but the largest companies have no chance of affording one. For smaller operators there is the option of leasing a ship, which works in much the same way as a car lease does, giving them the opportunity of running a cruise ship that they otherwise may not be able to afford. As with cars, finance to purchase such a vessel may be prohibitively expensive, or for newer companies with little or no credit history, may simply not be an option.
Celebrity Equinox pool
For both companies and individuals, a chequered financial history can not only prevent you from raising finance, but can also make leasing a vehicle next to impossible in many cases. Fortunately for individuals there are some places where, even with such problems, it is still possible for you to be able to lease a new car. If you are in the market for a new cruise ship however, you may not be so lucky, with the largest one to date costing well over a billion dollars to construct! What you can find with leasing a car is that, in comparison to buying one, you can actually come out ahead financially. Most people do not have the spare cash laying around to buy a new car these days and so they need to take a loan out to buy one. Once you take into account the interest payments on such a loan, as well as the depreciation that a new car will suffer in the years that you own it, you can begin to understand why.
Suite onboard the Norwegian Dream
You could even use the savings to treat yourself to a luxury cruise although, with a new car in the driveway and you disappearing off to the Caribbean to soak up the tropical sunshine, your neighbours may begin to think you are printing your own money in your loft! The kind of accommodation you can expect on such a trip ranges from small but comfortable cabins, all the way up to luxuriously appointed staterooms with balconies overlooking the sea. The largest ships sometimes feature apartment-style units or garden-style villa accommodation with separate bedrooms and spacious living quarters, making them ideal for a family cruise. Because the ships themselves are so large there are dozens of restaurants and bars to choose from as well as casinos, spas, swimming pools and various different sports facilities. The latest behemoth due to come into service later this year even has an open-air amphitheatre that will come with its own micro climate.
