Here’s how you can have your own cruise ship

It’s now possible for you to buy your very own cruise ship – okay, a scale model one.

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Model ships and the arts and skills needed to make them are as old as maritime trade itself. Before computer modelling and 3D CAD designs, shipwrights used scale models to test buoyancy, roll frequency and hundreds of other factors. Even today, models are still used in wave pools because they’re as close as you can get to the real thing without shelling out half a billion dollars.

For this reason, model ship building remains central to the maritime industry, and the cruise sector in particular as cruise lines like to display models of their new vessels to the media before they’re launched, and will often display models of their older ships on-board (such as the model of RMS Mauritania aboard RMS Queen Elizabeth II – now the floating hotel QE2 Dubai).

Model ships were traditionally created by hand, with painstaking detailing and effort that required almost as many man hours as the real thing. The technology used today, however, has made it much faster and affordable to buy an intricately detailed model ship.

Wooden models can be built with 3D printing, such as the customized wooden ship models at Premier Ship Models. A great team of professionals works to ensure the accuracy of the models, so much so that they were asked to create a scale model of Marella Discovery by TUI when she was undergoing a refurbishment.

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The ship modelling market has grown as companies and private individuals realise how detailed, accurate and affordable these models can be. Many shipping lines and cruise companies give tenders to ship modelling companies to re-create a particular vessel through an original ship model. Recently Premier Ship Models did this for TUI cruises. Part of the TUI Group, Marella Cruises needed an original builder’s model to reflect the look of their new ship Marella Discovery (formerly the Dubai-based Splendour of the Seas of Royal Caribbean International).

You can see the professionalism of their work in the picture above.

Getting your own cruise model made isn’t difficult and it’s a perfect gift for a friend or family member whose a cruise ship nerd, or for your business as a display items and conversation piece. There are countless off-the-shelf and customs models available through online providers, from HMS Victory to RMS Titanic.

Apart from newly created cruise ship models, you can even go for the restored work from companies. Also, many companies offer a restoration service for your old damaged ship models. These models requires proper care, such as being kept out of direct exposure to sunlight.