Traditional Cruise Liners use a lot of fuel and disturb the tranquility of the sea by being very noisy. They would be much quieter and cheaper to run if they were driven by oars.

Naturally a large ship would require many oarsmen, and as they would tend not to be willing participants in this grueling task, a "captive" crew would be necessary. I'm thinking of the entire population of a mid-sized prison being offered a reduced sentence in exchange for a stint on the galleys. A large liner would need up to two thousand rowers stationed on either side, with each of the hundred foot long oars being operating by perhaps twenty men. The oars themselves enter through holes in the side of the ship, which would be protected from the elements by waterproof grommets.

Teams of rowers are to be named after Roman and Greek Gods to maintain the theme. Passengers invited to visit the lower levels of the ship, of an evening, to view the galleys, would show favour to their adopted team by throwing in tit-bits and left overs.
-- xenzag, Oct 11 2005

Perhaps you could persuade loads of S&M submissives to power your holiday liner, then you wouldn't have to pay 'em.
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Oct 11 2005


Their work is their reward.
-- xenzag, Oct 11 2005


Capital idea [xenzag] - bagsy first on the kettle drum. Pull harder scum!
-- wagster, Oct 11 2005


Picturing some kind of "fat farm" deal, where people pay to be an oarsman and eat many small, lowfat meals every day while exercising steadily.

"I lost fifty pounds rowing around the ocean and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"
-- normzone, Oct 11 2005


for the s&m crowd, you'd call it Cruise Control
-- theircompetitor, Oct 11 2005


You're going to need some industrial-strength dominatrices to keep all those rowers in line.
-- coprocephalous, Oct 12 2005


I gave a bun, but I hope in doing thus I get a discount on the super cool rowing cadences CD. (some bad ones ran through my mind today, but I was ultra-busy.)
-- Zimmy, Oct 13 2005


Anyone who can afford to go on cruise liners more than three times every year should be put on the rowing teams.
-- jellydoughnut, Oct 13 2005


Why's that?
-- Texticle, Oct 13 2005


S.S.Alcatraz
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 14 2005


Because people who've been able to go on cruise ships 3+ times a year, every year of their lives, have undoubtedly thought of owning a slave rowing team.
-- jellydoughnut, Oct 15 2005


Makes sense.
-- Texticle, Oct 16 2005


Ramming Speed! Dum! Dom! Dum! Dom! Dum! Dom!
-- gnomethang, Oct 16 2005


Possibly! - all that leather and chains and all!. I was quoting from the original film but can see where I was wrong (or rather right but missed it).
-- gnomethang, Oct 16 2005



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