Jaunted

Speaking of lower decks, let's briefly talk about how ships changed their sailing technology. Without writing an entire book on the subject, we'll just say that though it's still sometimes necessary to pop a dramamine to combat motion sickness on long, turbulent voyages, the motion of the ocean is hugely reduced thanks to adding little underwater wings to the hull (called "stabilizers"). If only the 1970s had had YouTube, boy oh boy, the rocking and rolling videos cruisers would have posted!

And though diesel is still the fuel of choice and we haven't developed a Back to the Future-style Flux Capacitor to replace good ol' propellors, ships must now keep to strict environmental guidelines established over the years. Ship-technology.com details the Reflection's eco and energy-saving efforts:

Celebrity Reflection's energy saving features are better than those of her sister ships. She is fitted with highly efficient illumining and LED lights. Heat exchangers are installed for efficient heat transfer. The vessel also makes use of heat and cold recovery systems. Special underwater paints are used to improve resistance, which in turn will reduce the requirement of propulsion power.

What will see from cruise ships in another forty years? They'll still be cutting the waves of the world's oceans and getting ever greener, of course, but who knows if they'll be city-sized or scaled back to intimate levels? One thing's for sure—we can't wait to find out.

We hopped onboard the Reflection's quickie preview cruise as a guest of Celebrity, but all photos and opinions are completely our own.

[Photos and Scans: Cynthia Drescher]