The concept of Cruise Ships providing emergency accommodation for major events is actually nothing new. The most notable example was back in 2001 when the former Festival Cruises hosted the G8 summit in Genoa. Despite rioting in the streets all delegates were safely contained within the Port.
NCL, Costa and others all have a presence in Sochi and no doubt this 3 week charter period is earning some crucial winter euros. The nearest port with adequate docking is around 40km from the Olympic setting, hence the operation on board is expected to be light during the day with
Qatar will host the world cup in 2022 and accommodation capacity may well be a factor there. As such the authorities are wisely investing in a state of the art Cruise Ship Terminal to support the extra capacity needed. Off Radar Cruise News will track the progress of the development.
The ever growing size of Cruise Ships today are widely considered to be floating Hotels or Resorts and as such their mobility will no doubt play an important role in hosting major events around the world in the future.
Meanwhile, we wish Costa, Louis and NCL every success in Sochi.
UPDATE
Both Louis Cruises vessels are now en-route to Sochi.
