The Pursuit of Majesty

I have often heard the statement that we are co-creators with God.  This is usually used to express how potentially powerful human beings are, especially when they work with God’s help.  That indeed God uses the hands and minds of men to create things that are generally described as breakthrough.  Things that represent a leap from previously accepted limits of human ability.  Some aspects of science, and technology, and some aspects of visual art fall into this category.  The human race has therefore been constantly stretching the limits.  And once in a while they do break the limits and end up with some majestic creations.  From the Chinese wall, to the Egyptian pyramids, from the Eifel Towers to the Twin Towers, from the titanic to the Airbus A380, the pursuit of majesty abounds.  And anytime you come across majestic creations, it is self-evident – it is a silent Wow, from the core of your being.

And so it was when I recently had the rarely pleasure and privilege to visit and tour another of man’s majestic creations – a cruise liner!  I had the opportunity to tour the MSC Opera while docked at Cape Town harbour and Wow! What magnificence! What Majesty! This cruise liner is a floating 13 floor building, made of solid steel – How they even make it float is a wonder by itself!  It is massive! This liner carries 2200 passengers and a staff of 1000 odd!  Everyone has a room and bed and bathroom facilities – it is a massive floating five star hotel!  And this floating hotel has all manner of entertainment facilities, lounges and bars that would match any conventional five star hotel.  There are dining facilities, discos, theatre, swimming pools, fine dining restaurants, and an entire shopping arcade! And everything is glittering – they polish and polish and polish some more!  There are lifts from floor to floor! Wow!  And then of course, the staff and guests don’t share facilities and therefore a whole section of the ship has the same accommodation, dining, entertainment etc. facilities for the staff!  And then, since they spend many days at sea, all the supplies for food, water, fuel, … everything needs to be stored on board!

And then, probably the most magnificent of all, is that all these systems have to work together like clockwork!  There is a continuous 24 hour programme for dining, entertainment, cleaning, etc. for the guests and the ship itself has to cruise.  There is military like structure in charge of the ship – headed by the captain and all officers have to be in navy type uniform which clearly shows respective rankings.  The international nature of the business also requires that they hire staff from all over the world, who speak a whole wide range of languages.  Owning, building and running a cruise ship is really worldclass business! 

It is hardly surprising that sailing on a cruise ship is considered as one of the world’s most exclusive luxuries and features on many a bucket list.  Taking a round-the-world tour on a cruise ship features on Kiyosaki’s cash flow game as one of the ultimate retirement treats and a tour of MSC Opera confirms why this is so.  So the next time you have an opportunity to tour a cruise ship, go right ahead and enjoy the majestic feel, and if you are luckier to go on an actual cruise, I will envy you until my turn comes.  Happy Cruising!