Only a very small percentage of the crew on those things are "mariners," properly speaking. Aside from not having the skills, they also really don't have the mind-set. If you think that land based immigrant workers are exploited, take a look at the service staff on cruise ships. The only difference is that on the ships it's legal, indeed, protected by international law. But if you think that one of these wage-slaves has any interest at all in any sort of heroics to save the "posh folk" from the briny deep, think again. They're just trying to feed their families in some 3rd-world country, and if they don't make it home, that family may well starve.

All in all, modern cruise ships represent a lot of eggs in one basket, and it's getting worse.

On my one cruise, aboard what was at the time one of the largest passenger ships, the Sun Princess, with 1990 passengers and 900 crew, I felt that way. The new ships double those numbers!

And it doesn't take a wreck to have a lot of problems to deal with all at once. The things are notorious communicable disease incubators, with passengers and crew crowding together after getting off airliners from the world over and then exposing one another to novel bacteria and viruses.

A couple days into my own cruise, I contracted the worst gastro-intestinal bug I've ever had. It was then that I also learned that ship's medics are notoriously cagey about discussing how many other folks are falling ill while on board. Fortunately, I recovered quickly and was paddling a sea kayak the next day.

On top of that, at least to my eye, the latest ships with their stacks of decks, seem un-seaworthy and butt-ugly to boot.