Animal attractions on cruiseships and other ideas for floating zoos

Norwegian moose

Well-Known Member
I have a dream:)/idea of a cruiseship featuring an extensive entertainment venue including some animal attractions: a pet hotel where customers can store their pets while visiting, an aquarium, a reptile/amphibian/invert house, a small mammal house, an indoor rainforest and perhaps a collection of aviaries, and perhaps also an animal show arena with bird, sea lion and dolphin shows. Is this idea feasible? Is this idea/dream in any way harmfull for animals, if so in what manner? Could the animals get motion sickness? I am just wonderin. Do you have any ideas for floating zoo(s)? A modern Noas Ark perhaps?
 
Can't you see wild dolphins from a cruise ship? Why add a captive dolphin show?

As for pet hotel, I think it would be very popular with some guests, but IMO there are quarantine issues as to why it could not happen. Unless the cruise ship was staying entirely within the waters of one country.

All of this is assuming you are ok with cruise ships to begin with, which I am not. (I am talking about the large international cruise ships, not small river cruises). They dump their trash overboard at night (while guests are sleeping) as well as their raw sewage and are a major source of ocean pollution. Of course there are also the economic concerns, how cruise ships that run out of western countries register their ships in the Bahamas instead of the country they operate out of to avoid paying corporate taxes.
 
I've thought about the idea, as kind of like a Noah's ark extreme fantasy zoo type of thing, but I dunno if it would work. Arizona Docent mentions quarantine laws for pets, such laws might apply to the exotic animals as well. Animals can get motion sickness, (according to this article, most animals can get seasick) so the idea probably wouldn't work.
 
I don't really see a difference between an indoor collection in a building and one on a ship. I think they could probably get around quarantine issues if the animals were highly contained. And I don't think motion sickness will be a big issue on such huge ships.

I think an attraction such as butterfly garden or reptiles could work. Potentially small mammals and birds too, although they would need to be kept fully enclosed.
 
Back
Top