I doubt we will see a sister to the Titanic rise from the docks. But it's important to remember that the modern day cruise ship may descend from the passenger liner, but it's not itself one.
A cruise ship is designed to cruise around carrying passengers in luxury. They're called 'floating hotels' for a reason, and 'floating vacation resort' is not inaccurate either. But that's the thing, they're not really supposed to go anywhere fast, exactly. They're just supposed to go somewhere while the passengers enjoy themselves on board, and the harbours they get to are just really temporary diversions from the main attraction to do some touristing in an exotic location.
A passenger liner like the Titanic is not that. A passenger liner is a ship that is designed to move people in reasonable comfort. They're very much long range ferries with trips expected to take more than the day or so ferries normally expect. And even at a steady 20 knot pace, it takes about a week to cross the Atlantic, not accounting for the ports of call on either side.
I do not see passenger liners being economically viable in the near future, but if the costs of air travel rise fast enough in comparison to the cost of sea travel, a business case may be made that when compared with cruise ships relatively austere passenger liners are a potential method for moving people between continents.
A cruise ship is designed to cruise around carrying passengers in luxury. They're called 'floating hotels' for a reason, and 'floating vacation resort' is not inaccurate either. But that's the thing, they're not really supposed to go anywhere fast, exactly. They're just supposed to go somewhere while the passengers enjoy themselves on board, and the harbours they get to are just really temporary diversions from the main attraction to do some touristing in an exotic location.
A passenger liner like the Titanic is not that. A passenger liner is a ship that is designed to move people in reasonable comfort. They're very much long range ferries with trips expected to take more than the day or so ferries normally expect. And even at a steady 20 knot pace, it takes about a week to cross the Atlantic, not accounting for the ports of call on either side.
I do not see passenger liners being economically viable in the near future, but if the costs of air travel rise fast enough in comparison to the cost of sea travel, a business case may be made that when compared with cruise ships relatively austere passenger liners are a potential method for moving people between continents.