It Costs Millions a Day to Run a Cruise Ship Because of These 12 Insane Expenses
Every time a mega cruise ship sets sail, it turns into a floating city on the sea, complete with restaurants, theaters, power plants, and even its own sanitation system. But behind the relaxing pools and buffets is a staggering bill. Running one of these vessels, like Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, can cost over $1 million per day. Why? Here are 15 wildly expensive reasons that will have you thinking twice before asking why cruise tickets aren’t cheaper.
Feeding Thousands, Three Times a Day (Plus Snacks)
Credit: Getty Images
Chefs on major cruise lines prepare over 30,000 meals every day—breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all the grazing in between. To make this happen, ships load around 600,000 pounds of food per week. With more than 280 chefs working 10 to 12 hours daily, food budgets can reach $1 million just for a seven-day voyage. Add specialty diets and international cuisines, and the galley’s budget balloons fast.
Paying a Global Crew Round the Clock
Credit: Instagram
Cruise ships don’t shut down when passengers sleep. A team of 2,000 to 2,400 crew members keeps operations running 24/7, from laundry and engine maintenance to entertainment and guest services. Crew members work contracts lasting up to 11 months and hail from over 70 countries. While salaries vary, labor is still one of the biggest recurring expenses, especially when the ship sails nonstop.
Fueling a Floating City
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Big ships burn through fuel like it’s juice, and the bill easily crosses hundreds of thousands of dollars per day, depending on fuel prices. Even with energy-saving tech like air bubble lubrication, fuel remains one of the largest line items. Vessels in the Oasis class can use up to 66,000 gallons of diesel every single day. That’s equivalent to fueling 600 cross-country car trips from New York to LA daily.
Managing Mountains of Waste
Credit: Canva
There are waste teams separating food scraps, cardboard, plastic, aluminum, and glass. They process up to 13,000 pounds of glass and hundreds of gallons of plastic bottles per week. Trash doesn’t just disappear at sea. Cruise ships sort, crush, incinerate, and recycle everything on board, while waste that smells is refrigerated. Even sewage goes through advanced purification before discharge.
Stocking Up with Military-Level Precision
Credit: Canva
Every turnaround day at the port, cruise lines unload used inventory and reload 500 pallets of goods, everything from shrimp and soda to toilet paper and linens. Each item is scanned, stored in climate-controlled areas, and restocked for the next week. Mess up a single order, and the ship could run out of essentials before the trip ends. It’s logistics on steroids and costs a fortune.
Keeping the Lights (and Air Conditioning) On
Credit: Canva
Powering a cruise ship is like running a small city in the middle of the ocean. These vessels produce enough electricity to support roughly 80,000 people, and every system on board depends on it: from stage lighting and elevators to pool pumps and walk-in freezers. The air conditioning alone works overtime in tropical climates. Keeping all that energy flowing requires tons of fuel and round-the-clock maintenance.
Hiring Broadway-Level Performers
Credit: Canva
Entertainment is a major part of the cruise experience. Performers include aerialists, Olympic-level divers, musicians, and actors who do up to eight shows a week without any vacation days. Training begins at Royal Caribbean’s Florida facility before heading to the ship’s onboard theaters. These athletes are paid salaries, given free housing, and have access to guest facilities like gyms and pools.
Maintaining Dozens of Kitchens
Credit: cascoly
Not one, not two.. Cruise ships operate 36 kitchens, each called a galley. These include prep kitchens, bakeries, specialty restaurants, butcher shops, and massive main dining rooms. Each kitchen has its own staff, equipment, storage, and safety standards. Keeping all this clean, stocked, and operational while rocking at sea? Not cheap. It requires constant upkeep, repairs, and inventory management.
Handling Health and Safety at Sea
Credit: corelens
Medical care is taken seriously on board. Ships have onboard clinics, doctors, isolation cabins, quarantine protocols, and emergency training for the entire crew. PPE, rapid tests, sanitization tools, and training drills all cost money. In December 2021, one ship had to isolate 50 passengers in special deck-3 cabins, showing how quickly costs can escalate when managing health incidents.
Refitting and Repairs on the Go
Credit: Getty Images
Staying ahead of breakdowns means constant maintenance and a steady stream of expenses. There’s no calling for outside help when something breaks at sea. Cruise ships carry their own full-service repair shops, staffed with mechanical and electrical teams who work around the clock. They keep shelves stocked with spare parts, and when needed, even custom-make replacements.
Training for Safety and Emergencies
Credit: Canva
Crew members are trained in safety procedures, firefighting, evacuation drills, and even crowd control. Training happens before onboarding and continues throughout contracts. Lifeboats, fire alarms, water mist systems, and emergency signage all need to be inspected and tested. Keeping 6,000 passengers safe is a legal requirement (and a costly one at that!)
Designing Ships That Control Human Movement
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Cruise ship interiors are engineered to guide where passengers go, when they eat, and how they gather. Seven themed “neighborhoods,” multiple elevators, and strategic signage help prevent overcrowding. That kind of flow control is expensive. Designers use crowd behavior data and architectural planning to ensure people don’t feel like they’re stuck in a crowd of 6,000. Comfort has a price tag.
Running a Zero-Landfill Operation
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Royal Caribbean markets some of its ships as zero-landfill. That means all waste is either reused, recycled, or incinerated. Special hydroprocessors break down food waste, glass crushers process bottles by color, and aluminum is compacted into cubes for recycling. Even used cooking oil is collected. These systems are costly to build and maintain, but they help ships comply with environmental laws and reduce fines.
Moving with the Help of Giant Azipods
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Instead of traditional propellers, many modern cruise ships use azipods,which are massive 360-degree electric propulsion units. They make the ship more maneuverable and efficient, but require constant monitoring and maintenance. Each unit costs millions and burns serious power. Combined with bow thrusters, they help ships like Symphony of the Seas glide sideways into tight ports like a massive ballet dancer.
Managing Water from Sea to Sink
Credit: pixelshot
Cruise ships don’t wait for port stops to fill their tanks. Instead, they run high-capacity desalination plants below deck, converting seawater into more than 150,000 liters of fresh water every hour. Everything from morning showers to kitchen prep relies on this constant supply, filtered and tested to strict federal health standards. Keeping those systems humming is a daily priority for onboard engineers.