How on Earth does a cruise ship float?

One question I ask myself every time I Cruise is “how on earth does this ship actually float” I know the engineers and designers amongst you will probably be sitting running off the technical jargon to me in a rage as you read this but it genuinely intrigues me. Key design and construction factors along with special materials that make up these sailing beasts are key to it’s life I know this but I still find it fascinating.

Take for example ships like Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas, they are not big they are in fact HUGE! The sheer weight of everything on board before passengers and their baggage board is immense yet they still float. It’s like when you were a child you would pop a boat in the bath but as soon as you put something into it the inevitable would happen, it would sink right to the bottom. OK I know there is a huge difference between a multi -million pound ship and a small plastic child’s toy but surely the basics and concept remain the same, its given purpose is to float.

I don’t only question how a Cruise ship stays above water I question how any ship stays above water. Container tankers are also monstrous in size, the weight added to these vessels is in excess of the unreal yet again they float effortlessly from one port to another.

My grandmother used to have the same intrigue with flying “how on earth does that plane get off the ground”. I suppose that’s where I get my natural need for knowledge from. If I am told something interesting I need to know the whole story, I don’t want to hear the introduction or the summary I want to know the whole thing from start to finish.