When I first heard about the world’s biggest cruise ship, I was reminded of John Masefield’s “Cargoes”, and wondered what he might say about this latest addition to gross tonnage on the high seas. After reading Gary Shteyngart’s piece on the inaugural voyage, published online this month on the website of The Atlantic, I reckon a new stanza might go something like this:

Bloated bloody playground from who cares where,
Heating up the planet with its quarter-million tons, 
With a cargo of tourists,
Waterslides, whirlpools,
Spotlight Karaoke and endless re-runs.