In Cruising's ten million-passenger plus, multi-
billion dollar, transnational world, ships entering
the market must woo the public imagination in order
to compete. Ships that do so, become legends. What
do they possess that others don't? A Grounded Theory
Approach, Delphi Exercise, and worldwide electronic
survey are used to create a model and identify
legendary ships. Factor Analysis distills identified
tangible and intangible properties into four
composite factors of Attractiveness, Significance,
Power, & Competitive Advantage. Significantly, no
modern cruise ships were among the top legends; save
Queen Mary 2, built, marketed, and viewed as an
ocean liner; indicating that the public views ocean
liners and cruise ships as distinct entities. Seeing
legendary ships, "grand hotels of the sea," as
extensions of other hospitality & tourism legends,
this book will be useful to hospitality, marketing,
and communications professionals; maritime
historians; architecture & transportation
enthusiasts; and anyone else interested in a unique
blending of qualitative and quantitative research.