In the world of themed entertainment development, there is a tendency mentally to partition off the cruise ship industry. The reasoning goes that, between land-based and marinebased projects, the specialized parameters of shipbuilding and marine operations impose a gulf that is hard to cross. Those parameters are real and inescapable but, at the same time, the modern cruise ship industry offers valuable lessons and opportunities. Albeit on water, these projects are mixed-use visitor attractions that, in terms of the guest experience they deliver, the family market they target and the extensive audiovisual systems they employ, have a great deal in common with their land-based counterparts.