S.S. United States to return to active commercial service

I saw a recent video of the ship, as she sits in Philadelphia that also mentioned the retrofit. After the video, I can't imagine where to begin.
That poor thing is gutted completely and in miserable shape.
A really huge task ahead.
I hope they can follow through.

This would be fantastic but don't hold your breath or don't contact your travel agent just yet.

The parent company of Crystal is the Genting group, the entity behind the destruction of Bimini and the bimini super fast ferry fiasco, which went out of business just a year after they built a massive 1000' pier on a pristine beach and reef.

Along the way, they tried running illegal gambling cruises to nowhere using foreign flag vessel and crew, claiming to a federal judge that this was the only way their operation coudl survive...

I agree; the chances of this actually happening are slim to none - for a variety of reasons: logistical, engineering, financial, and commercial.

Yes that's the one. I do suppose that if you were going to re-build her, you'd have to gut out the old, rotten, moldy stuff left behind, so, maybe it;s not as bad as it looks.
Even still, looking at the video and photographs, it's overwhelming

They already ripped out the interior years ago in Turkey. All the nasty stuff like asbestos is long gone. There was a big controversy over it, we send our ship overseas and leave all the toxic waste behind.

I cringe everytime I fly into philly and see her just wasting away. The old girl deserves a better fate than that, hopefully this time they can pull off a miracle and restore her to her former glory.

She might look terrible with all that flaking off paint but as long as she still has good bones she'll make it through a refit.

Even if crystal goes ahead, the topsides will be drastically altered to create more staterooms and balconies. Looks even worst in the drawings that what NCL did to the France.

Today I was surprised to see the Bimini superfast is still tied up at port of Miami over a month after genting cancelled service. I would have thought it would be sold or used somewhere else

I could never wrap my head around the concept of the Bimini super fast. It's a 50 mile trip, what's the hurry? Not like there's anything on Bimini anyway other than some bars, casino, and hotels.

In California we had a few fast cats that would run to Catalina island, 35-45 miles but it was for day trippers. Run over at high speed and then leave at high speed several hours later after everyone was able to "see the sights".

This reminds me, I need to look up the plans for the 2 different "titanic 2" ventures that were trying to get rolling a few years back.

hard to compete with the floating cities like "allure of the seas" and the rest of those monstrosities for just plain cruising. Guess it depends on what their plans entail for her intended role.

Worst case, it would be great if she wound up a museum attraction like Queen Mary. Beats rusting away or being cut up by a torch for sure.

Not wanting to be packed into another super sardine can, toes getting steeped on in every chow line, ammonia in all the pools, a floating sub-sea of open mouths competing with the screamers (brats) and other big crowd problems. If I wanted more of this abuse, I'd go back to Disney or other packed people abusing parks.

For the traveler not in a hurry, I can see some business like the ICW cruisers or coastal tours. Luxury, slow, Period furnished cabins, proper high end meals, relaxing atmosphere and no hurries. AND, relaxing on a historic ship as the SS US that does not need to defend her speed runs from long ago. Even I would consider a ride.
Yes, I think there is a niche. Money maker; not for a very long time.

There is no as is or original layout as she is an empty shell. Everything inside was gutted years ago incl staterooms, walls, etc

All the interior hardware was sold off. That may have be a short coming. All that period hardware is going to be hard to replace (replicate?).
Remember, the original interior was fire proof yet still elegant.

Here's a site that has what seems to be original deck plans, along with ideas for converting the SSUS to a floating museum (same site has a similar plans and ideas for the Queen Mary).

www.sterling.rmplc.co.uk/ssus/

Refurbishment of the SSUS would likely have to include the same changes as were made to the France: take out 2 of the 4 shafts/turbines/boilers to reduce operating costs (but also reduce top speed), add as many "modern" amenities as possible including adding a few decks of suites (but spoiling her profile), get rid of the strict separation of the classes.