Image: Costa Cruise Line
Imagine arriving at the Asian Games and discovering your athletes' village has 14 decks, swimming pools, restaurants and a theatre.
That's the reality for thousands of athletes and officials at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan, where Costa Serena has been turned into a floating athletes' village.
The 290-metre cruise ship is docked at Kinjo Pier in Nagoya and will accommodate up to 4,000 athletes and officials at any one time during the Games.
It sounds like an unusual solution to a very big accommodation problem.
But Japan isn't the first major event host to look at a cruise ship and think, well, that's basically a floating hotel.
And with Brisbane facing its own accommodation challenge ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we could eventually see something similar much closer to home.
Why are Asian Games athletes staying on a cruise ship?
More than 17,000 athletes and officials are expected in Japan for the Asian Games, which run from 19 September to 4 October.
Unlike most major international sporting events, Aichi-Nagoya doesn't have a traditional purpose-built athletes' village.
Organisers decided against constructing one after costs increased substantially, opting instead to spread participants across existing hotels, temporary accommodation and Costa Serena.
Olympic Council of Asia officials have defended the decision, saying building a large permanent village for a relatively short event risked creating an expensive "white elephant" once everyone went home.
Around 9,000 participants are expected to stay in hotels, approximately 4,000 aboard Costa Serena and another 2,000 in temporary accommodation near the port.
Costa Serena will remain at Kinjo Pier for 22 days, from 15 September until 6 October.
So... what's it like living on a cruise ship during the Asian Games?
Probably fairly familiar to anyone who has cruised before.
Costa Serena has around 1,500 cabins, along with restaurants, fitness facilities and plenty of public areas.
The ship has been adapted for its temporary role, with facilities and services adjusted around the needs and schedules of athletes.
And despite some broader complaints about Asian Games accommodation, early reports from athletes staying aboard the ship have been reasonably positive.
Singaporean athletes interviewed by CNA said the cabins were more comfortable than they expected, while having meals available around training and competition schedules was particularly useful.
One athlete had even packed motion sickness medication before arriving.
Thankfully for her, Costa Serena isn't actually going anywhere.
Well, hopefully.
There is one exception. If a typhoon threatens Nagoya, the ship may need to leave the pier and move into safer waters.
Image: Costa Cruise Line
Cruise ships make surprisingly good temporary hotels
When you think about it, cruise ships solve quite a few problems faced by cities hosting major events.
A large ship can arrive carrying thousands of ready-to-use bedrooms.
It also brings restaurants, commercial kitchens, bathrooms, entertainment areas, medical facilities, gyms and all the other infrastructure required to accommodate thousands of people.
Then, when the event is finished, the entire hotel sails away.
There's no need to construct thousands of rooms that may no longer be required once the crowds disappear.
That's particularly attractive for events such as the Olympics, World Cup or Asian Games, where a city can suddenly need tens of thousands of additional beds for a few weeks.
And this certainly isn't the first time someone has tried it.
Cruise ships have been floating hotels before
Cruise ships have been brought in to provide temporary accommodation during several major international events.
During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, passenger ships were used as floating hotels to provide additional accommodation for visitors and workers.
For the 2016 Rio Olympics, Norwegian Getaway was chartered for around 40 nights and provided roughly 2,000 additional rooms in Rio.
Cruise ships were also used during the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples, with Costa Victoria and MSC Lirica providing accommodation for thousands of participants.
Perhaps the biggest recent example came during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
MSC Cruises positioned multiple ships in Doha as floating hotels, providing thousands of additional rooms during the tournament.
So Costa Serena becoming an athletes' village might sound unusual, but the basic idea has been tested plenty of times.
Image: Costa Serena Pool Deck
Why don't cities use cruise ships more often?
There's one fairly obvious catch.
You need somewhere to put them.
A city can have the biggest accommodation shortage in the world, but a 290-metre cruise ship isn't much help if there's nowhere suitable to berth it.
Ports need the right depth, terminal facilities and available berths, ideally reasonably close to wherever the event is taking place.
And tying up cruise berths for weeks can interfere with normal cruise operations.
Then there's the small matter of getting everyone off the ship.
Housing 4,000 people aboard a cruise ship is one thing. Moving thousands of them between a port and sporting venues every morning is another.
Transport links become particularly important when the city is already dealing with enormous crowds and pressure on roads and public transport.
Chartering the ship isn't cheap either.
Costa Serena has reportedly cost Asian Games organisers around ¥4.48 billion to charter, roughly US$30 million.
That's hardly pocket change.
But compared with constructing an entire athletes' village that may have limited use after a three-week event, temporary accommodation can still be an attractive option.
Could Brisbane use cruise ships during the 2032 Olympics?
This is where things get particularly interesting for Australians.
Brisbane is already looking at how it will accommodate the enormous influx of visitors expected for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Recent estimates have suggested southeast Queensland could face a shortfall of more than 11,000 rooms during the Games.
Among the ideas being discussed are temporary caravan parks, university accommodation, additional short-term rentals...
...and cruise ships.
The Port of Brisbane has reportedly held early discussions about the possibility of using cruise ships as temporary accommodation during Brisbane 2032.
The suggestion is that four ships could potentially accommodate around 10,000 people.
On paper, that's a pretty substantial contribution towards an 11,000-room shortage.
In practice, Brisbane has some logistical problems to solve first.
Brisbane's cruise terminal could be the sticking point
Brisbane International Cruise Terminal at Pinkenba can accommodate the enormous modern cruise ships that can't travel further upstream beneath the Gateway Bridge.
But it currently has one cruise berth.
Finding somewhere to put several cruise ships at once would therefore require additional infrastructure or alternative arrangements.
Then there is transport.
Anyone who has sailed from Brisbane International Cruise Terminal will know that you don't exactly walk out of the terminal and find yourself in the middle of Brisbane.
Moving thousands of Olympic visitors between ships at the port and venues across southeast Queensland every day would require some serious planning.
Road and transport upgrades around the cruise terminal have already been identified as something that would need to be considered if the floating-hotel idea progresses.
And, of course, Brisbane would still need to accommodate its normal cruise traffic during the Games.
Image: © Antonio Ribeiro | Dreamstime.com
It's a clever solution, but not necessarily a simple one
Costa Serena's temporary transformation in Japan shows just how quickly a cruise ship can add thousands of beds to a city without building a single hotel.
It isn't a perfect solution.
The Asian Games have already experienced accommodation complaints and logistical problems, although many of those relate to other accommodation being used rather than Costa Serena itself.
But there's something appealingly practical about bringing in thousands of bedrooms when they're needed and sailing them away again when they're not.
Whether we'll eventually see four cruise ships lined up in Brisbane for the 2032 Olympics remains to be seen.
But six years out from the Games, it's already being discussed.
And if it happens, I'd imagine there'll be a few cruisers wondering whether staying aboard sounds considerably better than fighting over the last hotel room in Brisbane.
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