Royal Caribbean Cruise lines has decided to save some money by literally cutting their cruise liner “Enchantment of the Seas” in half and is adding an extension to it. Why buy a new boat, when you can cut it in half and slap an extra 153 cabins to it?

Royal Caribbean is adding to the middle of the 12-storey Enchantment of the Seas, giving it a new birth as a 990ft cruiser (increase from 916ft), and adding 153 cabins at a cost of around $56 million dollars, a fraction of the cost it would be to build a new boat of that size.

It seems like a great idea to save money and allow for increased passenger demand. However, by the picture below, I wouldn’t want to shell out top dollar quite yet to board that vessel in its current state. Hopefully, they know how to put the extension in and make it float!

Hyundai has certainly come a long way in the automotive industry since it’s U.S. debut in 1996 with the Excel. This $5000 car was far from luxury and wasn’t known for lasting forever either. Hyundai has gradually re branded themselves ever since and has become known for solid warranties and quality craftsmanship.

They have launched many cars with success in North America and Hyundai doesn’t see the launch of this Luxury Hyundai Genesis to have any different prospects. Despite gas prices going through the roof, and sales of luxury cars down 15% year-to-date; they are launching the Genesis to compete with the likes of mercedes, bmw and lexus.

The Genesis will however be substantially cheaper than their new luxury rivals starting at $37, 250 for the V8. If the Genesis can offer anywhere near luxury in this car, I’m sure consumers will be more than happy to pay half the price for luxury.

The only questions now are can Hyundai deliver luxury? John Krafcik, VP of product development for Hyundai North America thinks it can. According to him, the Genesis was painstakingly engineered to be lighter, quicker, quieter and handle better than most competitors and it should be able to attract buyers in a tough market due to its price, features and performance.

If Krafcik is right, the only question remaining is will Hyundai be accepted as a luxury car by the public. Luxury car brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus are just that LUXURY brands. Hyundai isn’t known for luxury yet but at such a low price and at a time of an economic slowdown, maybe the public is ready for affordable luxury.

The Genesis was launched late last month with its V6 class with the V8 and other styles soon to follow. Only time will tell if Hyundai can compete with the luxury big boys.

Hyundai Genesis