Dry docks, constant maintenance, and retirement. The aging process of ships.

We like to picture ships as most of us experience them - clean, shiny, and new.  The fact is however that ships don't last forever.  How do cruise ships stay so youthful, and what happens when they get a bit long in the tooth?

Pallas Athena laid up in Perama Bay in 1994 after its fire.
Pallas Athena laid up in Perama Bay in 1994 after a fire.