NO, it’s not an April Fool’s joke in the middle of May, but thanks to PlanetInAction, this amazing FREE Ship Simulator game lets you take the helm of several kinds of ships, including:

1. an airship,
2. a fuel ship,
3. a container ship, and
4. the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship!

What’s really amazing is the realism and visual & sound effects, which are based on Google Earth’s new visualization platform. It looks like the Charleston cruise ship business we’re hearing may come is now one step closer.

Here’s a short video of it in action:

Thanks to Google’s latest Earth API release, it all runs in your browser via a geplugin.exe – which is currently using 23852K of RAM on my system – if you have the goods, it sure is cool!

UPDATE: Celebrity Cruises has announced new sailings to the Caribbean from the Port of Charleston, just as the S.C. State Ports Authority bids adieu to its largest cruise customer, Norwegian Majesty. This fall, Celebrity Cruises marks its return to Charleston, kicking off a series of port calls that will continue through early next year and resume next fall. Norwegian Majesty made its last stop in Charleston on Friday. /via