Leaking cabins, tiny beds: Complaints grow as Asian Games Cruise Ship docks in Nagoya

Cruise ships have been used previously as accommodation at international sporting events, but never on this scale. | Photo Credit: AFP

A 300-metre Italian cruise ship built to solve Japan’s accommodation problem is instead becoming the story of the 2026 Asian Games.

The Costa Serena docked at Nagoya’s Kinjo Pier on Tuesday, ready to house around 4,000 athletes and officials in its 1,500 cabins ahead of the Games’ opening ceremony on Saturday. But its arrival came as complaints over where competitors are sleeping grew louder by the day.

Why there’s no athletes’ village at all

Aichi-Nagoya 2026 will be the first Asian Games without a traditional athletes’ village. Organisers originally planned to build one, but soaring construction costs forced a rethink. The alternative was a patchwork model — a cruise ship, temporary wooden container-style huts, and hotel rooms spread across the region — designed to keep the Games compact and financially sustainable.

The Bridge

Around 2,000 more athletes are being housed in temporary wooden villas styled after shipping containers at Nagoya Port’s Garden Wharf, which will later be repurposed as disaster-response units and tourist lodging. The rest are in hotels across the prefecture.

What’s going wrong

South Korean officials have called the container units the “worst ever,” with concerns now echoed by delegations across all 45 competing nations. A Korea Basketball Association official said the cabins have beds too small for athletes, after a player posted video of a leaking sink flooding his room, captioned “Please help us.” Record rainfall also forced a brief evacuation of accommodation last week.

Taiwan reported a general shortage of beds, while the Philippines said coaches and support staff had to be shifted to hotels and Airbnbs outside the main setup.

The bigger picture

More than 17,000 athletes and officials are expected — more than at the Olympics — making this the largest test yet of using a cruise ship as a multi-sport event’s “hotel.” Organisers chartered the Costa Serena, a sister ship of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, for roughly $28 million.

Local organising chief Hideaki Omura has defended the model as a potential blueprint for cheaper future Games. Whether athletes agree may shape how the Asian Games — and beyond — think about accommodation next time.