I'm putting the finishing touches on an article about a major liner disaster, within living memory, in which it was discovered, post event, that it was possible to build and sail a liner that was a "zero compartment ship" (she could not remain afloat with even one compartment holed) and still remain within the letter of the law as it stood at the time of this ship's construction.
Sometimes it seems that if there is a loophole, someone will find it...
>These same ships have "royal promenade" shopping malls that leave the entire center of the ship open for hundreds of feet.
They tend to be very high up in the ship. If water has reached a level of, say, 80 feet above the keel it would seem that floatation has already been severely compromised. I tend to view these expansive corridor-like rooms more as fire hazards than anything else. As the experiences of Normandie and l'Atlantique show, even when a ship is standing still or under tow, broad, high, lengthy rooms turn into wind tunnels when they ignite.