Whitewashing is best suited to a soft wood like pine. A wood like oak will require pickling, a technique of whitening wood. Pickling is considered a method, not a finish, and though you can pickle pine and other soft woods, woods like oak and ash are the most common type of wood you can pickle. You can create your own pickling stain for oak and ash wood, or you can purchase pre made pickling stains. Taking off the doors will make them easier to whitewash and give you easier access to the cabinet frames. It's also a good idea to work on the cabinetry and the doors separately. Use a drill to remove the doors. When you store the screws, label them so you can tell which door they came from. As the hardware is already set to a particular door, labelling the screws will prevent any confusion later when putting the doors back on. Before you start treating the wood, use rags and a heavy duty degreaser to clean the doors. Apply the degreaser to the front and the back of each cabinet as well as to the frames. Wipe down and repeat these steps as necessary until the cabinet and frame are very clean. Whitewashing requires a blank canvas for the wood stain to take. Paint strippers will do the job, but these harsh chemicals require excellent ventilation (or a respirator), safety goggles, neoprene/latex gloves, and a drop cloth to protect your floor. Apply one coat of paint stripper with steel wool, then wipe with a rag once the finish has dissolved. Most paint strippers are flammable, so dispose of the steel wool and rag in a sealed metal bucket. You can sand the surface by hand or by using a power sander. The goal is to uncover the natural color of the wood cabinets. When sanding, always move in the direction of the wood grain, rather than against it. If your cabinets are made of a soft wood like pine, it's important to condition them as these woods can sometimes appear blotchy when stained. Conditioning also raises the grain of the wood. You can use a pre-stain conditioner for this step. Apply the conditioner to the cabinets with a clean brush designed for latex paints and then let them sit for 30 minutes. Follow up with a light sanding of the cabinets using the 120 grit paper again. This final sanding will ensure the cabinets have a smooth surface to absorb the stain.

Summary: Determine what type of wood your cabinets are made of. Detach the cabinet doors. Clean the doors. Strip the old stain from the doors. Sand the cabinets. Condition the wood.

One of the primary types of insurance you will need is general liability insurance. This will cover your legal expenses, court fees, and settlements in the event that you are sued by a customer who was injured on one of your cruises. This can help you avoid being financially ruined by one bad experience. You may also need insurance to cover potential losses of property in case of a fire or shipwreck. Contact major insurers to inquire about this type of coverage. Customers can sue for any number of reasons, so it's best to get the highest insurance coverage amount that you can afford. Passengers can even sue over rough seas. You will need licenses to operate as a business and as a cruise line. The specific licenses will depend on where you are registered and also where you go stop along your routes. You will need to gain clearance from a part authority or local government anywhere you plan to stop. Because of the complex nature of these permits and dealing with local authorities, it may be wise to hire a consultant who can help you with this. You will also need to obtain liquor licenses for the relevant regions if you are not cruising in international waters. In all case, contact the relevant authority (ports, the coast guard, local governments, etc.) to inquire about specific permit and license requirements. You must adhere to the CDC's twice-annual required health inspections, due to the outbreaks of various intestinal diseases on cruise ships. This is also a form of liability. Now that you're ready to sail, you'll have to attract customers to fill your first voyage. Set a date and begin creating a marketing plan to reach the right customers. Be sure to consider first exactly who you want to attract. Are you looking for elderly retirees or young people? Do you want families, couples, or single people onboard? Your answers to these questions depend on the nature of the cruise you are offering and will inform your advertising strategies and media choices. For example, many cruise lines are now seeking to attract millennials by offering cruises focused more on adventure and destinations than on on gambling and shopping. Before you depart, run a check of all your ship's systems, crew members, and services. Make sure everything is running smoothly and efficiently. Your first voyage will need to go through without problems if you hope to keep running your cruise line for very long, so make sure to be absolutely ready before departing.
Summary: Buy Insurance coverage. Obtain the required licenses and permits. Advertise your first cruise. Double check your ship, crew, and operations.