Oasis of the Seas - a royal giant

On November 13, Oasis of the Seas, the biggest ship on the ocean, cruised into her home port of Port Everglades, Florida, from Finland where she was built. This amazing floating city has been built to cruise the Caribbean with 5400 guests, 2165 cres - and 12,175 plants! This Youtube video from America's 'Good Morning America' TV show shows the giant of the seas gliding into dock - a dock that had to be specially dredged.

Oasis of the Seas has been designed as a city. It has seven neighbourhoods:

1. Central Park - which is where you will find the 12,000 plants. Modelled on New York's Central Park, stone-paved paths cross the parkland to cafes and bars.
2. Boardwalk - this is a fun park with a Carousel, ice cream parlours and the AquaTheatre.
   
3. Royal Promenade
4. Pool and Sports Zone - this includes the FlowRiders which are surf simulators, already found on the Royal Caribbean Freedom class cruise ships.
   
5. Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Centre
6. Entertainment Place
7. Youth Zone

It also boasts 28 multi-level urban style loft suites with floor-to-ceiling windows; an amphitheatre style theatre that serves as a pool during the day and a theatre at night

It has done a number of sea trials and while crossing the Atlantic to Florida it ran into a near-hurricane-force storm which it coped with well. Central Park is actually important in maintaining the ship's balance in such conditions.

Some statistics on Oasis of the Seas for those who like to know:

• Cruising speed 22.6 knots
• 225,282 tonnes
• 360m in length - that's as long as the Empire State Building is tall.
• 16 decks
• 2,700 staterooms
• 4100 toilets
• 37 bars
• 1 ice rink
• cost $1.5 billion US

You can do a tour of the ship in Spanish on the Oasis of the Seas website. Don't worry about the Spanish - you can see what the reporter is talking about - it is quite awesome! Just click on Video Gallery.

Oasis of the Seas will be sailing the Eastern Caribbean from December 2009 until April 2010 visiting ports of St Thomas, St Maarten & Nassau in the Bahamas.  In May she will alternate between Eastern and Westewrn Caribbean cruises  including the ports of Labadee, which is the resort destination in Haiti that has been especially created for this ship, Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel in Mexico.

Fancy a cruise on this giant of the seas? Contact us today