It’s nearly the size of the Empire State Building if you tipped it on its side, longer than four football fields – the Oasis Of The Seas, now in Port Everglades preparing for her maiden voyage, is the world’s largest and most expensive cruise ship. It has every imaginable activity, from surfing to ice skating, not to mention a zip-line – the first on any cruise ship. It’s clear – Oasis of the Seas has it all. Follow ExpertCruiser onboard this weekend with first-hand live ‘tweets’ on what it is like onboard this amazing ship.
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She’s 1,184 feet long and weighs 225,000 gross tons and was delivered this morning in Turku, Finland to Royal Caribbean International. Not only is Oasis of the Seas the world’s biggest cruise ship, but it’s the most expensive costing around $1.9 billion.
Even with the handover work continues on Oasis as hundreds of builders and cleaners are still putting the final touches on the ship, installing carpets along with cleaning and painting.
Oasis is scheduled to leave Finland on Friday when it will set sail for its home port of Fort Lauderdale. The 6,360-passenger, 2,100 crew member ship will make its maiden voyage on December 1.
My colleague Gene Sloan at USA Today is in Finland to preview Royal Caribbean’s newest and biggest ship – Oasis of the Seas. Read Gene’s blog for all the details.
What the heck is flying over Oasis of the Seas as it undergoes its first sea trials? Would you believe a blimp? Well, it’s not exactly a blimp, but according to Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean’s chairman and ceo it is called an aerostat.
In his Oasis of the Sea Chairman’s blog, Fain said the aerostat is being tested as one of the “weird and wonderful” ideas dreamed up by the company’s creative team. He dubbed the aerostat “interesting” and one of many ideas being floated (pardon the pun) for the world’s biggest cruise liner.
Fain admitted that the aerostat has less than a 50 percent chance of being used on the ship. ‘If we don’t use it on the ship, I will consider it just another of the many ideas our people develop that didn’t work. On the other hand, if it is successful and we do decide to use it on the ship, I will consider it another of my better ideas.” Mr. Fain’s flying fantasy said the company decided to be upfront with the test projects because they want to stop Internet rumors.