Largest Cruiseship in the World

[juan ruiz]

Well, looks like I will have yet another ship under my belt, since my new position a year ago, I have been appointed many new tasks and upper management have decided that the new Oasis of the Seas will be one of the vessel we support since they have our Diesel Engines. Can't wait to see this thing in person.

Oasis of the Sea, nearly 40 percent larger than the industry's next-biggest ship, was conceived years before the economic downturn caused desperate cruise lines to slash prices to fill vacant berths.

It was built by STX Finland for Royal Caribbean International and left the shipyard in Finland on Friday. Officials hadn't expected any problems in passing the Great Belt bridge, but traffic was stopped for about 15 minutes as a precaution when the ship approached, Danish navy spokesman Joergen Brand said.

Aboard the Oasis of the Seas, project manager Toivo Ilvonen of STX Finland confirmed that the ship had passed under the bridge without any incidents.

The enormous ship features various "neighborhoods" — parks, squares and arenas with special themes. One of them will be a tropical environment, including palm trees and vines among the total 12,000 plants on board. They will be planted after the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale.

In the stern, a 750-seat outdoor theater — modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater — doubles as a swimming pool by day and an ocean front theater by night. The pool has a diving tower with spring boards and two 33-foot (10-meter) high-dive platforms. An indoor theater seats 1,300 guests.

One of the "neighborhoods," named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.

Once home, the $1.5 billion floating extravaganza will have more, if less visible, obstacles to duck: a sagging U.S. economy, questions about the consumer appetite for luxury cruises and criticism that such sailing behemoths are damaging to the environment and diminish the experience of traveling.

It is due to make its U.S. debut on Nov. 20 at its home port, Port Everglades in Florida.

[imcarthur]

Going on holiday with 5,400 other vacationers is my idea of hell.

Ian

[widgeon13]

Probably guaranteed H1N1. I'd be happier at home!

[peppy]

No wonder some people think the ocean is rising. That thing displaces enough water to raise the ocean levels a foot.

[Rick Lee]

You couldn't pay me to endure another cruise. Such hell.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Going on holiday with 5,400 other vacationers is my idea of hell.

Ian

+1.

But it's an age thing. Oldies love to cruise because "everything is taken care of". They get on at one end and get off at the other. And that's it.

It's the complete opposite of how I like to travel.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Dottore

It's the complete opposite of how I like to travel.

We are related.

I don't do herds, never have never will.

[imcarthur]

I like to vacation with a steering wheel in my hands. Driving in a strange country is always a blast. The 'herd' vacations we will do when we are old & decrepit.

Ian

[juan ruiz]

and where the magic happens

[Schumi]

Reading that is like reading something out of a fantasy or sci fi book. It doesn't sound real.

Amazing.

[juan ruiz]

Originally Posted by Schumi

Reading that is like reading something out of a fantasy or sci fi book. It doesn't sound real.

Amazing.

From the engineering point of view absolutely.

Oasis of the Seas is equipped with a total of six Wδrtsilδ 46 engines, three 12-cylinder and three 16-cylinder engines, generating more than 96 MW. The vessel is also equipped with four 5.5 MW Wδrtsilδ bow thrusters, which are among the largest in the world.

Wδrtsilδ’s engines are equipped with common rail technology, which provides an important and very visible advantage. As the combustion and other process parameters can be adjusted for lower load ranges, smoke emissions can be reduced.
Wδrtsilδ continuously aims to improve the environmental performance of its products and solutions, with the main focus being on improving efficiency and minimizing emissions.

The Wδrtsilδ bow thrusters make the vessel easy to operate. They have a combined power output of 22 MW. In fact, the bow thrusters alone have more power than is installed on a normal cargo ship.

[Rick Lee]

Anyone taking bets on the investors ever making their money back on this one?

[Jim Sims]

[HardDrive]

Great. 5400 people from Iowa dumped off in downtown Seattle wandering around Pike Street Market with baby strollers. Ugh.

[juan ruiz]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Anyone taking bets on the investors ever making their money back on this one?

They have 22 ships, I think they have the recipe down path.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Schumi

Reading that is like reading something out of a fantasy or sci fi book. It doesn't sound real.

Amazing.

I agree. When I first saw the pics if this my first thought was, "This can't be real." My second thought was, "You couldn't pay me enough..."

[EarlyPorsche]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Anyone taking bets on the investors ever making their money back on this one?

Its not for everyone but there are plenty out there that will sign up for this one. Just the thing you need when you can't get enough people on "ordinary" ships is providing them with the most extraordinary ship. This is probably what will keep the company afloat(sorry) until the economy is fully healthy again.

[JavaBrewer]

Beautiful ship - a real wonder of engineering and design. I can't stand cruises though - give me a beach front condo/cabin for a week and I'm very content.

[Wilywilly]

It was orginally built for Bernie Madoff but then the market went South.

[legion]

What is a "common rail"?