World’s largest cruise ship Oasis of the Seas sets sail

The largest passenger ship in the world, the Oasis of the Seas, has set sail.

On its way from Finland, the Oasis of the Seas sailed briefly into the Solent on November 2, 2009, en rout to her home port of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, the United States, for the naming ceremony. We have a few photos of Oasis of the Seas setting out on her journey here.

Photo: Oasis of the Seas, world's largest cruise ship

(The Solent is a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight – a British island located about 5 miles from the south-coast of the mainland, in the English Channel – from the mainland of England. The Solent is a major shipping route for passenger, freight and military ships.)

World's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas - photo

The vessel had, the night before, passed under the Great Belt Bridge, which connects the Danish islands of Funen and Zealand, with just a 2-foot clearance after its telescopic smokestacks were lowered.

The Oasis of the Seas anchored off Southampton, in Hants, England, to disembark 300 shipyard-workers, before continuing the journey to Fort Lauderdale, where she is expected to arrive on November 11, 2009.

The ship will be officially named and launched in December 2009, before she embarks on her maiden voyage in the Caribbean.

The Oasis of the Seas, owned by Royal Carribean International, has 20 storeys and 16 decks and was built at a cost of $1.5 billion.

The Oasis of the Seas, the first of her class, is expected to be joined by her sister ship, the Allure of the Seas, in November 2010. Both ships are likely to cruise the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale.

The Oasis replaces the Freedom-class cruise ships – also owned by Royal Carribean International – as the world’s biggest passenger vessel.

The ship, ordered in February 2006, was designed under the name ‘Project Genesis.’ The keel was laid on November 12, 2007, at STX Europe – formerly Aker Yards – in Turku, Finland.

The name, the Oasis of the Seas, came up from a ship-naming competition held in May 2008.

The vessel was turned over to Royal Carribean International on October 28, 2009, and, two days later, she embarked on her journey from Finland to Fort Lauderdale in the United States.

The Oasis of the Seas is 1,180 feet long, has 20 storeys (which is 5 times the size of Titanic), 21 swimming pools, an indoor park with growing trees and a theatre as large as a football pitch.

The vessel, having over 2,700 cabins, can accommodate up to 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members.

The price of a two-week cruise aboard the Oasis of the Seas begins at £1,300.

According to the ship’s manufacturers, the Oasis of the Seas is the most environment-friendly cruise ship built to date. The vessel discharges no sewage into the sea; it reuses its waste water, and consumes 25% less power than similar, but smaller, cruise liners.

The ship’s accommodation includes extraordinary luxury – lofty cabins with floor-to-ceiling windows as well as 1,600-square-foot luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades.

That’s not all: The Oasis of the Seas has 7 ‘neighborhoods,’ an ice rink, a small golf course, and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater.

The vessel, which is more like a floating city, has an open-air park planted with 12,000 real trees.

There is a bar in the lift for cocktail between decks, several champagne bars, and a large number of restaurants.

Lovers of theatre can watch Hairspray, the first full Broadway show to be performed at sea.

For the children, there are theme parks and a non-alcoholic ‘mocktail bar.’

All the same, some have questioned the need for such “ostentatious luxury” at a time when the economy of the United States in particular and of the world in general is undergoing a downturn.