BIG SHIP CRUISING
It’s certainly BIG, but is it CLEVER ?
Gary Buchanan asks some serious questions of Royal Caribbean’s new Oasis of the Seas and makes some surprising conclusions
A
t the end of last year a ship appeared on the horizon that sent the cruise industry into a spin. The headlines said it all:
‘Oasis of the Seas – the world’s largest cruise ship really is SS Stupendous’; ‘Mega-cruising has arrived’; and not forgetting ‘The Incredible Hull.’ World of Cruising featured the ship on the front cover of Issue 45 with the headline ‘The world’s fi rst space ship.’ Such media hype resulted in a series of pre-inaugural cruises which spanned Thanksgiving last November. These two- and three-day events, attended by cruise journalists and industry observers, gave Royal Caribbean a perfect opportunity to showcase their new leviathan.
Call me a cynic, but I opted not to join
these events brim-full of corporate hospitality, preferring instead to wait awhile and see how the ship performed with a full complement of genuine passengers. And so it was that I embarked in Fort Lauderdale in mid-March as Oasis of the Seas set out on voyage number 16. As we approached the bustling Port
Everglades, I could see that not only was the largest ship in the world in town, so too were eight other vessels each accom- modating more than 2,000 passengers. The taxi drew up at the purpose-built terminal and our luggage was decanted before we headed to the check-in area. Suite and platinum-tier Crown & Anchor Society loyalty members were
segregated from the hoi-polloi, but nowhere appeared to have long queues. Indeed, this was one of the swiftest embarkations I have encountered in recent times. The fact most passengers had completed their SeaPass documentation online no doubt aided the check-in process. In no time at all we entered this colossus in the forward part of the Royal Promenade.
From Evolution to Revolution Always the innovator, Royal Caribbean introducing their fi rst vessel – Song of Norway – back in 1970 to much acclaim. Renowned for his unbridled chutzpah, Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, boasted at the
Summer 2010 I WORLD OF CRUISING 27
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