Introducing our new columnist and cruise insider Stewart Chiron, known to most as The Cruise Guy, from his appearances on TV. Stewart discusses the big issues concerning the cruise world – starting with one of the biggest of all. And don’t forget to see his latest stories at
www.cruiseguy.com.
The Genesis of a Great Idea
I
t was February, 2006; Royal Caribbean was preparing for the delivery of the world’s largest cruise ship, Freedom of the Seas, in three months. I recall pre- paring for morning TV shows in New York when the headlines hit. “Royal Caribbean International orders largest cruise ships in the world.”
At the time, the current record holder
for size was Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 at 151,000 tons. Royal Caribbean’s upcoming Freedom of the Seas was sup- posed to be 160,000 tons. The two new ships ordered were going to be a whop- ping 225,000 tons, which was simply monstrous. Royal Caribbean had just announced they were going to outdo themselves before taking delivery of their newest and world’s largest cruise ship. Some simple artist renderings were made available, but with no additional details. It was hard to comprehend what a 225,000-ton ship would look like and what it would have on board.
Of course, Project Genesis, as it was
called, was brought up in every interview for the next few days. On air, I said people like to go on vacation and get away from it all. Royal Caribbean had found a way to bring everyone with you! The excitement surrounding Project Genesis began to swell in early 2008. Cruise ships can be pretty well masked from public view. Depending on the ship-
Big, Bigger, Biggest
The world’s largest and heaviest aircraft carriers, Nimitz Class, displace (weigh) 98,500 tons and are 1,092 feet long. Oasis was 1,187 feet long and displaced more than 105,000 tons. For the first time, a cruise ship exceeded the size of the world’s largest aircraft carriers.
98 WORLD OF CRUISING I Winter 2012-13
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