The recent launch of Royal Caribbean's 6,296-passenger Oasis of the Seas—the largest cruise ship afloat—has led many to ask, how big is too big? Margot Dougherty climbs aboard to try the Oasis on for size and investigates its impact on the environment and the future of cruising
"Dip, dip, swirl, and shake it!" An enthusiastic young woman leads an unlikely dance troupe around a wood floor streaked with multicolored lights. "Now slap. Slap!" Her motley tribe of a dozen men and women stick out their right hips and give them a well-timed thwack, looking intent—and a little goofy—as they try to nail the steps from a Hairspray routine. A small crowd has gathered here in Boleros, a bar and lounge on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, to watch their progress. Across the way, a digital ticker tape blinks the day's news outside a karaoke bar. Down a stone thoroughfare, you can buy gold chains by the yard and have a slice of pepperoni pizza or a cupcake with icing the shape of Marge Simpson's updo. You can upgrade your camera equipment at the photo shop before sitting down for a freshly pulled draft at Ye Olde Pub, which has a Victorian-style gas lamp outside its door. There's little you can't do here on the Royal Promenade of the world's largest cruise liner—except perhaps believe that you're on a ship.
Long gone are the days when travelers boarded oceangoing vessels solely as a means to an end—to get from the Old World to the New and, if things didn't work out so well, maybe back again. When the advent of the Jet Age removed the imperative of transatlantic voyages, cruise lines rejiggered their vessels, morphing first into floating hotels that would sail from port to port and then, more recently, into destinations in and of themselves. "Twenty years ago there was a dining room and a show, a lounge, a sundeck, and your stateroom, which had no balcony," says naval architect and Royal Caribbean executive vice president Harri Kulovaara. "The number of options provided on ships has changed very much, and size has been an enabler in this evolution." This slow build has crescendoed with Royal Caribbean's Oasis, which can accommodate nearly 8,500 passengers and crew and is 40 percent larger than Royal Caribbean's Freedom class ships, which set the bar for size just four years ago. At 222,000 tons, Oasis is the biggest cruise ship ever.
"A larger footprint gives us the opportunity to create even more options and features for our guests," explains Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean's president and CEO. Or, otherwise put, ka-ching. The extra width of the ship, for example, allowed for a central atrium and inside cabins with balconies under an open sky, creating more premium real estate to sell at a premium price: Tickets for a seven-day Caribbean cruise on Oasis range from $1,249 for an inside cabin (no balcony) to $7,609 for a double-decker loft suite with an ocean view. The central atrium is also the site of one of Oasis's biggest marketing draws: its Central Park, a "neighborhood" with a walkway that winds around plant beds and past numerous opportunities for passengers to spend. There's a white Carrera marble cube of a Coach store, a wine bar, and several premium restaurants which, at an extra $20 or $30 per head before wine or booze, can end up significantly adding to your final bill. (On average, 25 percent of a cruise line's profits come from onboard sales and shore excursion fees, so the more opportunities a ship offers guests to spend money, the more it adds to the bottom line.)
Click HERE to view a cross-sectional view and images of some of the main decks of the Oasis of the Seas as well as a map of the ships eastern Caribbean 7-day cruise. Click HERE to view a video of passengers on board the Oasis of the Seas.
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COMMENTARY: I remember posting an article about the Oasis of the Seas when it set sail for the first time in late 2009. I was amazed at the sheer size and dimensions of a cruise ship, that is roughtly twice the weight of a U.S. aircraft carrier. Such unrivalved oppulensce and extravagance, with a super-structure seven stories high. Normal ships have 5 to 10 levels. The Oasis has 16 levels.
In terms of volume, the Oasis of the Seas is five times as big as the Titanic — is just part of the reason many industry watchers are calling it a game-changer. Just as notable: on-board amenities that encompass everything from a open-air "Central Park" with live trees to a family-friendly amusement area called the Boardwalk. It's also the first ship to be named by a member of the public. A USA TODAY reader, George Weiser of Livonia, Mich., won a Royal Caribbean-USA TODAY ship-naming contest with the name Oasis of the Seas.
Built to rival the most elaborate resort hotels of Las Vegas and Orlando, it's also a bold bet that the fast-growing cruise industry can continue to expand its market beyond the 20% or so of Americans who already cruise. More than 40% of Royal Caribbean's customers come from outside North America, and the Oasis was built to garner an even larger international market share.
Dreamed up six years ago when the economy was booming, the $1.4 billion vessel (by far the most expensive) will need to sail full at premium rates to make a decent return — no easy feat as the economy remains mired in a downturn and cruisers have become used to discount prices.
Oasis is one of two massive vessels that Royal Caribbean has planned. Allure of the Seas is scheduled to make its debut late next year.
Courtesy of an article appearing in the March 2010 issue of Conde Naste's Traveler Magazine
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