Interesting Green: World's largest cruise ship

The Straits Times, Saturday October 31, 2009, Lifestyle
From: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_448884.html
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PHOTO: http://elitechoice.org/2008/04/26/elite-find-of-the-day-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-worth-793-mn/ - worlds-largest-cruise-ship.jpg
http://elitechoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/worlds-largest-cruise-ship.jpg The Oasis of the Seas will meet its first obstacle Saturday when it exits the Baltic Sea and must squeeze under the Great Belt Bridge, which is just 1 foot (30 centimetres) taller than the ship - even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.

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HELSINKI - IT'S five times larger than the Titanic, has seven neighbourhoods, an ice rink, a golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. The world's largest cruise ship is finally finished and beginning to glide toward its home port in Florida.

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The Oasis of the Seas will meet its first obstacle Saturday when it exits the Baltic Sea and must squeeze under the Great Belt Bridge, which is just 1 foot (30 centimetres) taller than the ship - even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.

PHOTO: http://www.funonthenet.in/content/view/363/31/

To be on the safe side, the ship - which rises about 20 stories high - will speed up so that it sinks deeper into the water when it passes below the span, said Lene Gebauer Thomsen, a spokeswoman for the operator of the Great Belt Bridge.

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Once home, the US$1.5 billion (S$2.1 billion) floating extravaganza will have more, if less visible, obstacles to duck: a sagging US 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.

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Travel guide writer Arthur Frommer has railed against Oasis and other mega-ships he calls 'floating resorts,' suggesting that voyages on such large vessels are 'a dumbing down of the cruise experience.'

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Oasis of the Seas, which is nearly 40 per cent 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.

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PHOTO: http://www.cruiseweb.nl/images/freedomoftheseas/SideView.jpg

What's in a ship?
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THE Oasis of the Seas has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members.

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It has various 'neighbourhoods' - 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.

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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 10-metre high-dive platforms. An indoor theater seats 1,300 guests.

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Accommodations include loft cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 487-metre luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades.

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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.

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The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.

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Cost of rooms - US$1,299 to $4,829.

PHOTO: AFP (In-life-oasis4AFP.jpg) Workers were seen aboard the "Oasis of the Seas" cruise ship at a dockyard.

PHOTO: REUTERS (In-life-oasis5R.jpg) A miniature golf course is seen aboard the Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas cruise ship which was under construction at the STX Europe shipyard.