MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World’s largest cruise vessel, 225.282 tons delivered to Royal Caribbean

“Oasis of the Seas” will sail on her four-night maiden voyage on December first

The final pieces are falling into place for “Oasis of the Seas” with the ship's future owners Royal Caribbean and homeport Fort Lauderdale in Florida State poised to introduce the world to the largest cruise ship ever built.

Industry publication Seatrade Insider is reporting that Oasis' new Fort Lauderdale, Florida home, Port Everglades Terminal 18, has just been given the official “certificate of occupancy,” meaning that it can open for business.

Royal Caribbean will have several weeks to test out the new terminal's functionality before the 5.400-passenger, 225.282-ton “Oasis of the Seas” arrives in Fort Lauderdale on November 11.

Back in Turku, Finland at the STX Europe shipyard, Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., wrote in his blog that ship welcomed its first passengers, 1,000 or so yard workers who got to celebrate their impressive achievement with an onboard event.

The official handover ceremony, which signifies the ship's transfer from yard to cruise line, will take place Wednesday.

At a cost of some 1.3 billion US dollars, the mammoth vessel offers a world of luxury and a plethora of on-board activities for its 5.4000 passengers and 2.000 crew members.

STX Finland, a subsidiary of South Korean shipbuilder STX, will hand over the vessel to Royal Caribbean on Wednesday, and the ship will set sail on its four-night maiden voyage from Lauderdale to Haiti on December 1.

Royal Caribbean has called the ship the ”most innovative and imaginative ship yet, (where) entertainment areas have become neighbourhoods at sea.“

Royal Caribbean’s Richard Fain said in his website that the image of cruise-ship travellers as being rich pensioners who lounge about poolside was a misconception. ”The average age of our passengers is 44. I don't call that old, do you?” he asked.

As a result, the new ship offers among other things pool surfing, rock-climbing or a whiz above the boardwalk on a zip line, providing passengers with enough activities to spend the entire cruise on board if they wish.

Real trees bring some nature on board and Broadway musicals and ice shows meet passengers' cultural needs as it sails primarily in the Caribbean.

The ship is 16 decks high, or 65 metres above the waterline, and measures 360 metres long and 47 metres wide.

The ship outdoes Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, delivered in 2006 and which has until now been the world's biggest cruise-ship with room for some 4,400 passengers and 1,350 crew.

Royal Caribbean ordered the Oasis of the Seas in 2006 and its sister vessel Allure of the Seas in 2007. Allure of the Seas is scheduled to be ready in autumn 2010.