(c) Oasis of the Seas
Here’s one seagoing vessel you will never find me upon: the 6,300-passenger Oasis of the Seas that is now in the ocean somewhere on the way to its home base in Florida. I think you can see it coming if you’re standing on a hill in Alabama.
According to the Associated Press, this monstrosity has 2,700 cabins and more sleeping quarters for 2,100 crew members. To put that in perspective, it’s roughly the number of rooms you find in the sprawling Gaylord Opryland hotel in my home city of Nashville (where guests’ main complaint is that they keep getting lost because it’s so huge). That’s twice as many rooms as the largest convention hotel in sizable cities like Houston, Montreal, Miami, and New Orleans. Think of the last convention hotel you were in, multiply it by three times, shrink the room sizes, then push it and all the guests out to sea. Sound like fun?
“Company officials are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success. Five times larger than the Titanic, the $1.5 billion ship has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a small golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater.
The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.”
Can you imagine what it would be like to enter a port city in the Caribbean and disembark with 6,000+ other people? I’d be asking someone to wake me from the nightmare.
Comments open as to who will actually pay to be a part of this “mass tourism to the Nth degree” experience.
Rolf
Friday 8th of April 2011
Maybe the people reading an independent travel blog aren't the types who want to gorge themselves in a floating city and roll out into port cities: http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2011/04/coast-guard-cruise-ship-passenger-weight-limit/154326/1
david clarke
Wednesday 6th of April 2011
I cannot believe the comments made by people who had not even been on board this amazing ship. Please lets have some comments from people who have actually sailed on her.
david clarke
Wednesday 6th of April 2011
I had the privilege to sail on this ship with my wife last year for our 25th wedding anniversary and it is anything but a monstrosity. Please do not comment if you have not sailed on this ship. We had the holiday of a lifetime. There was so much to see and experience. If you wanted time on your own it was not hard to find. Service was second to none. Entertainment was first class. The shows laid on were as professional as London's West end. I would not hesitate to vacate again on Oasis. If you ever do a cruise then Oasis will surpass all your expectations and then some. I spoke to many on board at the same time as myself and did not find anyone unhappy. My apologies for going on but I cannot praise Oasis enough and am at present saving for my next vacation. A perfect relaxing week after the many parks in Florida. If I could I would happily take the sceptics with me as they would be in awe.
Milliver's Travels
Saturday 7th of August 2010
Ohmigosh, is that thing for real??? It's hideous. The mere sight of it really puts me off. Not just from the thought of being trapped onboard with so many people but from all the waste and pollution it must put out.
Steven
Sunday 15th of November 2009
You may never see me on it, but you are lying if you say that isn't an amazingly impressive display of human engineering. I really want to see the insides of that monster.