London - It’s enough to leave you feeling all at sea. Packed with 16 decks, 2 700 cabins and 6 200 guests, this is the world’s largest cruise ship – and it sailed into the UK for the first time on Wednesday.
Longer than the Shard is tall, the Oasis of the Seas drew hundreds of impressed spectators as it pulled into dock at Southampton. The £800-million liner, which is 40 percent larger than any other ship in the world, spent the day there before departing for Vigo, Spain, on its way to Florida.
Its thousands of guests are looked after by an army of more than 2 000 crew and staff – and they are unlikely to run out of things to do on board thanks to 37 bars and cafes, 25 shops, a running track, surf simulators, an ice rink and the only zip-line to be fitted on a cruise ship.
It’s also the only ship in the world to have an open air park – complete with 24ft trees – and a 750-seat “aqua theatre” where guests can watch water acrobatics, high diving and water ballet.
The cost? Anything from £900 to £11 178 (about R16 000 R200 000) to for a seven-night cruise for two, depending on just how luxurious you’d like your accommodation to be. Dominic Paul, of Royal Caribbean International, which operates the liner, described its first visit to the UK as “an important milestone”. - Daily Mail