Sunday, March 06, 2011

Oasis Class Ships

Royal Caribbean International seems to repeatedly outdo its competition when it comes to cruise ships. How many ships do you know where you can go ice skating, rock climbing, roller blading, miniature golfing and play basketball (all the ships I know of have a full length court)? The latest and greatest by Royal Caribbean is the Oasis class ships. They are the largest cruise ships in the world coming in at over 220,000 tons. They have 18 decks and incredibly draw only 30 feet of water. The 30 feet thing boggles when you see how much ship is above water. As I mentioned previously on this blog, I got to see the Oasis from a distance and, I was in Ft. Lauderdale when the Allure (the second of this class) arrived from its maiden voyage from Finland. Reviews of the 2 ships have been unanimously positive. Because of that, you would think I'd really like to cruise on one of these marvels but, I confess I don't care to right now. My only complaint with the class is their itineraries. I don't go cruising to spend time on the boat. I go cruising because it is the most convenient way to see the particular destinations I'm visiting i.e. the Caribbean islands or in June - Alaska. Looking at the itineraries of the Oasis class, I see you spend half your time at sea. I don't care for that at all. I've heard the reason for that is because a number of the ports can't handle the massive ships. Royal Caribbean according to cruisecritic.com (I couldn't find the article I saw on this) is working on that. When Royal Caribbean improves the class's itineraries, I'll be lining up to go cruising on one of these extraordinary ships.

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