http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=620001393.blog

It's here. Royal Caribbean's much-ballyhooed, 225,000-ton Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever built, finally arrived in Fort Lauderdale today -- two days late -- after a 14-day trans-Atlantic voyage from the shipyard in Finland where it was built.
The 5,400-passenger vessel, which hit unusually severe weather during the crossing that set it back, was greeted by crowds lining the waterway into Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.


I saw a picture of this thing, and to be honest, it's just plain ugly.
http://www.cruisemates.com/imgship/rci/freedom.jpg

Its a floating convention center! Supposedly makes the Titanic look like a rowboat in all dimensions.

But is it "Mega Shark" proof?

Its a floating convention center! Supposedly makes the Titanic look like a rowboat in all dimensions.
Supposedly, nothin'. The Titanic was only 46,000 tons - this thing has 5 times that displacement (think about that - it's 5 Titanics!), and is over 300 feet longer.

For more perspective, US aircraft carriers are around 100,000 tons.

The thing's a monster.

Supposedly makes the Titanic look like a rowboat in all dimensions

Exactly what i was thinking, right down the fact that doesnt look like 5,400 + worth of lifeboats.

That thing is a monstrosity. Ugly as sin, there is such a thing as just too damned much.

Put some jets on that thing and call it the Enterprise.

I just don't understand why - right now cruise ships are charging less than $80 / night. You can't get a hotel for that price, let alone a meal, let alone a trip. They can't get the passengers, so WHY build a huge ship. The smaller the ship generally the better the experience, in my opinion, since its far less crowded.

I just don't understand why - right now cruise ships are charging less than $80 / night. You can't get a hotel for that price, let alone a meal, let alone a trip. They can't get the passengers, so WHY build a huge ship. The smaller the ship generally the better the experience, in my opinion, since its far less crowded.

They probably started work on that thing back when everyone was driving gold plated hummers.

******** is right from the blip I heard on some radio show it was started like 4 or more years ago and planned before then.

I've never gone on a cruise but hope to in the near future. A good friend works for cruise one and swears he can get me a deal. But I want to go on the lesbian cruise :D

Fild, you can do Bahamas or Caribbean out of Baltimore for like $67 / night right now. Philly has a few cheap ones too.

I just don't understand why - right now cruise ships are charging less than $80 / night. You can't get a hotel for that price, let alone a meal, let alone a trip. They can't get the passengers, so WHY build a huge ship. The smaller the ship generally the better the experience, in my opinion, since its far less crowded.

Cheap cabins by volume, what's hard to understand? The huge ships like that are why they can keep dropping prices over the years, for 10% more effort and staff they can haul 50% more drunks. If you know you're not paying it off in a year anyway, this year's returns aren't a panic attack for your long term planning.

Fild, you can do Bahamas or Caribbean out of Baltimore for like $67 / night right now. Philly has a few cheap ones too.


Damn that's allot cheaper than my hotel back home just cost me to book :( Christmas with my redneck family or Caribbean? My mom would kill me a thousand times over if I did that hahaha. Plus I need to renew my passport bleh.

Cheap cabins by volume, what's hard to understand? The huge ships like that are why they can keep dropping prices over the years, for 10% more effort and staff they can haul 50% more drunks. If you know you're not paying it off in a year anyway, this year's returns aren't a panic attack for your long term planning.

The passenger to staff ratio on cruises are generally about 3:1, its a staggering amount of crew and I don't think they could reduce that ratio much.

I want to go on the lesbian cruise :D


Me too!

It would be a nice change to be able to relax and not be treated like a piece of meat.

That's why you hire people from the third world who you only have to pay 1/10 as much as an American.

Bingo. The big cost is the operational crew: captain, engine room, etc, and the various cruise directors and entertainers, who make 5-20 times what the bartenders and window washers are costing the cruise line. Likewise it takes more power (and thus fuel) just to have the boat running than 200-300 people use while onboard.