Oasis of the Seas is a historic ship. The mere fact that she is so much larger than any passenger ship before her by itself is enough to ensure her a place in history. However, what is more important about her is that she brings a revolutionary approach to cruising.
With regard to size, she is 220,000 gross tons. Before Oasis entered service, the largest cruise ships were approximately 150,000 gross tons. Thus she is about half again larger than her biggest predecessor. She is not much longer or taller than other ships and thus the difference in size is primarily due to the fact that she is much wider than previous ships.
The cruise experience on Oasis is something new and different. It builds upon what Royal Caribbean has done with its Voyager and Freedom class ships but is a quantum beyond that. By organizing the ship into sections, each with a unifying theme, Royal allows passengers to have several different experiences. One can stay in one of these “neighborhoods” and soak up that experience or one can move between them having several different experiences a day. In some ways it reminded me more of Disney’s Epcot theme park than the experience on other ships. Moreover, like the Disney park, it is operated efficiently and with sophistication, making good use of technology.
This is not to say that Royal has done away with everything that made cruising a good fun experience. The daily program still contains many traditional cruise ship activities - - those that are not only fun but which afford an opportunity to get to know your fellow passengers. In addition, management has placed an emphasis on personal service and the crew is friendly.
Oasis was not built to be a transatlantic express liner. However, her nautical qualities are too often overlooked. When you look at her bow on, one sees that at the waterline she has a slim bow that tapers back rather slowly. This is an efficient form for cutting through the waves. She also has a relatively deep draft - - 30 feet, which when combined with her width and low center of gravity makes her rather stable. Indeed, if one is in the Central Park area of the ship, much of the time it is easy to forget one is on a ship inasmuch as there is so little movement.
I had the experience of sailing on Oasis in the morning and then on another modern ship in the afternoon and was surprised at the amount of motion in the afternoon sailing. Oasis had disguised the fact that the sea was actually rather rough.
Beyondships’ profile of Oasis of the Seas is at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-Profile.html : The multi-page photo tour begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-1-tour.html
Next week, we talk with the captain and hotel director of Oasis.
With regard to size, she is 220,000 gross tons. Before Oasis entered service, the largest cruise ships were approximately 150,000 gross tons. Thus she is about half again larger than her biggest predecessor. She is not much longer or taller than other ships and thus the difference in size is primarily due to the fact that she is much wider than previous ships.
The cruise experience on Oasis is something new and different. It builds upon what Royal Caribbean has done with its Voyager and Freedom class ships but is a quantum beyond that. By organizing the ship into sections, each with a unifying theme, Royal allows passengers to have several different experiences. One can stay in one of these “neighborhoods” and soak up that experience or one can move between them having several different experiences a day. In some ways it reminded me more of Disney’s Epcot theme park than the experience on other ships. Moreover, like the Disney park, it is operated efficiently and with sophistication, making good use of technology.
This is not to say that Royal has done away with everything that made cruising a good fun experience. The daily program still contains many traditional cruise ship activities - - those that are not only fun but which afford an opportunity to get to know your fellow passengers. In addition, management has placed an emphasis on personal service and the crew is friendly.
Oasis was not built to be a transatlantic express liner. However, her nautical qualities are too often overlooked. When you look at her bow on, one sees that at the waterline she has a slim bow that tapers back rather slowly. This is an efficient form for cutting through the waves. She also has a relatively deep draft - - 30 feet, which when combined with her width and low center of gravity makes her rather stable. Indeed, if one is in the Central Park area of the ship, much of the time it is easy to forget one is on a ship inasmuch as there is so little movement.
I had the experience of sailing on Oasis in the morning and then on another modern ship in the afternoon and was surprised at the amount of motion in the afternoon sailing. Oasis had disguised the fact that the sea was actually rather rough.
Beyondships’ profile of Oasis of the Seas is at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-Profile.html : The multi-page photo tour begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-1-tour.html
Next week, we talk with the captain and hotel director of Oasis.
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