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Nov 20, 2009 6:21 pm US/Eastern
A Sneak Peek Onboard The World's Largest Ship
Click Here For Slideshow: The Biggest Afloat
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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The Oasis of the Seas even has a wave pool, allowing people to surf the waves on top of the massive ship.
DAVE GAME
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One of the "neighborhoods," named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.
Dave Game
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One of the "neighborhoods," named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.
Dave Game
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Main shopping and entry hall, home of the levitating bar, which travels up and down the decks much like an elevator.
Dave Game
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Aqua theater: pool by day, theatre by night
Dave Game
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In this photo supplied by Royal Caribbean International, the line's newest ship, The Oasis of the Seas, crosses under a Danish bridge with just 2 feet to spare after retracting it's funnels.
Royal Caribbean International
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In this photo supplied by Royal Caribbean International, the line's newest ship, The Oasis of the Seas, crosses under a Danish bridge with just 2 feet to spare after retracting it's funnels.
Royal Caribbean International
A week after the world's largest cruise ship rolled into Port Everglades, CBS4 got an up close view of the ship, which features a swimming pool that moonlights as a theater and a "levitating bar" that travels up and down the decks like an elevator.
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. It has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members.
Accommodations include loft cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 1,600-square-foot luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades.
The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.
The enormous ship features various "neighborhoods" — parks, squares and arenas with special themes. One of them will be a tropical environment, including palm trees and vines among the total 12,000 plants on board. They will be planted after the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale.
One of the "neighborhoods," named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.
In the stern, the 750-seat outdoor theater — modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater — doubles as a swimming pool by day and an ocean front theater by night. The pool has a diving tower with spring boards and two 33-foot (10-meter) high-dive platforms. An indoor theater seats 1,300 guests.
Two weeks earlier, Port Everglades dedicated the newly expanded Terminal 18, which will house the world's largest cruise ship.
The port has spent $75 million to expand Terminal 18 from 67,500 square feet to 240,000 square feet, making it the largest terminal for a single cruise ship; in this case, Royal Caribbean's The Oasis of the Seas.
Pop star Rihanna promoted her new album in a concert aboard Oasis Thursday night. The performance, during a three-day preview cruise, was held at the AquaTheater at the stern of the ship, which was also home to shows by Olympic divers and synchronized swimmers.
The United Way will also have an overnight charity cruise aboard Oasis on Nov. 29. The ship will be officially named on Nov. 30.
It will embark on a special 4-night preview voyage to the port of Labadee in Haiti on Dec. 1. That will be followed by its inaugural voyage set for December 5th, when it will sail to St. Thomas, St Maarten, and Nassau.
Officials of Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Line are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success.
The Oasis and its sister ship, Allure of the Seas, which is coming in 2010, are expected to have a major economic impact in South Florida, supporting 3,800 jobs, generating $172 million in personal income, and producing more than $463 million in total business revenue and local purchases, according to a study done for Port Everglades. When both ships are here, Port Everglades is expected to grab the title as "Busiest Cruise Ship Port" in the world. Right now, that title is held by the Port of Miami.
In addition, Port Everglades will transition from a seasonal port, to a year round facility. Right now, only two ships docks there year round, soon, six ships will sail out of Port Everglades year round. That's causing a building boom for hotels.
Nearly a thousand rooms are under construction right now, many in Dania Beach. "We're going to have two gigantic ships here," explained Homewood Suites General Manager Mike Walker. "I think people see more of an opportunity where it's not just going to be a seasonal destination, but year round destination."
Aside from huge sky lights and sea-inspired tile work on the floor, one of the highly touted features of terminal 18 is the fact that there are 90 check in stands for passengers. "Our intent is to be able to process people from curbside to being onboard the ship within 15 minutes," explained Port Director Phil Allen. And something else he's proud of, "It's a $75 million project, we quadrupled the size of the terminal and we did it on time and below budget."
CBS4's Dave Game contributed to this report
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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