World's largest cruise ships feature all the amenities of the big city amenities, feature, city, big, cruise

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World's largest cruise ships feature all the amenities of the big city
When you first arrive at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the new ship looks the same. Except for the name, Allure of the Seas, you can't tell them apart. They are sister ships, the Allure and the Oasis of the Seas, and only their names seem to be different.

They are the two biggest cruise ships in the world. However, there are some differences.

Allure is officially the larger, because they made her 15 centimetres longer. Oasis's captain promises that, the first time Oasis comes out of dry-dock, his ship will be longer!

When you step on-board the Allure, your first thoughts are ... yes, this looks the same. Then you see a Starbucks store, right in the middle of the Allure's promenade. That's different.

And who are all these characters running around? Shrek, Fiona, Puss in Boots, Po of Kung Fu Panda, Alex and Port the Penguins, and Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. OK, now this is really different. There are Dream-Works characters all over the ship, including the president himself, Jeffrey Katzenberg, one-half the team that created DreamWorks (the other was Steven Spielberg).

Why? I asked Mr. Katzenberg Why launch the lifelike characters of his animation movies with Royal Caribbean? His answer was simple: "This ship is so big, it's a floating city. Every city has a variety of demographics that appeal to our characters, so that fit with Royal works."

Gradually, some of the restaurants and DreamWorks characters will make their way to other Royal Caribbean ships.

You see will see lifelike versions of these characters at special breakfasts, on the ice at the How to Train Your Dragon show, during the parade on the Promenade, and at the Amber Theater in 3-D DreamWorks movies.

While Oasis hosts the Broadway show, Hairspray, Allure has the Broadway show, Chicago.

The cast in these shows looks good enough to be on Broadway or the West End.

Central Park, which dominates the middle of the ship, is populated by restaurants and stores, and has about 12,000 plants and 57 trees open to the sky.

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When you sit in this Central Park, you have no idea you're on a ship.

Maybe that's the basis for the concept of this 6,000-passenger colossus. It's perhaps for those who may not like cruising, but who are willing to give it a shot when the ship is a floating resort. In reality, this is a family ship, with over 30,000 square feet of space for kids six months to 17 years, each of them with a place to be, such as clubs for the teenagers.

The age demographic sinks on these mega ships. The demo -- or at least the heart of the demo -- is mainly couples and singles between 30 and 50 years of age, with a heavy dose of children and teens.

There are places to hide. I like the Solarium at the bow of the ship. There you can find cabanas, high-end loungers and a quiet, peaceful area. Or if you're so inclined, you can hang over the side in hot tubs built for 20.

The Solarium has a restaurant that, at night, turns into the Samba Grill, a Brazilian steak house.

The Allure has 22 restaurants, 11 of them free. At banks of elevators, you will find interactive Internet technology to show you the path to your room, as well as the capacity of all dining rooms at that moment. That alone might tell you this ship is not for you. There are lots of ships with a much smaller cruising style in an adult setting.

The Boardwalk on the Allure is home to a daily water show, complete with diving and synchronized swimming. A light show at night, Rita's Cantina, and the Boardwalk Dog House are all new.

These two ships, Oasis and Allure, are each almost four football fields long, a football field wide and 16 decks high. They will probably end the Oasis series. Richard Fain, the chairman of Royal Caribbean International, indicated this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He said: "Our new orders will be smaller." And he indicated Royal Caribbean is going to do something to answer the demand for single cabins.


The first time the world's two largest cruise ships met: Allure of the Seas (right) and Oasis of the Seas (left).