June 30, 2008 — The world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, will make its first-ever port of call on St. Thomas when it launches in late 2009, officials said Monday.
St. Thomas was able to beat out ports in St. Maarten, Jamaica and the Bahamas to be the first port of call for the ship that will home port in Port Everglades, Fla.
The 5,400-passenger ship is so big — 16-decks high and weighing some 220,000 tons — that many ports cannot handle it. In Jamaica, Royal Caribbean and the local government are building a new port at the otherwise fallow north-shore town of Falmouth to dock the ship. Including crew, Oasis of the Seas could spill more than 7,000 people into a port town.
"We greatly value our relationship with Royal Caribbean and thank them for their confidence in selecting us as the first port of call," said Cassan Pancham, chairman of the Port Authority board, in a written statement.
The ship, being built at Aker Yards in Finland, is organized into seven distinctive "neighborhoods." Most prominent is the Central Park feature, which will have live trees, grass, bushes and shops along the bottom of a cavernous six-deck-high corridor lined on each side by shops and balcony staterooms.
Royal Caribbean plans to launch the ship before Christmas 2009.
Phillipsburg and Nassau are also on the ship's first itinerary of 19 consecutive, seven-night sailings in the Eastern Caribbean.
"We are committed to fostering the growth of one of the most critical industries for the U.S. Virgin Islands," said Gov. John deJongh Jr. in a written statement. "Last year, the destination welcomed almost two million cruise visitors to the destination, and we expect that the addition of the Oasis of the Seas to our port of call will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our local economy."
For more information on the ship, visit oasisoftheseas.com.
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