A small city of about 8,000 pulled up at the Austin “Babe” Monsanto Marine Facility in Crown Bay Wednesday morning, bringing a welcome and seasonal blessing of good will and good shoppers.
The Allure of the Seas cruise ship is lighter, longer and newer than its sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, which visited St. Thomas slightly more than a year ago. It is billed as the "largest cruise ship in the world," but maybe it’s not.
Raimund Gschaider, the massive vessel’s hotel director, said the Allure, in fact, is five centimeters longer and 200 pounds lighter than the Oasis.
"It just happened," he said with a chuckle before a group of government officials and business leaders gathered for a plaque and key ceremony followed by a lavish lunch in the three-tier art-deco Adagio dining room.
On hand for the event were Lt. Governor Gregory R. Francis and his wife, Cheryl, along with Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty and others.
Capt. Herman Zini made a hit with the audience, by announcing appreciation for the warm welcome his wife had received from the entertainers and steel band on the dock, before leaving to "shop."
Zini said his wife wasn’t alone. He said of the 5,400 passengers aboard, 4,400 had gone ashore. "This is an impressive number," the captain said, adding that for many passengers, "the ship is the destination."
"I’d say about 95 percent of the passengers have been to St. Thomas before. If it’s not St. Thomas, it’s not the Caribbean," he said, to even more applause.
He said the Royal Caribbean ships anticipate bringing more than 100,000 passengers in 2011, and an additional 80,000 in 2012.
"It’s a very competitive market," he said. "We spend about $1.5 million each visit."
The captain, who looks hardly old enough to remember, noted it is an anniversary of sorts—40 years since Royal Caribbean, made its first visit to St. Thomas with the Song of Norway.
Gschaider, speaking before the ceremony, said the Allure prides itself on being the entertainment ship.
In addition to presenting performances by the full Broadway cast of "Chicago," Royal Caribbean has also partnered with Dreamworks Animation—whose films include “Shrek” and “Kung Fu Panda”—to deliver ice-skating shows, 3-D movies and photo opportunities with the animated characters.
As the ceremony proceeded before a large window with a 16-story view, it proved irresistible to watch the hardy souls riding the zip line on the 16th floor, traveling 80 feet in 80 seconds.
The ship caters to a three-generational crowd. Its 16 decks, which contain 2,700 staterooms, are broken down into "neighborhoods" – vitality at sea spa and fitness with massage, pilates, even kickboxing; pool and sport zone with four pools, kids’ aqua park, and flowrider; entertainment with Casino Royale, ice-skating, nightclub, and musicals—to say nothing of Central Park with real foliage, restaurants, a pavilion, and, of course, a Starbucks.
The ship is precise in its accoutrements, down to the last detail, from the vast entertainment venues to the minuscule "deviled egg" served on an appetizer in the Adagio dining room — so small it would fit on a fingernail, the egg is a dab of cream with a pine nut atop, artfully placed on an appetizer dish.
From Havensight to Market Square, quelbe bands, moko jumbies, majorettes and live bands performed throughout the day.
The ship began its maiden voyage in the Western Caribbean earlier in the week, but had to cancel Nassau because of high winds, Capt. Zini said.
