PORT EVERGLADES, FL -- The waiting is over. The world's newest, largest cruise ship arrived Friday morning at its new home port in South Florida.
Royal Caribbean's "Oasis of the Seas" left Finland on October 30, and was supposed to have docked at Port Everglades earlier this week. But strong winds and waves kept the giant ship at sea.
The ship is five times larger than the Titanic, built at a cost of $1.5 billion. It 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 (487-meter) 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.
Oasis of the Seas is nearly 40 percent larger than the industry's next-biggest ship, and was conceived years before the economic downturn caused desperate cruise lines to slash prices to fill vacant berths.
Port Everglades invested approximately $75 million to build Cruise Terminal 18 to handle the new Oasis-class ships.
