How Big is Too Big

Royal Caribbean will launch the biggest passenger cruise ship ever, with sailings starting at the end of 2009 (Oasis of the Seas). It will carry 5,400 passenger and stand 16 stories high. It is 38% larger then any other cruise ship. It will also have a unique layout. The Oasis will start sailing in the Caribbean and I can only imagine what the fares will be.

While these huge ships are alluring, many cruisers like the feel and personal service of the smaller ships. With so many passengers can you really get good service? I like it when crew members remember me, call me by name. And how well are the cruise lines equipped to hand so many passengers? Royal Caribbean’s other ships carry a couple thousand less passengers. Some of their ships carry over 3000 fewer passengers. I wonder what the check in process will be like with 5,400 people trying to check in, most at the same time. And I wonder what the expected evacuation time is and are they truly prepared to evacuation 5400 people plus over 2000 crew members? (I teach disaster preparedness classes so I’m always thinking of these kinds of things).

This ship will truly be a site to see and if any of you are lucky enough to sail on it, let me know what you think of it. And please feel free to share your thoughts about big ships verses smaller ones with us.

Here are some pictures of the Oasis will look like: