'Oasis Of The Sea' World's Largest Most Expensive Cruise Ship
Promo video for the $1.4 Billion Cruise Ship
In December, travelers will be able to board a $1.4 billion ship five years in the making.
After five years of planning and construction, Royal Caribbean is unveiling the Oasis of the Seas, a $1.4 billion ship that will be the largest and tallest cruise liner in the world when it takes its maiden voyage this December.
At 1,184 feet from stem
More..to stern, it's nearly as long as the Empire State building is tall--while rivaling the amenities of any world-class Las Vegas resort. A crew of roughly 2,160 will man 18 decks and tend to 5,400 passengers (assuming two per room).
It's in the DNA of our company, about every 10 years, to take more or less a fresh sheet of paper and create the greatest cruise ship in the world," says Adam Goldstein, CEO of Royal Caribbean International.
The laundry list of amenities is daunting: a central park the length of a football field with 12,000 plants and trees; a boardwalk with two rock-climbing walls; an aqua theater with dive performances; two FlowRiders for surfing; a full-service spa and a main theater where the Broadway musical Hairspray will be shown four times a week. As an avid runner and sports enthusiast, Goldstein's favorites include the 600-plus meter jogging track on deck 3 and the zipline across the boardwalk.
The average Oasis ticket is $1,000 per person for seven nights, making it significantly more expensive than Royal Caribbean's typical seven-night packages, many of which start at roughly $490. This could be a tough sell: Worldwide, tourism is expected to contract by 3.5% this year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. In the U.S., 2009 travel spending is forecast to fall 9% to $705 billion, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
Still, Goldstein remains optimistic.
"Our customers want more choice, more options, more variety, they want to be in control of their vacation decision making," he says. It's a major gamble for the cruise operator, which has been discounting tickets during the recession to combat the pullback in consumer spending and H1N1 travel fatigue. In the second quarter, the company swung to a loss of 16 cents a share, with revenues down $1.3 billion. According to Goldstein, while occupancy rates are expected to be stable on a year-over-year basis (2009 vs. 2008) revenue yields will be down 13%--indicative of the steep discounting environment.
For now, the Oasis will feature two main routes. From December 2009 to April 2010, the ship will sail seven nights from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and the Bahamas. Then, beginning May 2010, it will sail from Ft. Lauderdale to Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico. Prices start at $729 for interior rooms, per person, based on double occupancy. For a steeper price, there are multi-level loft suites available with floor-to-ceiling walls.
Forbes; Evelyn Rusli, 10.15.09, 02:18 PM EDT Less..
Added: Oct 16 2009 In: education,technology
Recorded on: Oct 16 2009
By: bellava Premium 
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Comments - sort by newest to oldest
That looks awesome I am sure to take a vacation on that ship.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "siin" (R)
at $739 a person, lets say they get 5400 people paying that conservatively a full ship with all passengers would be $4,000,000mil, say they do that once every 2 weeks, 52 weeks in a year, 26 trips, 105,000,000mil for a year conservatively.... Not including costs, so thats gonna take them atleast 10 years to get their money back???(1.4bil) doesn't seem like a good 1.4 billion dollar investment.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "yerkonoku" (R)
why...
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "Tyronne_Shoelaces" (R)
Don't forget, not everything on the cruise is free. They make far more off the incidentals and such.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "cookie659" (R)
why not just build a giant platform across the entire ocean and build theaters and pools on it and shit
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "bl4h" Premium
youre forgetting about the worth of the ship itself and the worth of the company oncluding the ship
also the worth of all the attention it brings to the company
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "bl4h" Premium
Giant floating cesspool of overweight, Las Vegas loving, tourist type people standing in a 24/7 pizza buffet line. While complaining about the $7 mixed drinks and lack of proper condiment dispensers at the 24/7 cheese fry buffet line.
**** Carnival cruises!
;)
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "WhopperJR" (R)
Prices START at $729 for interior rooms. Avg. ticket for 1 week cruise is $1,000. Tack on 300-400% alcohol mark-up and all the other pricey extras and it becomes a bit better investment. Still real dicey in this economy.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "migs1955" (R)
SWEEEET!
No casino though...dang
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "boomersooner" (R)
Looks like a great place to take a honeymoon then push the ***** overboard!!!!
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "DirkDiggler1" (R)
All the stores, bars, restaurants, theatres, etc. will bring income as well. I bet nothing is cheap either. People will pay an average of $1000 for a ticket and just as much again for the amenities.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "jola500" (R)
I smell the next Titanic.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "javv5" (R)
At least they will drown in style.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "Chunker4200" (R)
stay home, go to mall,,, then go to beach, take a small boat, come home and watch your 46 inch LCD Hdtv,,, much better.
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "dushyantxx" (B)
Can you shoot at pirates from the ampitheater deck?
Posted Oct-16-2009 by "Airedale" (R)