Oasis of the Seas to visit Southampton

Despite denials from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, it turns out that their newest and largest cruise vessel, Oasis of the Seas, will actually make a brief visit to Southampton on her way to her home-port of Miami.

Sadly, there won’t be any chance to visit the ship, or even get alongside her, during her short stop in Southampton – she’s only pausing to drop off several hundred crew who won’t be needed no the transatlantic crossing, and they are likely to disembark by tender, so that Oasis of the Seas won’t even tie up to a pier. However, it’s still the first chance Brits will have to see the mega-ship and many people are expected to watch out for her on 2nd November as she sails up the Solent.

And there’s not much chance of missing her, even if there’s a thick mist, because she weighs 220,000 tons, cost £800 million to build and can carry 6,300 passengers and 2,165 crew. What sightseers won’t be able to pick out from their shore-side vantages is the novel ‘districts’ including the Boardwalk which contains the AquaTheater, carousel and a zip line as well as restaurants and shops. The Royal Promenade has the Rising Tide bar, which moves between three decks of the ship and the promenade itself is 19 metres wide, twice the width of the Royal Promenade on other ships. Then there’s Central Park which is a green space open to the sky with shops and restaurants.