Oasis of the Seas delayed in port

Oasis of the Seas has been held back by storms while she was crossing the Atlantic.

This means she will be two days later than scheduled in arriving in Fort Lauderdale. One cruise commentator has said that he’s heard the cruise ship found the crossing ‘difficult’ and that she may have sustained some minor damage. It’s not clear if this is structural or simply a matter accidental breakage such as broken crockery in the dining room!

The immense 5,400-passenger ship has been travelling from the shipyard where she was built, in Finland to Port Everglades. Oasis of the Seas is now expected to arrive at Port Everglades on the morning of November 13th, her Royal Caribbean International has said. The company also stated that her late arrival isn’t going to affect any of the inaugural events or early sailings that the ship has planned, including a charity ‘cruise’ for the Make A Wish Foundation. There’s been a vast amount of talk about Oasis of the Seas for her ‘districts’ including the Boardwalk which contains the AquaTheater, a carousel and a zip line as well as restaurants and shops. The ship’s promenade is 19 metres wide, twice the width of the Royal Promenade on other ships and Central Park which is a green space ‘district’ open to the sky. There may be questions about the stability of a vessel of this height in stormy questions that remain to be answered, but Royal Caribbean is not talking, at present, about the experience of the stormy crossing or whether there really was any ship-board damage or not.