MS Allure of the Seas

MS Allure of the Seas
Allure of the Seas in Falmouth, Jamaica
History
Name: Allure of the Seas
Owner: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Operator: Royal Caribbean International
Port of registry: Nassau,  Bahamas
Ordered: 31 March 2007[1][2]
Builder: STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland
Cost: US$1.2 billion (2006)
Yard number: 1364[1]
Laid down: 2 December 2008[3][4]
Launched: 20 November 2009[1][4]
Christened: 28 November 2010[5]
Maiden voyage: 1 December 2010[6]
Homeport: Port Everglades
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: Oasis-class cruise ship
Tonnage:
Displacement: Approximately 100,000 tons[7]
Length: 362 m (1,187 ft)[8][9]
Beam:
  • 47 m (154 ft) waterline[2]
  • 60.5 m (198 ft) max beam[2]
Height: 72 m (236 ft) above water line[4]
Draught: 9.322 m (30.6 ft)[2]
Depth: 22.5 m (74 ft)[2]
Decks: 16 passenger decks[10][11]
Installed power:
  • 3 × 13,860 kW (18,590 hp) Wärtsilä 12V46D
  • 3 × 18,480 kW (24,780 hp) Wärtsilä 16V46D
Propulsion:
  • 3 × 20 MW (27,000 hp) ABB Azipod,
  •       all azimuthing
  • 4 × 5.5 MW (7,400 hp) Wärtsilä CT3500
  •       bow thrusters[2]
Speed: 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h; 26.0 mph)[12]
Capacity:
  • 5,400 passengers at double occupancy[13]
  • 6,296 maximum[13]
Crew: 2,384 as of July 2012[12]
Notes: 50 mm (2.0 in) longer than Oasis[14]

MS Allure of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. As of April 2016 the Oasis class were the largest passenger ships ever in service, and Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than her sister ship Oasis of the Seas, though both were built to the same specifications.[14] Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard, Turku, Finland, in February 2008.[15] She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister.[16] The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.[3]

Upon her launch in November 2009, she became the world's largest passenger ship, taking the place of Oasis of the Seas. She was eclipsed by her sister ship, Harmony of the Seas, upon its launch in June 2016.[17] Harmony has an overall length of 362.12 metres (1,188.1 ft).[18]

History

The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008 at the STX Europe shipyards in Turku, Finland, during a ceremony involving Royal Caribbean and STX representatives.[3] She was launched on 20 November 2009,[1] and outfitting continued through her departure from the yards. She left the Turku shipyard on 29 October 2010 at 05:45 UTC, heading directly to her future home port of Port Everglades, near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.[19] The ship is equipped with telescoping funnels to pass under bridges such as the Storebælt Bridge, which she passed on 30 October 2010. While media has reported that there was only 30 centimetres (12 in) of clearance, the truth is that at the mean water level it was closer to 2–3 metres (6.6–9.8 ft) and the much-advertised squat effect, whereby vessels traveling at speed in a shallow channel will be drawn deeper into the water, did not have significant effect on the draft of the vessel.[14]

On 11 November 2010 at approximately 14:30 UTC, Allure of the Seas arrived at her home port of Port Everglades, Florida. She was greeted by thousands of spectators waiting on the shore.[20][21]

The ship was formally named by her godmother, the fictional character Princess Fiona, in a ceremony on 28 November 2010.[5]

In February 2014, Allure of the Seas entered dry dock at Grand Bahama island for seven days to replace a damaged gearbox in one of her Azipods. As the dry dock facility was not large enough to fully accommodate an Oasis-class ship, a unique solution had to be devised to allow the replacement, known as "Project Atlantis". During her time in dry dock, the crew used the downtime to make numerous repairs and refurbishments to the guest facilities, including the installation of new carpets.[22][23]

Allure of the Seas sailed year-round in the Caribbean region out of Port Everglades from its homeporting in 2010 through 2014. She changed port to Barcelona and sailed the Mediterranean between May and October 2015, becoming the largest cruise ship and the first Oasis-class ship to spend a full season in that region. Afterward, she returned to Port Everglades.[24]

Technical details

While the design length of Allure of the Seas is the same as that of her sister, 360 metres (1,181 ft),[2] she is actually 362 metres (1,187 ft) long[10] and is some 50 millimetres (2 in) longer than Oasis of the Seas.[14] According to the shipyard, this is not intentional and such small differences in length may occur simply due to the temperature of the steel in a ship as big as this.[14] The gross tonnage of Allure of the Seas is 225,282 and her displacement is equal to that of Oasis of the Seas, which is estimated to be around 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.[7] Her steel hull alone weighs roughly 54,000 tons.[14]

The ship features a two-deck dance hall, a theatre with 1,380 seats, an ice skating rink, 7 distinct "neighborhoods", and 25 dining options,[25] including the first Starbucks coffee shop at sea.[26] Many of the ship's interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.[27]

Before beginning service from Port Everglades, Allure of the Seas was fitted with an 80 kW solar array by BAM Energy Group which powers the shopping district. The system cost US$600,000 and covers an area of 2,000 m2 (21,530 sq ft). It uses Uni-Solar BIPV laminates designed to withstand foot traffic and marine conditions.[28][29]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Asklander, Micke. "M/S Allure of the Seas (2010)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Allure of the Seas (28329)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "STX Europe laid keel of Allure of the Seas". Cruise Business Review. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 "Allure of the Seas Delivered". MarineLink.com. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  5. 1 2 Sloan, Gene (29 November 2010). "Princess Fiona names world's largest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas". USA Today. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  6. ↑ Heslin, Rebecca (30 March 2010). "Royal Caribbean pushes up Allure's debut again". USA Today. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  7. 1 2 "If Royal Caribbean builds it, 6,400 could come". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. 7 February 2006.
  8. ↑ Schlesinger, Toni (11 February 2011). "On the World's Largest Cruise Ship, the Sea Is an Afterthought". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Smith, Oliver (26 February 2016). "New cruise ship will be world's largest". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Allure of the Seas". RoyalCaribbean.com. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  11. ↑ Schlesinger, Toni (11 February 2011). "On the World's Largest Cruise Ship, the Sea is an Afterthought". The New York Times.
  12. 1 2 "Allure of the Seas". Royal Caribbean. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Allure of the Seas: Fast Facts" (pdf). AllureoftheSeas.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sjöström, Pär-Henrik (10 December 2010). "Larger than her sister". Shipgaz (6): 22.
  15. ↑ "Production of the second Oasis class cruise vessel started". STX Europe. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  16. ↑ Sloan, Gene (23 May 2008). "Royal Caribbean's next ships will be Oasis, Allure". USA Today. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  17. ↑ "Harmony of the Seas, world's largest cruise ship takes to the water in France". The Economic Times. Agence France-Presse. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "Harmony of the Seas (33249)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Det Norske Veritas.
  19. ↑ "Allure of the Seas". MarineTraffic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  20. ↑ "World's Largest Cruise Ship Allure of the Seas Arrives in Florida". AOL News. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  21. ↑ Butler, Phil; Zini, Hernan (12 November 2010). "Allure of the Seas, the Biggest Cruise Ship in the World, Sailing Your Way". Argophilia Travel News. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  22. ↑ Faust, Mike (27 February 2014). "Allure of the Seas Enters Drydock In Freeport, Propulsion Repairs Begin". Cruise Currents. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  23. ↑ Weir, Nick (2014). Project: Atlantis. YouTube.com. Royal Caribbean Television.
  24. ↑ Sloan, Gene (7 February 2014). "World's largest cruise ship heading to Europe". USA Today. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  25. ↑ Driscoll, Ron (31 January 2010). "Super-sized Oasis of the Seas". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  26. ↑ Skipper, Joe; Fletcher, Pascal; Brown, Tom (11 November 2010). Boadle, Anthony, ed. "First Starbucks at sea steams into Florida port". Reuters.com. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  27. ↑ "Cruise ships". ClarissaParish.com.
  28. ↑ Hughes, Emma (7 January 2011). "United Solar completes second BIPV installation on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship". Design-Build Solar. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011.
  29. ↑ "Uni-Solar Brand Photovoltaics Set Sail on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas" (Press release). Energy Conversion Devices via GlobeNewswire. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
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