World's biggest cruise ship offers activity extravaganza

The world's biggest and most expensive cruise ship ever built, Oasis of the Seas, is to be handed over to the Royal Caribbean cruise line today at the Finnish shipyard where it was constructed. At a cost of some 900 million euros (1.3 billion dollars), the mammoth vessel offers a world of luxury and a plethora of on-board activities for its 6 ,360 passengers and 2 ,000 crew. STX Finland, a subsidiary of South Korean shipbuilder STX, will hand over the vessel to the US-based cruise company at a ceremony in Turku today, and the ship will set sail on its four-night maiden voyage from the US port of Fort Lauderdale to Haiti on December 1. Royal Caribbean has called the ship its "most innovative and imaginative ship yet, (where) entertainment areas have become neighborhoods at sea." Catering to the traditional older crowd of cruise ship travellers as well as to young families, the Oasis of the Seas aims to be more of an activity centre than a traditional cruise ship that merely sails from port to port.