World's Largest Cruise Ship on Trial Voyage
The world's largest cruise ship, the Harmony of the Seas, is making its trial voyage from a French shipyard. The 227,000 gross-ton ocean liner is a sister ship of the Oasis of the Seas, which was the largest cruise liner up to now. The passenger ship is expected to start its service in May. For some months, tourists have been allowed onboard the ship to see its luxuries.
The 16-deck Harmony of the Seas is slightly larger than its sister ship. It spans a total of 362 metres (1,187 feet) and is 70 metres high.In addition to the more than 6,000 passengers who can travel on the cruise ship,there is a crew of over 2,000.
The Harmony of the Seas will be the first ship of its kind to have a multi-deck water slide and bars where drinks are served by robots. Other facilities include a park, theatres, an aqua show as well as several bars, restaurants and swimming pools. The cruise ship will also have larger and more comfortable cabins than its predecessor. Those on the inside will even offer their passengers a virtual view of the sea.
Construction of the world's largest cruise ship started in 2013. The total costs are estimated at about $1 billion. The Harmony of the Seas will be stationed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From there it will undertake journeys in the Carribean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Currently, the cruise travel market is growing at a rapid pace, as more and more people choose this kind of holiday. Royal Carribean, the company that has built the ship is not only one of the world's largest cruise operators, but also owns four of the five largest ships on earth.
Related Topics
- The Oasis of the Seas - The Biggest Cruise Ship in the World
- Tourism
- Mass Tourism Threatens Venice
- Australian Billionaire Builds New Titanic
- Titanic II Set to Sail in 2018
- Venice citizens protest against cruise ship tourism
Words
- aqua show = show that is performed in water
- billion = a thousand million
- choose = decide to go on ...
- construction = the building of ...
- crew = people who work on the ship
- cruise = a holiday journey on a large ship with which you can visit several destinations
- currently = at the moment
- estimate = calculate something, without knowing the exact costs
- facility = place where a certain activity or event happens
- gross-ton = a ship's total volume , the amount of space inside it , not the weight
- in addition = also
- journey = trip
- liner = very large ship used to carry many passengers on long journeys
- luxury = things that are expensive and very comfortable
- Mediterranean Sea = sea between Europe and Africa
- multideck = reaching across many decks
- offer = provide , give
- operator = company that builds a ship and offers to take passengers on voyages
- own = belongs to
- predecessor = here: the ship that was built before it
- rapid pace = very quickly
- robot = a machine that is programmed to do a job
- service = here: to regularly take passengers on board
- shipyard = place where ships are built and repaired
- slightly = a bit
- span = from the front to the back
- stationed = place from where the ship will start on its journeys
- trial voyage = here: test journey
- virtual view = here: not a view of the real sea, but a projection on a screen that shows outside landscapes
- voyage = trip you make on a ship
- water slide = slippery track with water in it so that people can have fun moving down into a pool