The Wonder of the Seas has nineteen swimming pools, twenty restaurants, eleven bars, an ice rink and even a real park. The new Wonder of the Seas cruise ship weighs 236,857 tons, is five times the size of the Titanic and can carry 6,988 passengers. The ship is the largest cruise ship in the world.
The newest ship of shipping company Royal Caribbean has been built for three years. The ship departed in early March for its maiden voyage, a seven-day voyage from Florida to the Caribbean. A few facts in a row:
Wonder of the Seas is 362 meters long and can accommodate 6,988 passengers and 2,300 crew members.
The colossal ship has a total of eighteen decks, sixteen of which are for passengers.
Wonder of the Seas has a top speed of 22 knots, which is about 40 kilometers per hour, thanks to three 20,000 kilowatt diesel-electric bow thrusters under the stern and four bow thrusters, each with an output of 7,500 hp.
Wonder of the Seas was built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for more than 1 billion euros.
With no fewer than twenty restaurants, there is enough choice for everyone every day. There is (of course) a restaurant where guests can enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet for daily dinner, but there are also several specialty restaurants such as a steakhouse and an Italian. There is also a wide choice of fast food such as hot dogs and burgers if you feel like it.
The ship has in total 2 x 9 = 18 lifeboats. It will have a large number of rafts but to me it looks like that disembarkation is quite an adventure especially in a bad weather situation. How many ships which come to the rescue do you need to take on board more then 9000 persons?
