MS Allure of the Seas leaving STX shipyard, Turku, Finland, 29 October 2010 |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Allure of the Seas |
| Owner: | Royal Caribbean International |
| Operator: | Royal Caribbean International |
| Port of registry: | Bahamas |
| Ordered: | February 2006 |
| Builder: | STX Europe, Turku, Finland |
| Cost: | USD 1.2 billion (EUR 800 million) |
| Yard number: | 1364[1] |
| Laid down: | 2 December 2008[2] |
| Launched: | 20 November 2010 |
| Maiden voyage: | 1 December 2010[3] |
| Identification: | Call sign: C6XS8 IMO number: 9383948 MMSI number: 311020700 |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics [4] | |
| Class and type: | Oasis-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage: | 225,282 GT 242,999 NT 19,750 DWT |
| Displacement: | approximately 100,000 tons[5] |
| Length: | 360 m (1,181 ft) |
| Beam: | 47 m (154 ft) waterline 60.5 m (198 ft) extreme |
| Height: | 72 m (236 ft) above water line |
| Draught: | 9.3 m (31 ft) |
| Depth: | 22.5 m (74 ft) |
| Decks: | 16 passenger decks[6][7] |
| Installed power: | 3 × Wärtsilä 12V46D (3 × 13,860 kW/18,590 hp) 3 × Wärtsilä 16V46D (3 × 18,480 kW/24,780 hp) |
| Propulsion: | 3 × 20 MW ABB Azipod, all azimuthing 4 × 5.5 MW Wärtsilä CT3500 bow thrusters |
| Speed: | 22.6 kn (41.9 km/h; 26.0 mph) |
| Capacity: | 5,400 passengers (lower berths) 6,300 passengers (all berths)[1] |
| Notes: | 50 mm (2.0 in) longer than Oasis[8] |
MS Allure of the Seas is a cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. Together with her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, she holds the record for the largest passenger ship ever constructed, although the Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than the Oasis, making her technically the largest despite the fact that both ships have identical superstructures.[8] Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard in Turku, Finland, in February 2008.[9] She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister.[10] The keel of the Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.[2]
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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.[11] The ship is equipped with telescoping funnels to pass under bridges such as the Storebaelt 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.[8]
On 11 November 2010, at approximately 9:30 a.m. EST, Allure of the Seas arrived at her home port of Port Everglades, Florida. She was greeted by thousands of fans waiting on the shore.
The ship was formally named by her godmother Princess Fiona on 28 November 2010.[12]
While the design length of the Allure of the Seas is the same as that of her sister, 360 metres (1,181 ft),[4] she is actually some 50 millimetres (2 in) longer than the Oasis of the Seas. 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.[8] The gross tonnage of the Allure is 225,282 and her displacement — the actual weight of the ship — is equal to that of the Oasis, which is estimated to be around 100,000 tons, about the same as that of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.[5] Her steel hull alone weighs roughly 54,000 tons.[8]
The ship features a two-deck dance hall, a theatre with 1,380 seats, and an ice skating rink.[13]
In 2011, Taylor Swift became the first internationally recognized artist to use the amphitheatre onboard the Allure of the Seas as part of a world concert tour. It was used as the first date of her Speak Now World Tour. Competition winners took to the ship to attend the concert. The 2011 movie Puss In Boots had its U.S. premiere onboard the Allure of the Seas.
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