Can you believe--Royal Carribbean order 6000 plus ship

[airlink diva]

I was reading in my local paper today that Royal Carribbean placed an order for a ship (set to sail in 2009) that can sail with up to 6,400 guest :eek: :eek: !!

I had to read the article twice to make sure that it was correct.

I love HAL because the majority of their ships are under 2,000.

Can you just imagine that many people attempting to get on and off a ship at the various ports? Or going to dinner? Or doing anything at all on the ship without tons of people about?

I hope that HAL never go with this idea.

[cruzingthebriny]

I was thinking the same thing. Unreal, why do they think bigger is better?

[michmike]

sounds like yet another reason to avoid RCL. And with 6000 people that would mean 800+ kids?? *shuddering*

[Krazy Kruizers]

That's that new 220,000 ton ship that we have talked about on this board on several threads.

 

6400 passengers - way too many people for us.

 

That article was also in one of our local papers yesterday.

[kryos]

Can you just imagine that many people attempting to get on and off a ship at the various ports? Or going to dinner? Or doing anything at all on the ship without tons of people about?

I hope that HAL never go with this idea.

If the ship was designed properly, there shouldn't be major backlogs going to dinner or taking advantage of services onboard the ship ... just potentially a ton of walking to get to various places that may be at the other end of the ship from others. On a ship that size, I would imagine there would be many dining rooms and people would be assigned to different ones for different nights. I would also imagine there would be multiple venues for activities, multiple lounges, etc. If people were properly dispersed among them, they shouldn't be any more folks demanding use of each one at any given time than you have on any of the larger ships in use today.

 

But what would be a nightmare would be tendering. I can't imagine how that could be speeded up. Even if you tendered from both ends of the ship simultaneously, there would still be only so many people who can fit on a tender, and so many tenders that could be running to and from the ship at the same time. You probably couldn't use much larger tenders than those employed today since the docks at most ports probably couldn't accommodate larger ones.

 

No, a ship this size would not suit my preferences either. Sure, there would be a ton of ammenities ... restaurants for every conceivable taste ... activities to suit everyone ... but the ship would just be too big ... too much walking to get from point A to point B.

 

All joking aside, I wonder if they will have moving walkways or some other such facilities to make getting around easier?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[eldercruser]

Even worse - imagine being in port the same day this ship arrives. Not only will I never sail this ship, I'll try very hard to make sure our itinerary does not cross paths with it.

[woodburykt]

I was going to post a new thread about this yesterday after reading the article in the newspaper.

 

I don't know about anyone else, but 6400 passengers on ONE ship is just a little too much. That's right, 6400 passengers. It will be longer than the Empire State Building. By the time I was done reading the article, I was...well....shocked. Maybe shocked is too strong a word but I cannot think of another one at the moment.

 

They can design it with all newest bells and whistles but that won't make getting on and off the ship any easier. HAL does a good job at Disembarkation but its still a little nutty that morning as you're trying to leave the ship, how in the world does RCI think they can manage that many people in an organized manner? Can you imagine the lines to get off the ship at one of the port stops?

 

Think about this: In St. Maarten or St. Thomas or Grand Cayman, they average 3 to 6 ships per day several days a week. Now imagine this new one tentatively called "Project Genesis" pulling into one those ports when others are there. Does anyone honestly think that the ports/islands could handle that kind of passenger traffic?

 

We were 1 of 6 ships at Grand Cayman last Feb and I can tell you that it was simply a madhouse. You literally could not move in the streets there were so many people there. I cannot imagine a ship like this added to a scene like that.

 

For me? I'll stay with HAL. I love the Vista class ships. I love Half Moon Cay. I love the space ratio.

 

You couldn't pay me to sail on Project Genesis.

[RedmondCruiser]

As mentioned above -- tendering could be a real problem. With a ship this large it has to have quite a draft. Remember the Norway - her draft made it mandatory to tender in most ports. Ship design can take care of good passenger flow but being in port could be a real nightmare.

 

Imagine in StThomas if customs sends two officers to clear the ship ?

[kryos]

As mentioned above -- tendering could be a real problem. With a ship this large it has to have quite a draft. Remember the Norway - her draft made it mandatory to tender in most ports. Ship design can take care of good passenger flow but being in port could be a real nightmare.

 

Imagine in StThomas if customs sends two officers to clear the ship ?

I only wonder if a ship this size would even be welcome in most ports. Would many of them have the facilities to handle a passenger flow that huge ... especially if other ships were in port that day as well? Would accommodating such a large ship mean that ports could lose the ships from other lines who may stop porting there due to the crowds and the complaints from their own passengers?

 

Would seem to me that a ship carrying so many passengers would probably be more suited to doing "cruises to nowhere" ... where the ship itself was the destination, and not ports. Put it in a warm weather area, running a specific route ... and load it with all sorts of around-the-clock entertainment options. Make it sort of an "all inclusive" resort at sea.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Oliver Sudden]

:mad: :eek: Bummer! However, my reliable source sets the number at 5400, still way too many people.

 

The ship board community will be the size of a small town.

 

:mad: Expect similar problems as would happen in a small town. No one needs a diagram to know enough to stay off a ship that size.