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Allure Of The Sea Arrives At Port

Allure Of The Sea Arrives At Port - The new largest cruise ship in the world is about to hit our shores, Allure of the Seas from Royal Caribbean. Why do I say "the largest?" Because engineers calculated the ship is approximately two inches longer than its sister ship Oasis of the Seas introduced last year. This was supposedly an unintentional finding - but it certainly doesn't hurt to say they have a new record breaking "largest cruise ship in the world."

The ship is currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean, having left its shipyard in Turku, Finland, last October 29. It is reportedly having a much smoother time than sister ship Oasis had crossing from Finland about a year ago. Allure should be visible off the coast of Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, this week, about 8:00 AM.

Chances are the ship will do the same as Oasis, spend a day installing the real plants in Central Park and running the AquaTheater through its paces - now that the ship will be stable in a temperate climate for the first time. The one disadvantage to building a ship in Finland in November is that you can't fill the pools with water unless your only goal is to make the world's largest ice cube.

Like Oasis, but unlike NCL Norwegian Epic, Allure is making this transatlantic voyage without paying passengers or other guests onboard - no travel agents or media either. The only inhabitants are the new crewmembers getting familiar with the ships facilities and the last of the contracted shipbuilders who needed extra time to finish their jobs and had no choice but to join the ship for the 12-day non-stop ocean crossing.

Allure may be bigger, but that is not the most important point - Allure is better than Oasis in many ways, at least for a little while. Allure will already have many improvements over Oasis of the Seas that Oasis will not have installed until next March, earliest.

These improvements include the first 3-D movie theater for a Royal Caribbean ship. I am a big fan of movies on cruise ships, and would much rather see a film for the first time during a cruise than on land solely because it is so much more convenient. There is no parking, worrying about eating before or after, or usurious ticket prices to contend with. The last time I took my small family to see a 3-D film - Avatar, it cost me nearly $50. Allure will have the same quality 3-D process as that film uses, but there won't be any charging for tickets.

To date, the only other ships to show 3-D feature films onboard are the Disney Magic and Wonder, and there you are limited to only Disney films. Not that there is anything wrong with that, they make great movies. Similar to Disney, Royal Caribbean has something special in store for the kids; the line just made an agreement to show DreamWorks movies like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters Vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon onboard.

Other DreamWorks activities onboard include meeting the characters from these movies; Po (the Kung Fu Panda), Princess Fiona and Shrek who will make regular appearances in the Adventure Ocean kid's facility. Allure will also feature an original ice show in the Studio B Ice Rink based on the movie "How to Train Your Dragon," while the AquaTheater will have a special show featuring characters from the DreamWorks movie "Madagascar."

Allure Of The Sea Arrives At Port

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