THE world's largest cruise ship cleared a crucial obstacle yesterday, lowering its funnels to squeeze under a bridge in Denmark.
The Oasis of the Seas – which rises about 20 storeys high – passed below the Great Belt Fixed Link with a slim margin as it left the Baltic Sea on its maiden voyage to Florida.
Bridge operators said that even after lowering its telescopic funnels,
the giant ship had less than a 2ft gap.
Hundreds of people gathered on beaches at both ends of the bridge, waiting for hours to watch the brightly lit behemoth sail by shortly after midnight.
"It was fantastic to see it glide under the bridge. Boy, it was big," said Kurt Hal, 56.
Company officials are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success. Five times larger than the Titanic, the $1.5 billion (£912 million) ship has seven "neighbourhoods", an ice rink, a small golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheatre. It has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members.
Accommodation includes loft cabins with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 1,600sq ft luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades.
The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.
The Oasis of the Seas, nearly 40 per cent larger than the industry's next biggest ship, was conceived years before the economic downturn caused desperate cruise liners to slash prices to fill vacant berths.
It was built by STX Finland for Royal Caribbean International and left the shipyard in Finland on Friday. Officials had not expected any problems in passing under the Great Belt bridge, but traffic was stopped for about 15 minutes as a precaution when the ship approached.
Aboard the Oasis of the Seas, project manager Toivo Ilvonen of STX Finland confirmed that the ship had gone under the bridge without any incidents.
"Nothing fell off," he said.
The enormous ship features parks, squares and arenas with special themes. One of them will be a tropical environment, including palm trees and vines among the total 12,000 plants on board. They will be planted after the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale.
In the stern, a 750-seat outdoor theatre – modelled on an ancient Greek amphitheatre – doubles as a swimming pool by day and a theatre by night. The pool has a diving tower with spring boards and two 33ft high-diving platforms. An indoor theatre seats 1,300 guests.
One of the "neighbourhoods", named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.
Once home in Florida, the floating extravaganza will have more, if less visible, obstacles to duck: a sagging domestic economy, questions about the US consumer appetite for luxury cruises, and criticism that such sailing behemoths are damaging to the environment and diminish the travelling experience.
