IS IT a docklands apartment scheme? A giant hotel? No, it's a cruise ship, one of the world's largest, sailing into Florida this week. Royal Caribbean cruise line's newest ship, Allure of the Seas, sailed into her home port Fort Lauderdale on Thursday following a 13-day transatlantic crossing from Finland. It will be officially launched at the end of November and take its first paying guests on December 1st for a cruise in the Caribbean.
Like its sister ship Oasis of the Seas, it can accommodate 6,318 passengers, making them the world's largest cruise ships. If stood upright , the ship would dwarf New York's Chrysler building.
Hundreds of landscapers will go on board in the next week to add more than 12,000 plants to the ship's open air park. Allurewill also have the first Starbucks at sea and a DreamWorks Animation studio which will have interactive shows.
Prices per person, including flights from Dublin or Cork for a seven-night cruise on the Allure in the Caribbean start from €1,349 from Dublin, €1,379 from Cork. See cruiseholidays.ie or tel 01-8173558/021-2429555.