''Allure of the Seas'' is an owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. , the ''Oasis'' class ships were the largest passenger vessels ever in service, and ''Allure'' is longer than her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

Oasis of the Seas ''Oasis of the Seas'' is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the first of her class, whose ships are the largest passenger ships in the world. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and deliver ...

'', though both were built to the same specifications. Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from

Aker Finnyards STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three shipyards in Finland, in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of STX Europe, a group of international shipbuilding companie ...

in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard,

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, in February 2008. She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister. The

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

of ''Allure of the Seas'' was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by

STX Europe STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. With headquarters in Oslo, Norway, STX Europe operated 15 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway, Romania and Vietnam. T ...

. Upon her launch in November 2009, she became the world's largest passenger ship, taking the place of ''Oasis of the Seas''. She was eclipsed by her sister ship ''

Harmony of the Seas ''Harmony of the Seas'' is an built by STX France at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, for Royal Caribbean International. With a gross tonnage of 226,963 GT, she is the third largest passenger ship in the wo ...

'' upon its launch in June 2015. ''Harmony of the Seas'' has an overall length of .

History

The keel of ''Allure of the Seas'' was laid on 2 December 2008 at the STX Europe Turku shipyard, Finland, during a ceremony involving Royal Caribbean and STX representatives. She was launched on 20 November 2009, with further outfitting taking place while afloat in the shipyard. ''Allure of the Seas'' was declared complete and formally delivered to Royal Caribbean on 28 October 2010. She left the Turku shipyard on 29 October 2010 at 05:45 UTC, heading directly to her home port of

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2019, Port Eve ...

, near

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, USA. The ship is equipped with telescoping

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

to pass under bridges such as the Storebælt Bridge, which she passed on 30 October 2010. While media has reported that there was only of clearance, the truth is that at the mean water level it was closer to and the much-advertised

squat effect The squat effect is the hydrodynamic phenomenon by which a vessel moving through shallow water creates an area of reduced pressure that causes the ship to increase its draft and thereby be closer to the seabed than would otherwise be expected. ...

, 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. On 11 November 2010 at approximately 14:30 UTC, ''Allure of the Seas'' arrived at her home port of Port Everglades, Florida. She was greeted by thousands of spectators waiting on the shore. The ship was formally named by her godmother, the fictional character Princess Fiona, in a ceremony on 28 November 2010. In February 2014, ''Allure of the Seas'' entered

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is ...

island for seven days to replace a damaged gearbox in one of her

Azipod Azipod is a trademark azimuth thruster pod design, a marine propulsion unit consisting of a fixed pitch propeller mounted on a steerable gondola ("pod") containing the electric motor driving the propeller, allowing ships to be more maneuverable ...

s. As the dry dock facility was not large enough to fully accommodate an ''Oasis''-class ship, a unique solution had to be devised to allow the replacement, known as "Project Atlantis". During her time in dry dock, the crew used the downtime to make numerous repairs and refurbishments to the guest facilities, including the installation of new carpets. ''Allure of the Seas'' sailed year-round in the Caribbean region out of Port Everglades from its homeporting in 2010 through 2014. She changed port to Barcelona and sailed the Mediterranean between May and October 2015, becoming the largest cruise ship and the first ''Oasis''-class ship to spend a full season in that region. Afterward, she returned to Port Everglades. ''Allure of the Seas'' changed its home port in November 2018 to the

Port of Miami The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...

, where Royal Caribbean constructed a new cruise terminal. She was joined by the fourth ''Oasis''-class vessel, ''

Symphony of the Seas ''Symphony of the Seas'' is an owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was built in 2018 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, the fourth in Royal Caribbean's ''Oasis'' class of cruise ships. At , ...

'', and both sail year-round from the port offering seven-night Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises. In March 2019, ''Allure of the Seas'' was named second for "Best Cruises Overall" in the 2019 Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards. In early May 2019, the itinerary for some of the ship's sailings had to be adjusted due to a technical issue with one of the ship's propulsion pods, causing it to have to sail at a reduced speed. ''Allure of the Seas'' was expected to be refitted in early 2020, which would have included the addition of approximately 50 more passenger cabins. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, this was delayed by Royal Caribbean to an unknown date. Starting in November 2022, ''Allure of the Seas'' will be based in Galveston, Texas, at the

Port of Galveston The Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is ...

's new cruise terminal.

Technical details

The classified length of ''Allure of the Seas'' is the same as that of her sister, , though she is reported to be longer than ''

''. 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. The

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

of ''Allure of the Seas'' is 225,282 and her

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

is equal to that of ''Oasis of the Seas'', which is estimated to be around 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American . Her steel hull alone weighs roughly 54,000 tons. The ship features a two-deck dance hall, a theatre with 1,380 seats, an ice skating rink, 7 distinct "neighborhoods", and 25

dining A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...

options, including a

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

coffee shop at sea. Many of the ship's interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish. Before beginning service from Port Everglades, ''Allure of the Seas'' was fitted with an 80 kW solar array by BAM Energy Group which powers the shopping district. The system cost and covers an area of . It uses

Uni-Solar Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) was an American photovoltaics manufacturer of thin-film solar cells made of amorphous silicon used in flexible laminates and in building-integrated photovoltaics. The company was also a manufacturer of rechargeab ...

BIPV Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are photovoltaic materials that are used to replace conventional building materials in parts of the building envelope such as the roof, skylights, or facades. They are increasingly being incorporated int ...

laminates designed to withstand foot traffic and marine conditions.

Gallery

File:Allure of the seas sideview.JPG, ''Allure of the Seas'' leaving STX shipyard, Turku, Finland, with her two funnels retracted. File:Allure of the Seas under the Storebaelts bridge.jpg, ''Allure of the Seas'' passing under the Great Belt Bridge with her funnels lowered. File:Allure of the Seas leaving Port Everglades.jpg, ''Allure of the Seas'' leaving

File:Allure of the Seas, Pernon telakka, Turku, 23.10.2010 (5).JPG, Royal Promenade File:Central Park Aboard the Allure of the Seas (7710199360).jpg, Central Park File:Allure of the Seas, Pernon telakka, Turku, 23.10.2010 (29).JPG, Central Park Top View File:Allure of the Seas, Pernon telakka, Turku, 23.10.2010 (13).JPG, Central dining room File:Back of the MS Allure of the Seas.jpg, Aerial view of the stern of the ''Allure of the Seas'' docked at Port Everglades, Florida File:Promenade on the Allure od the Seas (7710182244).jpg, Promenade on the ''Allure of the Seas''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allure Of The Seas 2009 ships Ships built in Turku Ships of Royal Caribbean International