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TRAFFIC stopped at Fort Lauderdale’s port area. The photographers were in force, so too were the fans.

The latest celebrity to hit town has arrived and she weighs 225,000 tonnes.

Meet Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, which has just reached Florida from the docks of Finland where she was made.

She is scheduled to make her first voyage with passengers next month.

The massive US$1.5 billion ($2.1b) vessel is nearly 40 per cent larger than the industry’s next-biggest ship and five times larger than the Titanic.

It has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members.

Actually, calling some of the rooms cabins is not quite accurate.

The Royal Loft Suite, which sits on deck 17 has LCD TVs, a library, a baby grand piano and a dining room that sits eight people comfortably.

The master bedroom, located on the second level, has 5m windows. It comes with a bathroom that has a jacuzzi and his-and-her shower heads.

“We had an opportunity on this ship to go up, vertically, without restriction. And we thought, ‘What can we do in this area to create suites that are different from the more traditional suites we have on this ship?’” Mr Adam Goldstein, president and CEOof Royal Caribbean told the ABC News.

Not surprisingly, it doesn’t come cheap.

The suite, which is 1,524 sq ft, costs US$16,659 per passenger per week, although prices may vary depending on the cruise and what time of year.

"There are 28 loft suites,” Mr Goldstein said. “There is only one like this, though.”

But if that is too rich for your blood, don’t worry.

Much smaller interior staterooms can be booked for US$1,649 per person per week.

Haven afloat

The New Paper | Mon, Nov 23 2009

Five times bigger than the Titanic, the world's largest cruise ship arrives at Florida for her maiden voyage.

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