Everyone has been talking about Royal Caribbean’s newest monstrosity of a ship, the Oasis of the Seas, which has catapulted into celebrity-status. With the paparazzi fiending for an inside photo of the Oasis– which launches in December – kid-sister the Allure of the Seas has been living in its icy shadow. (Cue music: “Wind Beneath My Wings”). This ship will soon have its shot in the limelight, because Royal Caribbean just announced that bookings will officially be open to the general public on April 13.
The cruise line also revealed the ship’s inaugural sailing schedule, which includes 42 voyages in the Eastern and Western Caribbean departing from Fort Lauderdale. The Allure will call at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Nassau, Cozumel, Labadee (the cruise line’s private port in Haiti), and the spanking new port of Falmouth. Located in Northern Jamaica, Falmouth remains relatively untouched by tourism – so far, and is often compared with Colonial Williamsburg for its Georgian-styled plantation homes.
Both ships will hold 5,400 passengers, and span over 16 decks featuring new entertainment complexes like a boardwalk with the first ever carousel at sea, an AquaTheater with acrobatics, water ballet, and high-diving, and a Central Park the length of a football field – for those who need a dose of green trees on the high seas. The Allure’s inaugural season will kick off in December 2010, but in the meantime, keep a close eye out – it might accidentally sail into a photo op next to its A-list sister.