MS

Motor ship

A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The name of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.- See also :...

 Allure of the Seas is a cruise ship

Cruise ship

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

 owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean International is a Norwegian and American cruise line brand based in Miami, Florida and owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.. With 42 ships in service under 5 different brands and one more under construction, it controls a 25.6% share of the world cruise market...

. Together with her sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

, Oasis of the Seas

MS Oasis of the Seas

MS Oasis of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship in the fleet of Royal Caribbean International. The first of her class, she was joined by her sister ship Allure of the Seas in December 2010. Both vessels cruise the Caribbean from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida...

, she holds the record for the largest passenger ship ever constructed, although the Allure is 50 millimetres (2 in) longer than the Oasis, making her technically the largest despite the fact that both ships have identical superstructures. Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard in Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

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

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

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

History

She left the Turku shipyard on 29 October 2010, at 05:45 UTC, heading directly to her future home port of Port Everglades

Port Everglades

Port Everglades is a port in Broward County, Florida. As one of South Florida's leading economic powerhouses, Port Everglades is the gateway for international trade and cruise vacations. Already one of the three busiest cruise ports worldwide, Port Everglades is also one of Florida's leading...

, near Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...

, USA. The ship is equipped with telescoping

Telescoping (mechanics)

Telescoping in mechanics describes the movement of one part sliding out from another, lengthening an object from its rest state. In modern equipment, this is often done by hydraulics....

 funnels

Chimney

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...

 to pass under bridges such as the Storebaelt Bridge

Great Belt Fixed Link

The Great Belt Fixed Link is the fixed link between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen across the Great Belt. It consists of a road suspension bridge and railway tunnel between Zealand and the island Sprogø, as well as a box girder bridge between Sprogø and Funen...

, which she passed on 30 October 2010. While media has reported that there was only 30 centimetres (11.8 in) of clearance, the truth is that at the mean water level it was closer to 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) and the much-advertised squat effect

Squat effect

The squat effect is the hydrodynamic phenomenon by which a vessel moving quickly through shallow water creates an area of lowered pressure that causes the ship to be closer to the seabed than would otherwise be expected. This phenomenon is caused when water that should normally flow under the hull...

, 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 9:30 a.m. EST, Allure of the Seas arrived at her home port of Port Everglades

Port Everglades

Port Everglades is a port in Broward County, Florida. As one of South Florida's leading economic powerhouses, Port Everglades is the gateway for international trade and cruise vacations. Already one of the three busiest cruise ports worldwide, Port Everglades is also one of Florida's leading...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. She was greeted by thousands of fans waiting on the shore.

The ship was formally named by her godmother Princess Fiona

Princess Fiona

Princess Fiona is the princess and the tritagonist in the films Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After. Actress Cameron Diaz provides her voice to the character, and Fiona's singing is provided by Renee Sands of Kids Incorporated and Wild Orchid.-Shrek:In Shrek, Lord Farquaad sends...

 on 28 November 2010.

Technical details

While the design length of the Allure of the Seas is the same as that of her sister, 360 metres (1,181 ft), she is actually some 50 millimetres (2 in) longer than the Oasis of the Seas. 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

Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage...

 of the Allure is 225,282 and her displacement

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 — the actual weight of the ship — is equal to that of the Oasis, which is estimated to be around 100,000 tons, about the same as 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, and an ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...

 rink.

Events

In 2011, Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...

 became the first internationally recognized artist to use the amphitheatre onboard the Allure of the Seas as part of a world concert tour. It was used as the first date of her Speak Now World Tour

Speak Now World Tour

Speak Now World Tour is the second concert tour by American country singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift, in support of her third studio album, Speak Now. The tour visited Asia, Europe, North America and Australasia...

. Competition winners took to the ship to attend the concert.

External links

• AllureoftheSeas.com
• Allure of the Seas at RoyalCaribbean.com