The largest cruise ship to ever visit Australia, Ovation of the Seas, is coming to Sydney in summer 2016.
The Royal Caribbean megaliner is currently being built in Germany at a cost of $US1 billion ($AU1.3 billion).
This giant floating apartment block can carry up to 5000 passengers and 1500 crew. It will be 348 metres long and more than 50m tall, with 18 decks. At a gross weight of 168,666 tonnes, it’s the equal third largest cruise liner in the world. Royal Caribbean will have the top 5 largest cruise ships in the world when it’s complete.
It will join the other four superliners calling Australia home during summer: Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas in Sydney and Legend of the Seas in Brisbane.
In a move that will please nearby residents concerned about sulfur emissions, it will have a new purification system, known as scrubbers, that removes 97% of sulfur dioxide emissions from the engines, although the Baird government has promised to ban the use of bunker fuel, which has 3.5% sulfur, before Ovation comes online.
Among the attractions the Ovation will carry are an onboard virtual skydiving chamber, a capsule observatory on a robotic arm rising above the ship for 360-degree views, and a “bionic” bar where cocktails are ordered on tablet, then made by two bionic arms and served without human intervention.
Bookings for Ovation of the Seas open in mid 2015.
The Australian cruise industry is currently worth around $2.3 billion.
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