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The Largest Cruise Ship on the planet made it’s inaugural visit to the federation of St.Kitts-Nevis on Wednesday March 23^rd.

The Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas docked the Port Zante Cruise Facility on St.Kitts around 7am.

In 2015 The Royal Caribbean and Minister of Tourism Hon. Lindsay Grant  announced additional calls to St.Kitts with two “Oasis-Class” ships. The Oasis-Class ships are two of Royal Caribbean’s biggest cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, and the Oasis is labeled as the Largest Cruise Ship on the Plane.

The Oasis of the Seas made it’s first of  four scheduled stops for the season including the summer season  and the Allure made it’s first of five scheduled stops during the remainder of the current season and into the  summer.

The Royal Caribbean;s Freedom of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Independence of the Seas will also make off-season Summer  calls in St. Kitts later this year.

Minister of Tourism, International Trade, Industry and Commerce, The Hon. Lindsay F.P. Grant, led a delegation of stakeholders to participate in a plaque-exchanging ceremony to mark this significant occasion..

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome the inaugural call of the Oasis of the Seas,” Minister Grant said. “This is one the greatest ships in the world, and so when in port,  it is indeed a very special event for the destination.”

Minister Grant pointed out that this inaugural call was the first of five visits for 2016, in a year which St. Kitts will break the one million mark of cruise passengers visiting in a cruise season.  He said Port Zante was built more than 20 years ago, however, the port is still able to accommodate the largest ships in the world, which is a testament to the vision of those people who conceptualize the port.

 

Captain of the Oasis of the Seas, Per Kristoffersen, said the ship came with 6380 guests, with more than 2,183 crew members representing a total of 77 nationalities.

 

“This is indeed a very special ship,” Captain Kristoffersen said. “However, I feel St. Kitts is even more special, especially since I have heard that St. Kitts has one of the best golf courses in the Caribbean, and so I am very eager to play few rounds.”

 

Also present at the ceremony were officials from the Ministry of Tourism, St. Kitts Tourism Authority, St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority, High Command of the St. Kitts Police Force and the ship’s agents Delisle Walwyn & Company Limited.

 

Today saw a total of three ships arriving in St. Kitts, bring more than close to 14,000 visitors to the destination.

 

About the Oasis of the Seas

MS Oasis of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship, delivered to her owner, Royal Caribbean International, in October 2009. The first of her class, she was joined by her sister ship MS Allure of the Seas in December 2010. Both vessels cruise the Caribbean from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.She set a new record of carrying over 6,000 passengers.

Oasis of the Seas surpassed the Freedom-class cruise ships (also owned by Royal Caribbean) to become the largest cruise ship in the world at that time. She has, however, been surpassed by her sister ship Allure of the Seas, which is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer, although this difference may have been caused by different ambient temperatures at the times the measurements were made.