See the world's largest cruise ship (again)

Man, it seems like just a couple years ago that Royal Caribbean took home the "world's largest cruise ship" award (oh, wait, it was.) Well, they're at it again, with construction of the new Oasis-class of cruise ships. Ships, in case you didn't know, are measured by their gross tonnage. Back in 2006, Royal Caribbean held the aforementioned title with the Freedom of the Seas, which weighed in at 160,000 gross tons. And actually, I went on a cruise in (if I recall correctly) 2001 on a Royal Caribbean ship called Voyager of the Seas, which at the time was billed as the "world's largest cruise ship."

Well, kids, they're at it again, only this time the ship - the Oasis of the Seas - weighs in at 222,900 tons. That's a horrifying 39% bigger than the Freedom, in case you didn't feel like doing the math yourself. (Well, horrifying depending on your point of view, I suppose.) Now, Royal Caribbean has a lot of practice with this whole "biggest ship" thing, and as is typical with a new launch, they're debuting a number of "firsts at sea" on-board amenities. There's Central Park, a six-deck-tall open-air atrium. The Boardwalk features a full-sized carousel. The Sports Deck has pools, basketball and volleyball courts, a rock climbing wall and a mini-golf course. And, oh yeah, there's apparently a zip-line ride over the Boardwalk.

Now, I'm not as opposed to cruises as other Gadling bloggers, but this is a pretty ridiculous ship.

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