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 MIAMI -Royal Caribbean International on Monday ordered the world’s
largest and most expensive cruise ship, a $1.24 billion vessel that will
hold up to 6,400 passengers. It’s the latest step in the industry trend
of supersizing ships, which delight many passengers but are too crowded
for other guests.
The ship, dubbed Project Genesis, will be 220,000 gross registered tons
when it is delivered to the world’s second-largest cruise operator in fall
2009 by Oslo, Norway-based shipbuilder Aker Yards. Gross registered tons
is a standard way to measure a ship’s size and is a unit of volume equal
to about 100 cubic feet.
 The ship will weigh about 100,000 tons based on displacement – a Nimitz-class
aircraft carrier comes in at about 97,000 tons.
"Project Genesis truly is a remarkable ship. Its bold design, daring innovations
and technological advancements will delight our existing cruisers and help
us draw in new ones," Richard Fain, the parent company’s chairman and CEO,
said in a statement.
from the New York Times
Do we detect a faint whiff of hubris? We have a bad feeling about
this one. Don’t think we’ll be booking a suite for the inagural cruise.
Besides, wasn’t Project Genesis the end of Mr. Spock?
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