The cruise ship Oasis of the Seas. Picture: Kees Torn
IT’S still dark out at this industrial port. Most passengers aboard the Oasis of the Seas are sound asleep in their staterooms.
But below deck the crew of one of the world’s largest cruise ship is preparing to turn the vessel around. They have just ended a week-long voyage taking 6222 people throughout the Caribbean. In just hours, another 6114 will start their vacations.
Suitcases need to be unloaded and loaded. Piles of trash and recycling are removed and an entire week’s worth of food for the passengers — and 2193 crew members — needs to be loaded on-board.
The clock is ticking. There are just 10 hours to essentially empty and restock a small town. If that weren’t enough, housekeeping needs to turn over 2700 staterooms for the new guests.
“I’m amazed every single time you do it,” says Raimund Gschaider, associate vice president for hotel operations at Royal Caribbean International.
“It’s an orchestration of all different operations. Everything needs to be finetuned down to the last minute.” By 6.30am, the first of 25 trucks are lined up on the dock, ready to unload their goods.
One of the pools on board the ship.Source:AP
The Oasis and its sister ships — the Allure of the Seas and the soon-to-sail Harmony of the Seas — are the three largest passenger ships in the world. While many passengers remember the zip line, the on-board surfing machine or the 25 different dining establishments, it’s really what happens below deck that amazes.
When the Oasis leaves for a week-long voyage to the Caribbean, it takes everything needed. The islands visited don’t have the quantity — or the quality — of supplies to meet the needs of the ship, Gschaider says.
A staterooms Royal Loft Suite on-board the ship.Source:Supplied
“In a hotel, you get your supplies on a daily basis. You’re never tied into a limited time frame,” he adds. “For us, we only have one go at it.” That means when the ship pulls away from the dock in Florida, it must have 10,272 new rolls of toilet paper, 3355 kilograms of cheese and 330 cases of pineapples on-board.
Not to mention 1000 new light bulbs, 30 replacement TVs, 861kg of coffee and 87 litres of hand sanitiser. Every week.
Orders are based on past trends and slightly adjusted each week to account for the age and nationalities of those sailing. If there is a big sporting event — say the college basketball championship tournament — more beer and hot dogs might be purchased.
The Flowrider.Source:Supplied
Here’s a look at some of the items on one sailing:
• Lobster tails: 5400
• Ice cream cones: 21,000
• Tomatoes: 3991kg
• Lettuce: 4082kg
• Potatoes: 6713k
• Apples: 1179kg
• Bananas: 2449kg
• Eggs: 46,800
• Milk: 9925 litres
It’s a floating city.Source:AP
• Chicken: 8946.2023kg
• Beef: 8307kg
• Fish: 3206kg
• Hot dogs: 10,680
• Beer: 31,900 bottles and 900 cans
• Soda: 16,900 cans
• Vodka: 820 bottles
• Whiskey: 179 bottles
• Scotch: 293 bottles
• Rum: 765 bottles
• White wine: 3360 bottles
• Red wine: 2776 bottles
Phew ...
It’s huge.Source:Supplied
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