Mighty Ships. Oasis Of The Seas
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00:00There's never been anything like her.
00:07Oasis of the Seas is the biggest cruise ship ever built.
00:11She's the most of everything.
00:13A floating five-star hotel, part New York, part Las Vegas, a ship so big even the crew
00:24gets lost.
00:25I stopped going to the gym room because the ship itself is a total exercise.
00:29It's never a dull moment, darling.
00:32It's the maiden voyage of Oasis of the Seas, and everyone wants to know if bigger is better.
00:52Oasis of the Seas is the brand new queen of cruise ships.
00:58She's five times bigger than the Titanic, with 21 swimming pools, 24 restaurants, even
01:06her own versions of New York's Central Park and Atlantic City's Boardwalk.
01:13Oasis can carry a whopping 5,400 passengers, 50 percent more than any other cruise ship.
01:22Taking care of them requires a crew of 2,200, more than one for every three guests.
01:30If it all sounds like too much, according to Captain William Wright, it's supposed to.
01:36The mission of this ship is to amaze the world.
01:38We can offer our guests amenities, venues that have never been part of any cruise experience
01:44on any cruise line anywhere.
01:50It costs $1.4 billion to launch Oasis.
01:57For that money, NASA could launch the space shuttle into orbit three times.
02:07There's a huge amount riding on Oasis of the Seas' maiden voyage, a seven-day Caribbean
02:12cruise.
02:14Because in the travel industry, you can sink or swim, depending on the reviews.
02:19It's important for us.
02:20It's our top priority to get it right.
02:26Her first test starts right here, dockside in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
02:31It's 9 a.m.
02:33Oasis sails in less than eight hours, and there are still tons of supplies to load.
02:38That's strongbooks.
02:39I-95.
02:40I-95.
02:41Those three pallets there, going forward there.
02:42OK.
02:43All right.
02:44So we need to get some people forward there.
02:45OK.
02:46Cool, man.
02:47How many trucks we've had so far?
02:48We have 21 trucks today.
02:4921 trucks?
02:50Yeah.
02:51A total of 21 trucks.
02:52With Hotel 21?
02:53Yeah.
02:54Is this all for the hotel?
02:55What's it take to start the biggest cruise ship in the world?
03:05For a start, wine, beer and spirits, 47,000 bottles in all.
03:1244 tons of meat and seafood, 42,000 bed linens, and 10,000 rolls of toilet paper.
03:21It sounds like a lot, but inventory manager David Adams doesn't know for sure if it will
03:25be enough.
03:26There's no history behind this operation.
03:30We have never done, you know, 5,000 guests at any one time.
03:36The crew will be loading Oasis right up to the last minute, and for a little added pressure,
03:41things are heating up on the other side of the terminal, too.
03:43Good afternoon.
03:44How are you?
03:45Welcome to the Oasis.
03:48By mid-morning, the first of more than 5,000 passengers are pulling up, eager to get aboard.
03:54You're here for the Oasis, right?
03:57Yeah.
03:58OK.
03:59We want to make sure that you have all your documents on you so you won't have to return
04:02looking for your luggage.
04:03All the way to the end, have a ball.
04:04All the bags are going to be x-rayed and delivered to your rooms.
04:05We want to make sure that you have all your documents on you so you won't have to return
04:06looking for your luggage.
04:07All the way to the end, have a ball.
04:08All the bags are going to be x-rayed and delivered to your rooms.
04:10We only have about 2,000 more to go.
04:14Hopefully it'll go quick.
04:21The ship's home is Terminal 18, the largest cruise ship terminal in the world.
04:28It's the size of three football pitches and was expanded at a cost of $75 million just
04:34to accommodate Oasis.
04:41With 90 counter-agents hurrying them through, passengers go from curbside to gangway in
04:47less than 15 minutes.
04:48Here's your sea pass card.
04:49That is your searoom key.
04:50Hi there.
04:51Yeah, it's Julie.
04:52I want to be 100% sure that the airlines can do that because what worries me is that we
04:53do get...
04:54For Guest Services Manager Julie Sherrington, it's all about first impressions.
04:55What I want to make sure is that the guests feel that although it's a big cruise ship,
04:56it's also a small cruise ship.
04:57It's a small cruise ship.
04:58It's a small cruise ship.
04:59It's a small cruise ship.
05:00It's a small cruise ship.
05:01It's a small cruise ship.
05:02It's a small cruise ship.
05:03It's a small cruise ship.
05:04It's a small cruise ship.
05:05Although it's a big ship, we're organized and we're getting them on as smooth as possible
05:06so they can enjoy the ship as soon as possible.
05:11It's less than six hours to departure and hundreds of passengers are already boarding.
05:1610 metres below, on the dock, the Stevedores are anxious to start loading luggage.
05:2315,000 pieces of it.
05:25We've got to do luggage at 1130.
05:28The longer we wait, the longer it's going to hold us up.
05:32All right.
05:33All right, thank you.
05:36Now, now, it's all the same.
05:39Puller, 11.
05:4111 rear.
05:43211, here's 11.
05:48Passengers are arriving from all over the world for this cruise.
05:52They started booking two years ago, before Oasis was even built.
05:57This is so cool.
05:59Central Park is all the way up there.
06:01This is awesome.
06:03Yes, yes, it is.
06:05They've seen pictures online, but in person, this ship is something else.
06:10Hi, ladies. Is he looking after you all right?
06:13Always.
06:15This is my girls.
06:17Julie Sherrington went to sea 16 years ago
06:19and worked her way up from hairdresser to top guest services manager.
06:24For Julie, every cruise has its problems,
06:27and she thought she'd seen them all.
06:29This one surprises even her.
06:31One of the VIP passengers, a mysterious millionaire,
06:34is missing a suitcase packed with his favourite brand of cigarettes.
06:39Philip Morris. Philip Morris cigarettes.
06:41There's a prince on board and that's all he smokes.
06:44If there is, I'll jump in the cab and grab them.
06:46OK, bye, bye.
06:48Never a dull moment, darling.
06:51BEEP
06:56Ten decks down in the belly of Oasis,
06:59the main corridor leading to the ship's storage area
07:02is nicknamed I-95, after America's busiest freeway.
07:07And what's a road without a traffic jam?
07:10Bring this in the food box, please.
07:12BEEP
07:14BEEP
07:32It's rush hour down here.
07:34Only two hours left to load the last of 1,800 pallets of supplies
07:39before Oasis heads to sea.
07:43We have a lot of chaos.
07:45And we try to prevent chaos.
07:47Marvin, make sure you clear the part for the ice cream
07:51so the ice cream will go right down.
07:53While David directs traffic chaos below,
07:56up on the main decks,
07:57passengers are heading for the one-of-a-kind elevator bar,
08:01strolling in Central Park or relaxing by the pool.
08:10And by 5pm, right on schedule,
08:12First Officer Matthew Scantleberry
08:14gives the order everyone's been waiting for.
08:17Engine room?
08:18Yeah, we'd like power for three engines and three thrusters.
08:21Nine decks below, the engine room starts her up.
08:25OK, we have two engines online.
08:27We can start the propulsion.
08:29OK, we'll start propulsion one by one.
08:32With storm clouds on the horizon,
08:34Captain Wright is eager to get out of port.
08:39We're ready to go.
08:41Right now we have a little bit of weather coming in from the west.
08:44The pilot's on board.
08:46Basically, the fun is about to begin.
08:48Oasis of the Seas, forward and aft, let go all lines.
08:53Let go everything.
08:57The newest, mightiest cruise ship in the world
09:00has passed her first big test.
09:035,400 passengers are on board,
09:07and Oasis of the Seas is leaving right on time.
09:11But this voyage has just started,
09:14and there are plenty more challenges on the horizon.
09:22Oasis of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship,
09:25is ready to leave Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on her maiden voyage.
09:29And Captain William Wright can't wait to shell her off.
09:34She's the most of everything.
09:36She's the most maneuverable.
09:38She's the most stable.
09:40She's the safest.
09:42She has the most entertainment options.
09:44She has just so much to offer to our guests.
09:495,400 passengers are on board
09:52for a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean.
09:57Ladies and gentlemen, I am more than happy to tell you...
10:01The Oasis of the Seas is starting out on her maiden voyage.
10:04It's great to have you on board.
10:16Now comes the tricky part.
10:18Captain Wright and a harbor pilot
10:20have to squeeze Oasis out of port through a very tight channel.
10:28A maneuver that wouldn't be possible
10:30without the ship's amazing propulsion system.
10:34At the stern are three Azipod propellers.
10:37They can rotate 360 degrees,
10:40so the props both propel and steer the ship.
10:44Each packs a whopping 27,000 horsepower.
10:54Up front, four bow thrusters help with the steering.
10:59They're the biggest ever built on a cruise ship.
11:01Four meters in diameter,
11:03and each one delivers ten times the power of a Formula One race car.
11:11Together, the thrusters and Azipods
11:13give Oasis an unprecedented combination of power and precision.
11:20On deck and on shore, Oasis draws a crowd.
11:23The residents of Fort Lauderdale
11:25have seen plenty of cruise ships come and go,
11:27but never one like this.
11:30Say hi to all of our friends in the condos.
11:44Safely out of port, Oasis turns south.
11:50Starboard five. Starboard five.
11:53It'll take her just a day and a half
11:55to cover the 1,800 kilometres to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
12:01OK, stop. Captain has the navigational command and the con.
12:07Oasis sails through the night and into the next morning.
12:26Landscape specialist Laszlo Turos is one of the first people up and working.
12:32It's a good idea to get an early start
12:34when you've got 12,000 plants to take care of.
12:37We do it by hand. We don't use any power equipment.
12:44Laszlo grew up in Hungary,
12:46and he's been landscaping in South Florida for 15 years.
12:49But he never dreamed he would be in charge of Central Park,
12:52the first ever garden at sea.
12:56I would never have thought I'd work on a ship, ever.
13:01And it's a unique experience and I love it.
13:05This is all my children, all 12,000 of them.
13:12Look down into Central Park,
13:14or up from the carnival-themed boardwalk at the aft end of the ship,
13:18and one thing is clear.
13:20No-one has ever designed a ship like this before.
13:25The ship is actually split in two.
13:27With a block on either side,
13:29the centre has been opened up like a giant hot dog bun.
13:32And the only reason that's possible is the unprecedented width of Oasis.
13:40Until now, the biggest cruise ships had a width, or beam, of 38 metres.
13:46Oasis of the Seas has a beam of 47 metres.
13:51The beam has really been a win-win situation for us.
13:55It's given the designers the area to work in
13:58and create all these great environments.
14:00But it's also given us stability, it's given us safety.
14:05On any cruise ship, stability is number one priority.
14:09With all that's offered on board Oasis,
14:12it's hard to imagine doing any of it with the ship rocking and rolling about.
14:16But that's not a problem, thanks to that extra nine metres of beam.
14:25Incredibly, it makes Oasis of the Seas twice as stable
14:28as the largest cruise ship built before her,
14:31so she's immune to all but the heaviest seas and biggest waves.
14:36This is the most stable ship, not just cruise ship,
14:40the most stable ship that I've ever been on board.
14:43She has amazed us.
14:47Woo!
14:56Day turns to night.
14:58Tomorrow morning, they'll be docking in St Thomas.
15:01But there's plenty to do between now and then.
15:05By 8pm, in the Opal Theatre at the bow of the ship,
15:09cruise director Ken Rush is warming up a packed crowd of 1,300 for a concert.
15:16Your host, the New York cruise director, Ken Rush!
15:20Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome!
15:24Come on, make a little noise for me, please.
15:32But at the other end of the ship...
15:36..the one-of-a-kind aqua theatre is dark.
15:39It's 600 seats empty.
15:45By now, the first-ever performance of an acrobatic water show at sea
15:49should be in full swing,
15:51but stage manager Craig Corbett has shut it down.
15:55Well, definitely not an easy call to make to the boss
15:58and tell him that we can't do a show
16:00because we have some technical problems.
16:02Looks like we're going to have to cancel the 10.30.
16:05There's a problem with the centrepiece pool.
16:08It contains seawater, so they've added chlorine to keep it clean.
16:12It turns out that's a bad combination for the divers.
16:16It stings their eyes so painfully they can't see or perform.
16:21The pressure's on Craig to get the show back up and running.
16:27We absolutely have to be good to go for tomorrow
16:30because I can't make that phone call again.
16:34Ladies and gentlemen, for any guests who are at the 10.30 reservations
16:38for the Oasis of Dreams aqua show,
16:40I'm sorry to say that due to some technical difficulties...
16:43It's going to be a long night for the team at the Aqua Theatre.
16:46If they want to make a splash with the guests,
16:49they'll have to fix the problem fast.
17:01After two days at sea on her maiden voyage,
17:04Oasis of the Seas is ready for her first-ever shore visit.
17:08St Thomas and the US Virgin Islands.
17:12Five cables, five knots.
17:14Five cables, five knots.
17:18She's never sailed into this harbour before,
17:21so up on the bridge they're on full alert.
17:24There's always a healthy bit of butterflies.
17:27I think that's always good to have.
17:30Six cables, five knots. Very good.
17:33It's up to a local harbour pilot to direct the ship.
17:36He knows this port better than anyone.
17:39Without him, they could easily run aground.
17:43When the freedom came, they started to come up here.
17:46They want to come a little further.
17:48A little further. That makes perfect sense to me.
17:51It's basically steaming straight towards the radio tower.
17:54Yes.
17:59I like it. OK. Moving to the wing.
18:03Put it into Aziman from there.
18:07Everything looks good,
18:09until they try to park this monster snug against the dock.
18:13You're right about all that water that's being moved.
18:16Yeah, yeah.
18:18Oasis is 360 metres long,
18:20and all that bulk is pushing a massive wave of water
18:23against a solid concrete pier,
18:26stretching all the way down to the harbour floor.
18:30With nowhere to go, that wave keeps bouncing back and forth
18:34between the pier and the ship's hull.
18:37So as we're coming alongside with not a lot of clearance under the keel,
18:41it's a classic kind of bottleneck.
18:44It's a hitch no-one saw coming.
18:47But they've never tried docking Oasis at this pier before.
18:51So as you're pushing the water,
18:53because it doesn't have freedom to go in all directions,
18:56it really creates a cushion.
18:58Captain Wright has more than 110,000 horsepower at his disposal.
19:04But this calls for a delicate touch.
19:06So you have to use a lot of power, and as you're using the power,
19:09then you get different currents that we're generating ourselves.
19:15If he applies too much power, Oasis will crash into the pier.
19:19Too little, and she'll never reach the dock.
19:22How are we doing?
19:24One to go. One to go.
19:27It's a game of centimetres.
19:30And then...
19:32The eagle has landed.
19:35Oasis of the Seas is docked, finally, at her first port of call.
19:44But passengers can't wait to flood off the ship.
19:47They don't have to be back on board for eight hours.
19:51And that gives the crew time to catch up.
20:02At the aqua theatre, they've replaced the seawater with fresh water
20:06produced by the ship.
20:08And the divers are jumping for joy.
20:10We were just like, we want fresh water, really.
20:13So, I don't know, just the way they bring in the water and everything,
20:17that's... Engineers and all that, we don't know that.
20:20It is much better, yeah.
20:22Open her eyes and see where we're going, so, yeah.
20:25One last run-through, and tonight's show just might be on.
20:29All right, everyone, stand by for top of show.
20:32Stand by for top of show.
20:38Mounting an acrobatic water show is tough enough on land,
20:42but it's never been tried on a ship at sea.
20:46The aqua theatre pool is five metres deep,
20:49three times bigger than any other pool on board a ship,
20:52and it holds five million litres of water.
20:58Oasis may be the most stable cruise ship in the world,
21:01but it doesn't take much for all that water to start sloshing about.
21:06Even the slightest motion of the ship can create dangerous conditions
21:10for the show's Olympic-class divers.
21:15So the aqua theatre pool has a rising wall that divides it in two
21:20and calms the waters.
21:22And that's not all.
21:24The real stars of the show are a pair of platforms
21:27that rise up and turn the entire pool into a stage.
21:34They allow us to kind of transition fairly seamlessly
21:37between a dry environment and a wet environment,
21:40so it's not just a show about diving and swimming,
21:43but there's other more traditional choreography, dance
21:46and all sorts of other stuff.
21:49The shore visit will be over in just two hours.
21:52That means executive chef Ivo Jahn is working to a deadline.
21:57He's got 5,400 hungry guests coming for dinner,
22:01and they're expecting a three-course meal.
22:04Let's go. OK, gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen.
22:07Ready for tonight?
22:09Hello, good evening.
22:12Chef Ivo is in charge of 21 restaurants
22:15and 28 galleys scattered over ten different floors.
22:19I just have to run, so I need my breath.
22:22So checking up on each one means running all over the ship.
22:26Adolfo, how is the Indian food today?
22:28It looks lovely, huh?
22:32In the course of a day, he figures he covers about ten kilometres.
22:36That's not just a lot of walking. It's a workout.
22:41I stopped going to the gym room
22:43because the ship itself is a total exercise.
22:47Chef Ivo may be the most important man on the ship
22:50because everyone who goes on a cruise expects great food and plenty of it.
22:55Is the elevator coming?
22:59It's almost five o'clock,
23:01and Oasis of the Sea's first shore visit is over.
23:05As the ship pulls out of St Thomas,
23:07the dining rooms are starting to fill up,
23:10while the galleys are heating up.
23:21Down in the main kitchen, Ivo John and his staff of 225
23:26prepare to feed an army.
23:29200 lamb shanks, approximately 300 shrimp.
23:32Then we have some alternative dishes, steak, chicken breast, 150.
23:37We're going to serve about 900 chicken masala.
23:40We're going to serve 1,800 of the shrimp dish.
23:43It comes down to roughly 5,000 main courses.
23:475,000 dinners all at once.
23:50It's a tall order, even for a chef of Ivo's experience.
23:54OK, let me show you this plate very quickly, yeah? OK.
23:58Every detail counts.
24:00You see all the flavours on it, and you use a whole ladle, OK?
24:04All right, so clean up the rinse.
24:06Now you've got the right mixture,
24:08and he's going to make the final touch over there.
24:11In the main dining room, more than 500 waiters
24:14slip in between the tables,
24:16serving up to 3,500 guests at a single seating.
24:22A few decks above, at 150 Central Park,
24:25Chef Carrie-Anne and her three cooks have only 77 guests to satisfy.
24:31But some of them are very picky.
24:35She can't have lobster, because first she said gnocchi.
24:39Now she says she can have beef.
24:41She wants two beefs?
24:45A special request of a customer.
24:47It's something I struggle with, as I'm doing a tasting menu here,
24:51so really I've strategically planned out each dish
24:54and the order of each dish, and also the wine pairing for it.
24:57People don't like lobster, which...
24:59Who doesn't like lobster, I don't know.
25:01But Carrie-Anne knows that, like it or not,
25:04the passenger is always right.
25:08Anyways, you kind of just have to bite your tongue as a chef
25:11and go with it. Life on a cruise ship.
25:14Two lobster for Jacques.
25:19After dinner, passengers head out for an evening's entertainment.
25:25At the Aqua Theatre, cruise director Ken Rush
25:28is hoping that tonight's show goes off without a hitch.
25:31Well, a very good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
25:33We are at the Aqua Theatre.
25:35Tonight's show features everybody from dancers,
25:37synchronised swimmers, acrobats, gymnasts, high-divers, divers,
25:41and a wonderful show called Voices of Dreams.
25:43Ladies, gentlemen, enjoy.
25:59CHEERING
26:05Tonight, guests will go to bed with sweet dreams of fearless divers
26:10and gorgeous girls swimming through their heads.
26:21But in the early hours of the morning,
26:23the ship's engineers are having a nightmare.
26:26There's a problem in the engine room.
26:31I'm looking at the deviation.
26:35And if it's not fixed right away,
26:37it could be very costly in time and money.
26:42Oasis of the Seas is powered by six big diesels,
26:46and chief engineer Starley Ludwigsson
26:49is worried that one of them is misfiring.
26:51Yeah, it's a random engine,
26:53but there is always that you have to do adjustments
26:56on every engine, every cylinder.
26:59Compression in the engine cylinders should all be roughly the same,
27:03but the readings that first engineer Francois Cantin
27:06is getting for engine number four are all over the map.
27:12192, 192, these three values.
27:14The average is 195.
27:18When an engine is running correctly,
27:20the amount of fuel fed into the cylinders is burned up.
27:23When the compression is off, it runs dirty.
27:28You get leftover fuel and you see that the engine will smoke
27:31and you see that you have oil that has not been burned.
27:37Unburned fuel is money up in smoke.
27:40And, left unchecked, it could cause the engine to fail altogether.
27:44When a power plant like this one costs $26 million,
27:48it's not something Starley is going to ignore.
27:51It can cost money and it can also make the engine fail.
27:55Francois adjusts the timing of the spark that ignites the fuel.
28:00195. It takes seconds.
28:03Just I enter the value and it is instantly reacting.
28:06The pressure evens out and the big diesel is purring again.
28:12Correctly. It's good. It's perfect.
28:19They've fixed the engine,
28:21just in time to sail into Philipsburg on St Martin.
28:28It's a huge harbour.
28:30So big, even a ship as enormous as the Oasis
28:33has room to turn around and reverse into its berth.
28:37And Captain Wright slides her in like he's parking a car.
28:49Philipsburg has seen lots of cruise ships,
28:52but nothing on the scale of Oasis.
28:54For the next eight hours,
28:56her passengers will quintuple the population of this sleepy little town.
29:00And she plans to be back every two weeks.
29:08That's welcome news here.
29:10Short visits pump big money into the island economy.
29:13Well worth the $35 million St Martin spent upgrading the port
29:18to attract a ship like Oasis of the Seas.
29:24But short visits can create headaches for the crew.
29:28At departure time, there's always a few stragglers
29:31who haven't made it back to the ship.
29:34On the stern, if you see any movement of guests approaching,
29:40let us know, please.
29:42But when you carry 5,400 passengers...
29:45We still have a few remaining guests that are not yet on board.
29:49..a few is actually more than a hundred.
29:55Any delay can mean a late arrival at the next port of call,
29:59and the captain is a stickler for punctuality.
30:02We don't like to leave them.
30:04They should have been on board by now.
30:07They should have been on board one minute and 30 seconds ago.
30:13Any tours missing?
30:17Down on the gangway, Julie Sherrington is worried about her missing passengers.
30:21Nine times out of ten, it's unpredictable situations they've been put in.
30:25The car would have broken down, the taxi would have got lost, believe it or not.
30:29Extreme situations.
30:31At this point, I'm sure the captain's got his binoculars up on the bridge
30:34and he's watching to see who's running.
30:37Security officer, staff captain,
30:40give us an account for every ten guests as we are coming down towards zero.
30:47Captain Wright's not happy.
30:49They're 20 minutes behind schedule.
30:51And to make matters worse, another ship has leapt past Oasis
30:55in the line-up to exit the port.
30:59It's very similar to aircraft lining up on their final approach to an airport.
31:05We take our order and right now it's our turn.
31:08Even though we were scheduled to come out first,
31:10now we're actually number two coming out.
31:14The next leg of the cruise, to the Bahamas,
31:16will take the better part of two days, even at top speed.
31:21If Oasis falls any further down in the order,
31:24there's no way she'll make it there on time.
31:27And that could turn into a late arrival back in Florida.
31:30And no one wants to miss their flight home.
31:35How many?
31:36Forty-six.
31:37Forty-six.
31:38Julie Sherrington keeps a list and a running score.
31:41We're just going to confirm whether this last tour's back.
31:43There's 46 guests missing now and it's just after twenty past six.
31:47Leaving it a bit fine. It's quite a long pier to run down.
31:52As a few more stragglers appear,
31:54the gangway crew radios the latest count up to the bridge.
31:58Twenty-nine.
32:01Let me know for every five, countdown.
32:05Twenty-nine.
32:09As the sun sets, Captain Wright has to make a hard choice.
32:13Toss his schedule out of the window
32:15or leave more than a dozen passengers behind.
32:25Night is falling on the island of St. Martin.
32:28But Oasis of the Seas is stuck at the dock.
32:31A dozen passengers are still missing after the shore visit.
32:35And the captain is running out of patience.
32:41Nine.
32:43As the count goes down,
32:45Captain Wright makes his case with the harbour pilot
32:48to allow Oasis to pull out of port next.
32:51We're ready in a couple more minutes, Tim.
32:55Four.
32:56Four.
32:58Three.
32:59Three.
33:01Two.
33:02Stop.
33:03Two.
33:04Go.
33:05Go.
33:08One.
33:09One.
33:11The last missing guest is finally on board
33:14and Captain Wright wastes no time casting off.
33:17OK, let's get out of here.
33:24We're going to have to go faster,
33:27at a greater speed than we otherwise would have.
33:31Sailing at night, the bridge operates in the pitch black.
33:34Any light could obscure the vision of the captain
33:37or the first officer, Matthew Scantlebury.
33:40There's no chance of seeing anything out there
33:42if you have your lights on in here.
33:44I mean, the darker it is, the better it is, really.
33:47And that view is critical,
33:49especially with Oasis picking up speed.
33:52Now we've got five engines on line and we're well over 22 knots.
34:02By morning, Captain Wright is pushing his big ship as hard as he dares.
34:10St Martin to Nassau is a voyage of over 1,600 kilometres
34:15and Oasis has a boatload of time to make up.
34:20All six engines are running at 85% capacity,
34:24cranking out 115,000 horsepower,
34:27driving Oasis of the Seas to an average speed of 25 knots,
34:31or almost 50 kilometres per hour.
34:36That's 10% faster than normal.
34:39If they keep this up, it will cost an extra $45,000 in fuel
34:44to get to Nassau on time.
34:46This mighty cruise ship is working hard.
34:52And her guests?
34:55Well, they're playing hard.
34:59This is the side of cruising the passengers never think of.
35:02To them, time just doesn't matter.
35:04There you go, you've got it.
35:06Three, one, two, three!
35:12But every cruise ship is a slave to the clock
35:15and one delay in the schedule can easily cascade into another.
35:20After 24 hours powering through the day and night,
35:24the cruise hard work has paid off.
35:26Oasis of the Seas reaches the mouth of Nassau harbour right on time.
35:33The officers meet to plot the precise course
35:36they must follow to get to the dock.
35:38I think this will be relatively straightforward.
35:40I have the navigational command...
35:42Much smaller ships than Oasis have nearly run aground here.
35:47Great condition, Clayton. Pilot has the con.
35:49Pilot has the con.
35:51It's one of the premier cruise ports,
35:54but it's always been a very tight port
35:56in the sense that there wasn't a lot of wiggle room.
35:59Her owners wouldn't even think of bringing Oasis here
36:02if the port hadn't made drastic changes.
36:09Oasis of the Seas is so much broader than other ships
36:13she poses a problem for any harbour she enters.
36:16In Nassau, she would easily have run aground
36:19between the shoreline and the pier
36:21if the harbour hadn't been dredged.
36:23Not to make it deeper, but to make the basin wider.
36:27Still, docking won't be easy.
36:30They were supposed to be finished dredging two weeks ago,
36:33but the job's not done yet.
36:35What's more, there are some squalls moving in.
36:39I can see some rain showers here.
36:44And in windy conditions,
36:46the enormous size of Oasis actually works against her.
36:50This is a big sailboat.
36:52We have 15,500 square metres of sail area on each side of the ship.
37:00So when the wind starts blowing, it's a big factor.
37:05A notoriously tight harbour.
37:07Tricky winds, plus all the usual things that can go wrong
37:10entering any port.
37:13Well, steering. You can have steering propulsion
37:16if you were to have a blackout at a critical point
37:19when you're approaching shallows and the dock and whatnot.
37:24The torrential rain hits,
37:26but Oasis pulls dockside right on schedule.
37:29Four and a half is send your lines ashore.
37:32We put the pedal to the metal. We're almost 25 knots.
37:35And here we are. We're on time.
37:37We're getting rid of salt and we're watering Central Park.
37:40Life is good.
37:43Docking in Nassau could not have gone better.
37:46Even the rain clears by the time passengers step off the ship
37:50for the last shore visit of the cruise.
37:55But six hours later, when it's time to be back on board,
37:59a single pair of guests threatens to delay departure from port yet again.
38:03Hi, welcome back.
38:06We've got some very important people missing.
38:08I'm not going to mention any names.
38:11The missing VIPs?
38:13The millionaire and his wife.
38:15Maybe he just made a quick stop to pick up some cigarettes.
38:18He said they're just in front of the ship.
38:20Marina, they're just coming now.
38:23Guys! Hello! Hi there!
38:26We were worried about you.
38:28Yeah? Everybody's on board, eh, Marina?
38:32We're sailing!
38:35Finally, it's time to pull out of Nassau.
38:46As they turn west and set sail for home,
38:49Captain Wright couldn't be happier with his new ship's first voyage.
38:53So far, no.
38:55She's taken everything we've asked her
38:57and performed just remarkably to everything we've asked her to do.
39:02So I think we're all pretty happy.
39:06OK, we can put on some more engines, start getting that going.
39:11Time to head home.
39:20For the passengers, it's the last night at sea,
39:23and it's a safe bet no-one's going to get much sleep.
39:49While the passengers dance the night away,
39:51the crew is already collecting their luggage
39:53and getting ready for the big job of turning Oasis of the Seas around
39:57for her next cruise.
40:02After seven days in the Caribbean,
40:04the maiden cruise of Oasis of the Seas is almost over.
40:07It's 4.30 in the morning,
40:09and she's entering her home port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
40:14So I definitely feel I'm home in more ways than one.
40:18Yeah, it actually is. I can see my condo right over there.
40:23Many of her 5,400 passengers are still asleep when Oasis docks,
40:28but most of the 2,200 crew are wide awake.
40:32It's turnaround day,
40:34and they have to be ready to set sail again in less than 12 hours.
40:40You know, turnaround day, as we call it,
40:42I guess you could say it's the end, but it's also the beginning.
40:45So we'll be busy all day.
40:4915,000 pieces of luggage collected overnight
40:52are already on their way off the ship.
40:56Julie is praying their owners will soon follow.
40:59She needs Oasis cleared by noon to make room for a whole new crowd.
41:04Morning. You leaving me today?
41:08I was hoping to have about 1,500 guests off by between 6 and 7,
41:12but it was a bit slow, but it's Saturday morning,
41:14so people aren't in a rush to get off.
41:16As each room empties, the ship's 166 housekeepers don't waste a minute.
41:22They've got more than 3,000 beds to make and just eight hours to do it.
41:32For David Adams and the loading crew, it's a whole new ballgame.
41:36Last week was a breeze compared to this.
41:39Last week we had no guests coming off of the ship.
41:42This week we have guests disembarking with luggage.
41:47So it's a huge difference in the whole loading process.
41:51Three pool tables, we want to put them forward.
41:53Not on board, by the side, by the side.
41:56I-95 too, put it on.
41:58Up above, thousands of guests have already left.
42:02Enough to empty most other cruise ships, but not Oasis.
42:06There's 2,700 left on board.
42:10The ship is still half full, and Julie is running on empty.
42:15I'm going to sit down and have a cup of coffee.
42:18I think I'm going to sit down. Here we go.
42:20Good morning. Hi, Ricardo. Do you speak Mandarin or Cantonese?
42:25OK, I'll be with you in a second.
42:28I'm never going to get that coffee, am I?
42:33Even when the last passenger strolls off the ship, there's no rest,
42:38because now the crew has to do it all over again.
42:43Oasis of the Seas has made an impressive maiden voyage.
42:47Captain Wright expected nothing less.
42:51I think we truly wowed our guests.
42:54They had no idea what this ship actually is until they stepped foot on board.
43:00Her awesome size, spectacular spaces and first-class service
43:06make for an unforgettable experience.
43:09We're just totally focused on making the Oasis of the Seas
43:13the best vacation experience we can offer.
43:16We did that this cruise and we're going to continue doing that down the road,
43:20so that's what we're focused on right now, what the future holds.
43:24Only the future can tell.
43:27Oasis of the Seas has a long life ahead of her,
43:31and the Queen of Cruise Ships plans to be around to astonish holidaymakers,
43:365,000 at a time, for decades to come.
43:56Oasis of the Seas