World's largest cruise liner has a twin

(AP – The STX Finland shipyard's vessel The Allure of the Seas sails out on Friday Oct. 29, 2010 from the shipyard …)

HELSINKI – The second in a pair of the largest cruise liners in the world — an extravagant behemoth spanning nearly four football fields, with a 3-D move theater, an open-air central park and room for 8,300 people — set sail Friday for its new home port in Florida.

The Allure of the Seas, which cruised out of the shipyard in Turku, southwestern Finland where it was built, faces its first big test Saturday, when it must squeeze under a Danish bridge, just one foot (30 centimeters) taller than the ship — even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.


The gigantic vessel is the sister ship of the Oasis of the Seas, which was also delivered to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines last year with a price tag of about $1.5 billion. The Allure of the Seas is in the same price range, said Juha Heikinheimo, managing director of STX Finland, which constructed the vessel.

Source: Yahoo News