The percentage of Brits booking the world’s largest cruiseliner Oasis of the Seas will be unprecedented, believes Royal Caribbean Cruise Line associate vice-president and general manager Jo Rzymowska.
The ship goes on general sale on Wednesday September 3 and starts sailings out of Fort Lauderdale in Florida in December 2009. Normally early booking discounts are offered on new ships but none are being offered on Oasis as demand is so high.
Most passengers booked on the ship’s sailings are expected to be from the US but Rzymowska believes the percentage of Brits could be higher than ever before as interest in the cruise sector increases in the UK. “Overall I think it will be unprecedented the percentage of Brits on board,” she said.
She also expects the cruiseline’s maiden voyages to be sold out by the end of this week. The ship has already taken around 1,000 advance registrations from cruise specialist agents and trade partners.
Rzymowska added: “We have not had such a high number of pre-registrations as we had had on Oasis of the Seas. I think I would be surprised if by the end of the first week the maiden voyages aren’t sold out.”
For Independence of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International’s ship launched earlier this year, there were only hundreds of pre-registrations.
She puts the extra interest around Oasis down to the fact the ship is so different from its competitors. Last week it announced plans to have a zip-wire cable ride and two surf simulators on board as well as an amphitheatre. “I think being the biggest is less important, it’s because it’s so different that people are intrigued,” she added.