After playing host to the world’s biggest plane, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya, early last month, Malaysia yet again welcomed another visitor of gigantic proportions.
In her maiden voyage, the most technologically advanced cruise ship in the world docked at the Swettenham Pier in Penang on Tuesday, the first port-of-call for the ship in Southeast Asia.
According to a report by The Star Online, Royal Caribbean International’s newest 18-deck, USD1bil (RM4.06bil) smartship, the Ovation of the Seas, sailed in from Kochi, India at 7am with a total of 5,738 passengers and crew members aboard.
The ship was reportedly on a 14-night cruise from Dubai to Singapore, and the nine-hour stopover allowed the 4,091 passengers and 1,647 crew members a much-welcomed shore break.
The news portal reported that they chartered 41 buses, four vans and two cars to cover as much of Penang as possible.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab were reportedly at the port to welcome the ship.
At 347m long and weighing 168,666 tonnes, the Ovation of the Seas is one of the largest cruise ships in the world. She has a total of 2,090 staterooms and boasts first-at-sea features and ground-breaking technology.
For starters, she is equipped with a state-of-the-art bar where fully-automated robotic arms serve cocktails to passengers. In a disco-cafe, robotic arms spin giant LCD panels for video performances.
The interior staterooms are equipped with 2m-high HDTV screens that display real-time footage of the ocean and port manoeuvres captured by external cameras.
Not only that, satellite-based WiFi keeps passengers online at broadband speeds in the middle of the ocean.
The Ovation of the Seas also boasts several fun games and activities onboard, including a skydiving simulator, a roller skating rink, indoor bumper car rides as well as a circus school where passengers can learn to be flying trapeze artists or jugglers.
The main feature of the ship is, of course, a glass capsule called the North Star that ascends over 100m above sea level where passengers get a complete 360-degree view of the ocean.
If you missed the Ovation of the Sea‘s grand appearance this time around, fret not; Royal Caribbean International managing director (Singapore and Southeast Asia) Sean Treacy told The Star Online that she’ll be making more port calls to Penang very soon.
“She will make six more calls to Penang next March and April, bringing thousands more tourists to the island,” he was quoted as saying.
