Lord of the Seas

“When you pass through the waters,” perhaps you’d like to be in a ship that’s bigger than an aircraft carrier, stands taller than a 20-story building and carries 8,000 people.

Thalassophobia. Thalassa means “sea,” and phobos means “fear,” so thalassophobia is “fear of the sea.”

This is a legitimate phobia, when you think about it. The ocean can be a place of danger and even death. Take to the water, and you have to deal with waves, wind, tides, currents, rocky shorelines and ever-changing weather conditions. You know what lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches, don’t you?

A nervous wreck.

When you venture out onto the ocean, you want to be surrounded by as large a ship as possible. And fortunately, Royal Caribbean cruise line has now launched an authentic sea monster. Called Oasis of the Seas, it’s the largest, tallest, widest, heaviest and costliest passenger ship ever built.

How big is it? According to The Atlantic magazine (June 2009), it dwarfs a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, stands taller than a 20-story building and carries 8,000 people.

It isn’t a boat. It’s a floating city.

Oasis of the Seas features 21 swimming pools, including a waterpark, a...