Oasis of the Seas

Having served on a WWII class aircraft carrier with a crew of about 5,000 and knowing that she would fit three times on the deck of a carrier that was built in the 70s and knowing that the newest carrier would hold two of that one I'm not, particularly impressed with the ship's ability to house that many people. What does impress me is the height of the ship above the water line and how stable this class vessels are.

it's a floating city. it would be more like vacationing in a destination city in the carribean than being on a ship. it is an impressive looking ship though.

off topic- expat what did you do on the aircraft carrier? did you work on the deck crew? or were you flight crew or support staff? i'm very impressed and curious.

I started on the deck force, worked my way into the paint locker (great cumshaw position), and ended up in the disbursing office handling the payroll for a thousand guys. Ended up as a DK3 by the time I got out.

dk3? deck force, did you deal with bringing in the planes? i love hearing people's stories, if i get to inqusitive just tell me. we are strangers an ocean apart, but i like you and think of you as a friend. is that too weird? you are a sweet person.

I thought the point was that the crew makes up over a fourth of the people on the boat. Is that a normal crew-to-passenger ratio for a cruise ship? I agree watching the promo that it seems silly to get on a boat for all the things they're showing...

No, the "deck force" are Bos'n Mates. Those are the guys that keep the boat afloat and looking sharp. They even get to whistle! Back in the days of tar and sails they were the guys scrambling up the ropes, messing with the sails, and holy-stoning the decks.

The guys "landing the planes" (airedales or brown-shoes) are just accouterments to the REAL NAVY.

DK3 is Disbursing Clerk third class or E4. Somewhat off the bottom of the pile but a long way from the top.

that's neat expat. did you guys have any brushes with the
u-boats? it does make sense that the REAL NAVY would be more about the ship and less about the planes. 😊

No, no U-boats. Just a bit past my time (thank you very much!). We did, however, try to run over a Russian trawler once.

on purpose or accidentally? 😉 when were you in the navy?

I always think "Titanic" whenever they launch a new "biggest" cruise ship. But this one reminds me more of the ship from Wal-E.

honestly, i thought of titanic also. if that monster sunk it would raise the sea level!

Strange as it sounds, patty, if the ship sank it would actually reduce sea levels (very slightly). Currently it is displacing a huge volume of water with a hull that is full of air, on sinking that space is taken up with water from outside the hull, so the sea level drops.

not strange at all sweetie, it makes perfect sense now that you say it to me. i wouldn't have thought of it on my own though. 😊