The largest cruise ship in the world drew comparisons with the Titanic as she arrived in Southampton yesterday, and not merely because of her record-breaking size.

Independence of the Seas, which docked nearly a century after the Titanic departed on her ill-fated maiden voyage, is a gamble for her owners, who have seen fuel prices soar and the global economy cool in the three years since they commissioned the ship.

Royal Caribbean International claims that it will be able to fill the vessel’s 4,375 berths regularly, but the credit crunch means choppy waters for its £400 million investment.

The 1,112ft (340m) vessel — 230ft longer than the Titanic — will also be unfashionable among travellers concerned about the environment. Jaunts aboard large cruise ships emit two thirds more greenhouse gases than equivalent journeys by air, environmentalists have claimed.

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Climate Care, a carbon-offsetting company, estimates that large cruise ships emit 0.43kg of carbon dioxide per passenger per mile. The figure for long-haul flights, taking into account the additional damage caused by emissions at high altitude, is 0.26kg.

The ship is the joint-largest cruise ship in the world, and the only one if its kind to be based in Britain. When guests are not eating in one of the nine restaurants, including a 2,000-seater dining room, they will be offered the choice of an ice rink, a 1,350-seat theatre, a surf simulator and a nine-hole miniature golf course.

Teo Strazicic, 46, the captain of the Independence of the Seas, said that manoeuvring the ship was daunting but made easy by its 360-degree propulsion system, which he operates using joysticks.

“This ship is great to handle — it’s always different and always exciting and I don’t sweat too much,” he said. A naming ceremony for the ship is due on April 30, before she embarks on her first paying cruise on May 2.

Ahoy there

1,360 crew work aboard the Independence of the Seas
15 decks house its cabins, cinema, ice-rink, chapel and other attractions
35 tonnes of ice are produced daily
18,000 pizza slices eaten on week’s cruise

Sources: Southampton Council, Iglu Cruises

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