Australia’s biggest cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas, arrives in Fremantle for Aussie summer cruising season

THE biggest cruise ship ever to hit Australian waters arrived today, but there’s something even more staggering than its size - the kitchen.

IT’S the fourth biggest cruise ship in the world, and the biggest to ever sail in Australia and today it arrives in Fremantle.

Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas will be based in Australia for the summer season, making its maiden call to Fremantle today followed by Adelaide on December 11, Hobart on December 13 then arrive in her new summer homeport of Sydney on December 15 in what is expected to be a landmark day on the famous Harbour.

Ovation of the Seas, with its 18 decks and extraordinary adventures on-board. Picture: Chris Ison/PA Wire

GALLERY: ON-BOARD OVATION OF THE SEAS

OUR BIGGEST SHIP JUST GOT BIGGER

27 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR NEXT CRUISE AWESOME

Launched in April this year, the 4905-guest Ovation of the Seas is smashing record after record including its viewing capsule, North Star, that rises 90m above sea level.

To get an idea of just how enormous this ship is, we’ve collated some stats that will literally blow your mind, including how they cater for so many guests on-board what has been dubbed the biggest hotel in Australia.

North Star capsule is breaking cruise ship records.

WHAT YOU’LL EAT

On a seven-day cruise, Ovation of the Seas will cater to 4905 guests with:

3300kg of chicken

3750 dozen eggs

714kg of lobster tail

5100kg of beef

850kg of salmon

238kg of ice cream

4286kg of flour

1700kg of french fries

6803kg of potatoes

1803kg of bacon

Dine on lamb at Jamie's Italian on-board. Picture: Royal Caribbean

And has total restaurant seating for 3474.

The ship uses seven million litres of freshwater per day;

Has eight specialty restaurants with more than 150 different dishes served daily;

Stocks 40 brands of beer;

Stocks 340 brands of wine;

Stocks 127 different specialty cocktails;

Uses 40 varieties of fruit;

Uses 80 varieties of vegetables;

Offers 40 kinds of breads;

Offers 80 kinds of pastries;

Uses 37,000kg of ice-cubes daily.

American Icon Restaurant on board Ovation of the Seas. Picture: RCI

IT’S ENORMOUS

• At 168,666 gross register tonnage (internal volume, not weight) Ovation of the Seas could fit 843 million mangoes.

• It can carry almost 6500 guests and passengers — eight times as many as an Airbus A380.

• If stood upright, at 347m the ship is almost as tall as Uluru and more than two and a half times as high as Adelaide’s tallest building the State Bank building.

• At 92m high the North Star gondola capsule is higher than a Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon.

The pool bar is the perfect spot for a sunset drink.

• Ovation’s four bow thrusters produce 4694 horsepower each — more than double the horsepower of a five-car city train.

• At 41m wide, Ovation is about as wide as 17 Adelaide trams or 14 Melbourne trams.

• With 2091 staterooms and carrying 4905 guests at full capacity, Ovation will be the biggest hotel in the nation — more than triple the rooms of the Crown Metropol in Melbourne and the Four Points Sheraton in Sydney.

•The iFly skydiving simulator has a maximum wind speed of 250km/h.

Source: Royal Caribbean International

Originally published as Australia’s biggest cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas, arrives in Fremantle for Aussie summer cruising season