Cruise ship making
maiden trip to Hawaii

Star-Bulletin staff

Vision of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever to visit Hawaii, comes into Honolulu May 5 on its maiden voyage to Hawaii.

A welcoming ceremony at Piers 10-11 next to Aloha Tower will be held at 11:30 a.m.

The ship, owned by Royal Caribbean International, is 915 feet long, 105 feet wide, and 196 tall.

If Vision of the Seas cruised under Niagra Falls, the top of the stack would be two feet above the rim of the falls, according to the ship's owners.

"The ship's 78,491 gross tons makes it bigger than the QE2, at 70,327 tons," said Troy Brown, shipping agent with Waldron Steamship Co. Ltd.

However, the QE2 is longer at 963 feet.

The ship cost $275 million and has desalination equipment to produce 75,000 gallons of potable water a day, according to the cruise line company.

The 2,435 guests have the opportunity to eat 15 times a day. The ship has 11 guest decks, nine elevators and cruises at 22 knots.

Four diesel-electric propulsion engines have an electrical output almost three times the combined horsepower of the Indianapolis 500's entire 33-car field, the company said.

Brown said Vision of the Seas takes on passengers in Hawaii, tours the islands and then departs from Lahaina on May 10 for Vancouver and Alaska.

The ship was built in France and registered in Liberia.