Cruise ship's wacky observation capsule

The ship will offer a number of innovative features including an observation capsule on a movable arm. Picture: AP Source: AP

The ship will also feature a bumper car arena. Picture: AP Source: AP

ROYAL Caribbean cruise line has dazzled cruise aficionados with details of its forthcoming Quantum of the Seas ship, which will be the first at sea to offer attractions like bumper cars, simulated skydiving and an observation capsule called The North Star, with a bird's eye view 91 metres above the water.

"Without a doubt, Quantum of the Seas is a game changer with technological innovations never imagined aboard a cruise ship," said Stewart Chiron, who writes at CruiseGuy.com.

"I can't wait to get on it," said Barbara Lippincott, who's taken 160 cruises on Royal Caribbean and was among a number of the company's devotees at a Manhattan event unveiling the ship's features.

Richard Butz, a Pennsylvania-based travel agent with Cruise One, said he'll have no trouble selling trips on Quantum. "Royal Caribbean comes up with things nobody ever thinks of," he said.

Quantum will launch in November 2014 and will homeport in Cape Liberty, in Bayonne, New Jersey, with winter sailings to the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean executives said The North Star was inspired by the London Eye. The capsule can hold 14 people and is attached to a crane-like arm.

The skydiving attraction, called RipCord, uses a powerful wind flow to keep participants aloft while floating and spinning over an outdoor deck. "You're not touching anything but the air," said Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.

An indoor complex called SeaPlex will host basketball, table tennis, trapeze instruction and bumper cars. The space converts to a dance floor for roller-skaters, with a DJ hovering above in a see-through pod. Another space,

Two70, has a 270-degree panoramic view and will host aerialists and other performances.

Thisimage provided by the Royal Caribbean International cruise line shows its forthcoming ship, Quantum of the Seas. Picture: AP Source: AP

Cabins have modular features like interior doors so that adjacent bedrooms can be connected for large families or multi-generational groups.

Not everything on Quantum is new to the industry. Norwegian's Epic ship introduced rooms designed for solo travelers, which Quantum will also have. Disney's Dream and Fantasy ships have "virtual portholes" for windowless staterooms offering live views of the sea, and all of Quantum's interior cabins will also have "virtual balconies" consisting of LED screens with projected ocean views.

Tickets for Quantum's first sailing will go on sale to the public June 4, with Royal Caribbean regular cruisers getting an early shot at tickets starting May 27. Prices were not announced but cruise lines typically charge more for new ships than for other cruises. Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., said there would be no extra fees for many of the ship's attractions, including The North Star and skydiving.

Royal Caribbean also owns the largest cruise ships in the world, the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas, which carry more than 6000 people apiece. Quantum will carry 4180 passengers.

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World's first tunnel for ships to be built

This computer generated picture shows the so-called Stad Ship Tunnel. Picture: AFP /Stadskipstunnel.no/NORDWEST3D Source: AFP

NORWAY'S government has announced plans for what is being labelled the world's first tunnel for large ships, aimed at helping them navigate a treacherous section of the southwestern coast.

Unveiling a 10-year transportation plan, the government said it would earmark one billion kroner ($166 million) for the construction of the Stad maritime tunnel, named for the peninsula notorious for high winds and heavy seas.

The 1.7-kilometre passageway will be carved into a piece of the peninsula's mountainside, linking two fjords, hallmarks of the Norwegian coastline.

"The project will help increase safety and navigability" in the region, the government said.

Estimated at a cost of 1.6 billion kroner, construction is expected to begin in 2018 at the earliest and take four years. It was unclear how the costs exceeding the one billion kroner provided by the government would be financed.

Tunnels already exist for barges, for example in France's Canal du Midi, but the Stad tunnel will be the world's first that can accomodate large cargo and passenger vessels up to 16,000 tonnes.

"It will be the first tunnel in the world that can be used by big boats like cargo ships or the Coastal Express," the famed tourist ship that cruises along the Norwegian coast, said Ottar Nygaard, mayor of the small town of Selje and the head of the project.

According to a recent study conducted by the specialised company Nordvest Fjordservice, the waters of the Stad peninsula have seen 46 accidents and near-accidents and 33 deaths since the end of World War II.

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