Luxurious mammoth liner sails into 'fantastic' Grand Harbour

The blue sky and even bluer sea sparkled yesterday afternoon as the third largest cruise ship in the world - Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas - sailed into Grand Harbour for the first time.

The 138,000-tonne gargantuan vessel will be visiting Malta weekly until September 6 as part of its Seven-Night Mediterranean Malta Cruise.

The Voyager of the Seas will also be including Malta in its itinerary for next year, promising to visit eight times between July and September. The cruise will leave from Barcelona and call at Provence, Cittavecchia, Naples and Palma de Mallorca before returning to Barcelona.

Royal Caribbean is building the 220,000-tonne Genesis, scheduled to sail in 2009. Earlier this year it launched the 160,000-tonne Freedom of the Seas.

Speaking during a press conference yesterday, captain Gerry Larsson-Fedde described the views on entering Grand Harbour as "fantastic".

"I am sure you will see more Royal Caribbean presence in the Mediterranean in the coming years," he said. The Navigator of the Seas is due to start operating Mediterranean cruises as of next year.

Captain Larsson-Fedde said the cruise giant was looking at increasing its market in Europe.

"As a captain, I am very pleased to be in Europe. It's fantastic to be in the Mediterranean," he said.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said cruise liners offered Malta a great window of opportunity, allowing tourists to get a glimpse of the island for a few hours.

He said Viset was working with the government on the necessary infrastructure to deal with larger cruise liners.

When it was launched in 1999, the Voyager of the Seas was the world's biggest cruise ship and was heralded as the most revolutionary ship ever built.

In fact, it still sports some amazing features, which promise a stay full of activities. Apart from an ice-skating rink and a rock-climbing wall, there is a full-size basketball court and a nine-hole miniature golf course. The 15,000 ShipShape Centre and Day Spa has 14 massage and treatment rooms, a full-service beauty salon and 66 Reebok machines.

Exercise on board a cruise liner is essential to lose those extra pounds gained nibbling on the delicacies on board. The Voyager's restaurants include the three-tiered elegant main dining room, an alternative Italian restaurant Portofino, a 1950s-style diner Johnny Rockets and the Windjammer Café on deck 11, which offers casual buffet breakfast and lunch.

More eateries are found on the four-deck high Royal Promenade, which with shops, cafés and pubs lining both sides gives the impression of a village centre. "Street" entertainment and parades take place on some evenings.

Alas, despite the beauty of Grand Harbour, a group of American tourists were not impressed with their first experience of Malta. One tourist complained that taxi drivers were harassing his family to accept a €10 ride to Republic Street, Valletta. The Atlanta man was annoyed that after refusing a taxi ride from the first few drivers in line, he kept being asked by each driver. "If I didn't take the first taxi, why would I want to take the last one? I do not think this will make me want to come back to Malta," he said.

One of the first views that tourists see when they go out of the terminal is a number of horses under the sweltering sun. The smell of horse dung must not be that welcoming either.

Cruises on the Voyager of the Seas start from $999 (about Lm343) for an interior cabin, $1,299 (Lm446) for an oceanview, $1,499 (Lm515) for a balcony and $1,999 (Lm687) per person for a deluxe suite.

Cruise trivia

¤ 22,000 meals are prepared daily for both passengers and crew.

¤ 63,000 desserts and 49,000 appetizers are prepared weekly.

¤ This week, passengers on the Voyager of the Seas will consume:

19,000 pounds of beef, 18,000 pounds of chicken, 75,000 pounds of pork, 3,500 pounds of lobster, 3,800 pounds of salmon, 75,000 fresh eggs,

1,500 pounds of coffee 1,200 gallons of milk and

1,400 ice-creams.