ALLURE OF THE SEAS has arrived. Lisa Bauer and Captain Hernan Zini have chronicled the crossing in their blog and webisodes respectively. It has been an unusually smooth crossing in many ways. The first is literal. The seas were very calm and — while they had to deviate twice to skirt around some Atlantic storms — the seas were smooth and easy. In addition, the calm waters made it easier for the crew to complete all their prep work. Operating equipment needed to be checked out, rehearsals organized, and generally the ship prepared for the public. The smooth crossing helped but so did the fact that the ship was so complete at delivery. One indicator of how smooth the crossing was is the fact that the ship used 700 tons (185,000 gal) less fuel than OASIS did on her crossing (and I don’t think that had anything to do with Hernan’s claim that ALLURE is lighter and longer than OASIS). (more…)