Cruise Lines

On Monday evening I was treated to dinner on Hebridean Island Cruises' 49-passenger Hebridean Princess, one of the smallest cruise ships in the world.

Now I'm on my way to Miami, Florida, for a three-night cruise to nowhere on Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship - a whopping 225,000 tons and with room for 5,400 passengers - 6,200 if all the berths are full.

Hebridean Princess is spending this week moored in the heart of Docklands, five minutes' walk from Canary Wharf, so would-be passengers can come and have a look. It will then be going into drydock for all kinds of work to be done so the ship can meet new maritime regulations coming into force next year. It returns to service in March.

It's a lovely little ship with a lounge with a real fireplace; Oasis is packed with features such as a Central Park with real trees, the Boardwalk with the first carousel at sea, a zipwire, two Flowrider surf waves and two rock-climbing walls.

There are also 20 restaurants, a bar that thinks it's a lift and goes up and down between decks (I will definitely be trying that!), inside balcony cabins and two-storey staterooms.

Could any two ships be more different?

I'll aim to post impressions and pictures from Oasis, but as always it's internet willing and, given that there is so much I need to see, also time-willing. I've made sure to pack flat shoes as there'll certainly be plenty of walking!

So fingers-crossed all goes to plan. In the meantime, here are some first pictures of the interior.