Diamond Princess sparkles in Sydney
by Jeni Bone on 29 Jan 2009
She is two and a half times the size of the Titanic. MIAA
Two and a half times the size of the Titanic, the cruise liner, Diamond Princess has arrived on Sydney Harbour and is expected to draw interest and cause road chaos as great as when the Queen Mary and the QE2 sailed through the heads almost a year ago.
Road closures and clearways will be in place in Sydney today to cope with large crowds for the one-day visit of the luxury cruise ship.
The Diamond Princess will depart Sydney Harbour at 9pm, heading to New Zealand.
Anticipating potential traffic chaos from Sydneysiders wanting to catch a glimpse of the ship, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) has restricted vehicle access in the city until 10pm tonight. Special event clearways will be enforced in Argyle Street, Circular Quay West, Hickson Road and sections of George Street.
The cruise liner is 63 metres tall, weighs 116,000 tonnes and has a capacity for almost 2700 passengers. There are 1337 cabins and even a wedding chapel. The cruise ship spends the Northern summers cruising Alaskan waters and winter to the Mexican Riviera.
Too tall to sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, she has a nine-hole putting course, jogging track, five swimming pools and 10 restaurants and cafes.
Owned by Princess Cruises, the vessel is registered in Bermuda and was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at a cost of US$500 million. It has been in service since March 2004.
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