Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Allure of the Seas, passed a noteworthy milestone on its way from the shipyard in Finland to its home port in Ft. Lauderdale. It is shown here passing under Denmark's the Storebaelt Bridge (Great Belt Bridge) which has exactly 65 meters of clearance. Allure retracted its funnel to help fit under the bridge. With the funnel retracted, and in its normal cruising configuration, it is exactly 65 meters high. To provide a margin of safety for additional clearance, the ship took on extra ballast water so it would ride lower in the water for this part of the journey.
The retractable funnel (which only goes down about meter) had to be built in specifically to help the ship clear this bridge. There is nowhere else Allure will sail where clearance is this critical.
Update: October 31 - Video
Details appeared in the November 1, 2010, edition of Cruise News Daily.
