▲ Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-governing Province

The Voyager of the Seas, a mega cruise liner, anchored in Jeju Island at 7 a.m. on June 23. It is the largest vessel of its kind to have docked in Korea. It accommodated 3,470 passengers from 22 countries including 3,120 Chinese tourists. It had left Nagasaki on June 23 before arriving in Jeju later that day, staying for 6 hours, and then leaving for Shanghai, China. The cruise ship’s passengers toured Seongsan Ilchulbong, the Jungmun Tourist Complex in Seogwipo City, and Yongduam (Dragon Head Rock) in Jeju City.

The Voyager of the Seas, owned by Loyal Caribbean Cruise Liner, was built in Turku, Finland in 1998. It is 311 meters long, 48 meters wide, 14 stories tall, and consists of 15 passenger decks. It is the 10th largest cruise liner in the world, three times larger than the Titanic. It can occupy a total of 5,000 people including 3,840 passengers and 1,181 crewmen.

The Royal Promenade, the ship’s main public area for its passengers, is comprised of a selection of shops, two 11-deck atriums, a three-story movie theatre with 1,350 seats, and a 2,000 seat dining room. There is also a 900-seat performance hall for a variety of shows, an ice-skating rink, a full-size basketball court, a nine-hole miniature golf course, and a climbing wall. The Royal Promenade was modeled after antique European-style streets.

The visit from the Voyager of the Seas set the highest record for overseas visitors to Jeju in a single day at 10,878 people. The previous record was set on October 3, a Chinese national holiday, when 8,396 people visited Jeju.

In a telephone interview, a Jeju Ocean Development Department official who asked for anonymity told The Weekly that to alleviate discomfort and to fasten the immigration and customs process, a 330㎡ temporary building is currently under construction and two body scanners will be brought to Jeju Port.

(With reporting by Jwa Dong Cheol, Jeju Ilbo reporter)