The world's largest cruise ship sets sail on its maiden voyage from Malaga

It is so huge that, next to it, the two MSC container ships moored alongside the large cranes at Malaga quay nine look tiny. The Legend of the Seas mega-cruise ship holds the record for being the largest of all those sailing the world's oceans - with the exception of its two sister ships: the Icon of the Seas and the Star of the Seas.

The ship, the third in Royal Caribbean's 'Icon' class, has chosen the port of Malaga for the maiden voyage of its Mediterranean routes, which the chairman of the port authority, Carlos Rubio, sees as a sign of how a major multinational such as this appreciates Malaga's cruise terminal.

«This is now the fourth time it has chosen this port to launch a ship of this calibre, which is absolutely impressive not only for its size and design, but also for the technology it incorporates.»

The 'Legend' is extraordinarily large, and in fact many onlookers and sailing enthusiasts turned up on Monday to see it - even if only from the outside - at the Levante dock. It is 365 metres long and 66 metres wide. Its gross tonnage is 248,663 tonnes, and it is operated by a crew of 2,350 people.

Due to its size, a number of technical modifications have had to be made to the cruise terminal to allow passengers to board directly from the gangways. «Clearly, for an event like this, these are investments that are made because the ship is due to return to Malaga later this year; they are investments that are well worth it,» added the president.

Once on board, passengers can move between the decks (there are 20 of them) using the numerous lifts. The interior and exterior spaces are so vast that its maximum capacity of over 5,600 passengers (who sleep in 2,805 cabins) never feel crowded.

Outdoors, the ship stands out for its water park (the largest at sea), which is every bit as good as any of those on the Costa del Sol in terms of attractions, with a variety of slides and tubes, a wave pool for surfing, seven swimming pools, including an infinity pool with sea views; and a children's play area. There is also a zip line 47 metres above the sea; a garden featuring 33,000 plants; an ice rink; mini-golf; a climbing wall; a basketball court; table tennis tables; and several gyms.

The maiden voyage sets sail this Monday evening from Malaga to Rome (port of Civitavecchia), with a fireworks display over the bay to mark its departure (at around 10.20pm). The cruise will last four nights and include stops in Tarragona (technical stop), La Spezia and a day at sea.

Sergio Arévalo, the company's sales director for Spain, Iberia and the Nordic countries, explains that cruises generally last seven days, and declined to give even the starting price for the most basic cabin, stating that the price range is «very wide and variable»: «We have family rates, slightly higher rates for the suites, and these are subject to change.»

During the summer in the Mediterranean, embarkations will take place in Barcelona and Rome. If you've missed it this time, you'll have another chance in October, as the ship will call again on its way to Fort Lauderdale (Florida) for its autumn repositioning, ahead of its Caribbean itineraries.

From a technical perspective, the Legend was built at the Meyer Turku shipyard in the city of Turku, Finland. Among its technological innovations, it stands out as a «low-consumption, low-emission» cruise ship, as it is powered by liquefied natural gas engines; as well as utilising waste heat recovery systems and shore power connections (for ports equipped with this facility, a system that Malaga has been using for years).