Almost 1,200 feet long (360 meters) and 210 feet wide, and rising 213 feet from the water line, it is the world's largest cruise ship -- about five times the size of the Titanic.

It features 16 passenger decks, 24 passenger elevators and more than 2,700 rooms. At full capacity, the 225,282-ton ship can carry about 6,300 passengers and 2,100 staffers.

Amenities include a park with more than 12,000 plants, an 82-feet long zip line in the open air activity area, a jogging track that is almost half a mile, a shop promenade worthy of a shopping mall, more than 20 swimming pools and whirlpools, multiple restaurants and a theater that sits more than 1,300 people.

Royal Caribbean International knew its ship had to be designed it in a way that its size didn't overwhelm passengers and staffers, and decided early on that IT would play a big part in addressing this challenge.

In a recent, exclusive tour of the ship, Royal Caribbean IT officials showed the IDG News Service how the company is using tools like RFID, facial recognition and handheld wireless devices for a variety of purposes, including emergency responses, food safety, point-of-sale (POS) transactions and passenger service. You can watch an IDG video of part of the tour, .