Allure of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship along with its twin Oasis of the Seas, made its US debut Thursday with operator Royal Caribbean showing off innovations including the first Starbucks coffee house at sea.

Allure soars 65 meters (213 feet) above the waterline, stretches 360 meters (1,181 feet) from bow to stern and fully loaded weighs 225,282 tons.

It was built by South Korea’s STX Finland Cruise shipyards in Finland at a cost of one billion dollars. The Allure made its US debut after a 13-day transatlantic journey from Turku, Finland, to Florida.

London has been voted the “World’s Leading Destination” at this year’s World Travel Awards, which took place November 7.

It beat off fierce competition from New York, Cape Town and Sydney to take the award, which is seen as one of the most prestigious in the travel world.

The World’s Leading Hotel gong went to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, despite rivalry from 26 other properties including the Armani Hotel in Dubai, the Hotel Ritz Paris and the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Lonely Planet has named its top cities to visit in 2011, picking New York as the best place in the world to be next year.

The list, compiled as part of the publisher’s Best in Travel 2011 guide, puts the Moroccan city of Tangier in second place and Tel Aviv in third.

New Zealand capital Wellington took fourth place spot, with the book saying that the innovative and inspiring city might just be the ‘Best Little Capital in the World’.

Ubiquitous coffee brand Starbucks is to make its debut at sea on board a new cruise liner, the brand confirmed October 27.

The coffee chain is to open a store on board Royal Caribbean’s latest ship Allure of the Seas, which will share the title of the largest cruise liner in the world with its sister ship Oasis of the Seas when it launches this December.

Guests will be able buy everything they expect from a traditional land-based Starbucks on board the liner, with the company’s vice president Chris Carr saying that the ship is “another place where our customers want and expect us to be.”

Ferrari fans around the world have been forced to wait a little longer for the official arrival of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.

The park announced via its Facebook page that the soft opening date set for this week had been postponed out of respect to Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the ruler of Abu Dhabi‘s neighboring emirate Ras Al Khaimah.

Although the official page of the nearby Yas Marina Circuit has said that the park’s opening will now take place on Thursday, November 4, Ferrari World’s call center confirmed that the final opening date was still under discussion.

Abu Dhabi is set to challenge Dubai for dominance of the region’s fast-growing cruise market, announcing October 25 that MSC will become the first cruise line to call the emirate home.

MSC Lirica, a 59,000-ton, 2,199-guest liner, will be the first ship ever to use Abu Dhabi as a home port, beginning October 2011.

It will sail 19 seven-night cruises from Abu Dhabi’s Mina Zayed Port, traveling round the Arabian Gulf peninsula to Muscat, before turning round en route for the UAE’s eastern emirate of Fujairah on the Indian Ocean.