Investors in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. may have felt like they were riding on the Titanic in early March.

Shares that nearly touched $30 in September 2008 had sunk all the way to $5.50 a share on March 2. Profits were down 98 percent, the forecast was dismal, and Wall Street was skeptical Royal Caribbean could find financing for the $1.4 billion Oasis of the Seas, which was under construction at a Finnish shipyard.

Turns out it was the perfect time to buy. Cruise-ship companies as a whole have rebounded from the worst of the recession. They’re still discounting prices, but business is better, and some of the lines are getting ready to take delivery on some truly awe-inspiring ships.

Shares quadrupled at Royal Caribbean after the financing was nailed down in April, and Royal Caribbean sold $300 million in notes in July. The world’s No. 2 cruise company expects to take delivery of Oasis, the world’s largest cruise ship, on October 28. The sister ship Allure of the Seas is coming next year.

"I think you can probably say there has been a kaleidoscope of emotions," says Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International of Miami. "For the company, this is single-most-exciting thing in our 40-year history. It has had an extremely positive effect on retention and morale, even though people are very stressed out as the ship nears service.”

The challenges for the cruise industry aren’t over, but Oasis will be a publicity-reaping record-setter at 225,000 tons—nearly five times the size of the Titanic. However, its 5,400-passenger capacity is only about twice the size of Titanic’s because of a dizzying array of features—an open-air Central Park with 12,000 trees and plants, a bar that moves up and down three decks, a Royal Promenade shopping area, a boardwalk-themed area with a carousel, an ice rink, a zip line like those found in the Costa Rican jungle, a theater for the musical Hairspray, and the largest swimming pool on a cruise ship.

AquaTheater pool will make RCL the first cruise line to employ trampolinists, divers, and synchronized swimmers.

The Oasis is getting premium prices on its inaugural cruises, but the industry is still trying to recover from rampant discounting. Usually, cruise lines seek to offer the best prices to those who book up to a year out, but the recession screwed it all up.

"I think it was a stress test of herculean magnitude," said Kevin Sheehan, CEO of NCL Corp. of Miami, which operates Norwegian Cruise Lines. "People were afraid to do anything going back to the fourth quarter of 2008. You were listening to the news every night, and it seemed like the world was ending."

Longtime NCL leader Colin Veitch stepped down last November, and Sheehan was elevated from his position of president and chief financial officer. That was about 10 months after Apollo Management LP of New York paid $1 billion to Hong Kong’s Star Cruises to gain half ownership of NCL and a majority of board seats.

NCL is also getting a new megaship, but Sheehan has to wait until June 24 next year for the 4,200-passenger Epic to make its maiden voyage from the English port of Southampton. The Epic will be based at the Port of Miami, while RCL's Oasis will be based about 25 miles north at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.