The World's Largest Ever Cruise Ship Debuts With First Guest Sailing
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But the largest cruise ships on the planet are in another league altogether. They can measure up to 250,000 gross tons (roughly triple the size of a ship built 30 years ago!) and when at full capacity with crew, have nearly 10,000 people onboard. Icon of the Seas is a brand new class of ship for Royal Caribbean, the world’s largest cruise line.
MSC Grandiosa
Disney Cruise Line caters mostly to families, while Princess Cruises often attract retirees and older cruisers. True to the name of the cruise line, the ship will start its life by sailing on seven-night itineraries in the western and eastern parts of the Caribbean. (It's important to note, though, that Royal Caribbean ships do sail all over the world, not just around the Caribbean). Like the parent company Royal Caribbean Group, the ship will be based in Miami, and initial sailings, at least for all of 2024, will depart from that port. From Fort Lauderdale, the ship will set course towards Labadee in Haiti, Royal Caribbean’s private destination, where she will arrive after a day at sea.
World's largest cruise ship: what to know as it sets sail from Miami - The Associated Press
World's largest cruise ship: what to know as it sets sail from Miami.
Posted: Sat, 27 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Costa Cruises Costa Smeralda
While they attended meetings, Timo Yrjovuori, the project manager for Symphony’s build, gave me a tour of the ship. Another Finn, Yrjovuori has light stubble and blond hair hidden under his yellow hard hat. More than 1,000 workers were undertaking the final outfitting, and the sounds of sawing, welding and industrial vehicles cut through a riot of languages and radio stations. The 20-deck vessel includes eight “neighbourhoods” to explore and can accommodate 5,610 passengers and 2,350 crew. The vessel made its foray into open waters this month, completing its first round of sea trials following its construction in Finland’s Meyer Turku shipyard.
Allure of the Seas
An example of this is the Icon of the Seas, the latest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet — a behemoth that is redefining what is possible at sea and on board. The largest cruise ship ever constructed, it recently sailed on its maiden voyage. At 250,800 tons and nearly 1,200 feet in length (comparable to the height of the Empire State Building), the giant cruise ship did indeed float. Carrying hundreds of technicians over four days, the ship sailed for hundreds of miles on its first sea trial, with another sea trial due before its debut passenger sailing date from Miami in January 2024. Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, now the fifth-largest cruise ship in the world, was actually the largest cruise ship from 2016 to 2018. Onboard, passengers can find 16 guest decks, 2,747 staterooms and suites and 23 pools and whirlpools.
But this is starting to change, and Royal Caribbean, which has typically attracted active families and travelers in the age range, seems to be taking note. After a 14-day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, Wonder of the Seas will arrive at her future homeport of Port Canaveral. From the world-famous cruise port, she will sail 7-night itineraries to the eastern and western Caribbean. “We’re constantly using design to alter the perspective of the room environment,” says Gonzalez. The right pattern on a carpet can lengthen or shorten a space, or provide a subliminal help with wayfinding.
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The previous world’s largest cruise ship was also a Royal Caribbean vessel, Wonder of the Seas, which spanned 1,188 feet long and featured 18 decks. The Oasis of the Seas is a part of the Royal Caribbean International cruise liners. This mega-ship was unveiled in the year 2009 and has gross tonnage of 225, 282 GT. It measures 1,187 feet long and puts it at the same length with its sister ship, Allure of the Seas. The ship has state of the earth swimming pools, beach pools, unforgettable dining experience, sports zones, and entertainment palace. Besides, the massive diesel engines powering the ship, it has additional solar power that was installed at the cost of $750,000 and covers an area of 21,000 square feet.
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60% of the balconies will be traditional cruise ship balconies with the remaining ones being infinite balconies. But, taken together, they provide enough material to get a sense of what the ship will actually look like when the curtain rises early next year. The feature will debut on Symphony of the Seas and be rolled out across the entire Royal fleet.
Carnival Celebration
The ship was finally delivered from the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland after a delay on December 5, 2019. Her first regular voyage departed Savona on December 31, 2019; however, there was a special voyage for travel agents that departed Barcelona, Spain on December 18, 2019. The first official maiden voyage departed on April 7, 2018, on a 7-night Mediterranean voyage from Barcelona, Spain. Symphony of the Seas has been based in PortMiami, Florida since November 10, 2018. The ship will be equipped with a special grooming robot that will clean the hull whenever it’s in port to help reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency by 3 to 4 percent, reports TTG Media’s Charlotte Cullinan.
Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas
And if the shape of the ship looks familiar, that’s because Costa is a sister line to Carnival. A similar design is used for Carnival’s largest ships, Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee. However, those ships come in just under the 185,000 gross tons seen with Smeralda and Toscana.
As of February 2024[update], there are 68 passenger ships with over 135,000 GT in service. The first ships over that size were the Voyager-class ships from Royal Caribbean Group's Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger, and by the time a new world’s largest cruise ship is built, an even bigger ship is already being planned. Cruise Hive looks at the top ten biggest cruise ships in the world by gross tons. On Jan. 27, the world’s largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, set sail on its inaugural cruise. With the capacity to carry nearly 8,000 people, the 20-deck, 1,198-foot-long vessel is the size of a small city.
Harmony of the Seas was the first in the class to feature the 10-Story Ultimate Abyss slide, which is located aft of the ship above the AquaTheater. The slide has since been a major feature on new Oasis-class vessels and added during refurbishments. Symphony of the Seas was built at the then-named STX France shipyard and was delivered to the cruise line on March 23, 2018. The vessel departed on its first one-time special preview sailing on March 31, 2018.
An extensive pool area called Chill Island will feature the first swim-up bar at sea. AIDA Cruises AIDAcosma, the second in the Excellence-class, was first released in December 2021. Costa Toscana is Costa Smeralda's sister ship, meaning the two ships are identical in size. The vessel will undergo another round of sea trials later this year before officially launching in Miami early next year, according to Royal Caribbean. Icon of the Seas will primarily take cruisers to the islands of the eastern and western Caribbean on seven-night itineraries.
Each iteration of Oasis-class ships has arrived just slightly larger than the previous when it comes to gross tonnage. That means they each had their time as the largest in the world before another arrived on the scene. In this case, Symphony of the Seas (228,000 gross tons and the ability to hold 6,680 passengers) took the crown in 2018.
The team has around 200 people, including naval architects, interior designers, engineers and project managers. Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas is the first ship in the Quantum Ultra-class, which is a subset of Royal's Quantum-class. Spectrum of the Seas has 16 total decks (14 guest decks) and 2,137 staterooms.
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