Tuesday, April 2, 2024

The 7 classes of Royal Caribbean cruise ships, explained

royal caribbean cruise line wikipedia

Royal Caribbean has also been voted “Best Cruise Line Overall” for 19 consecutive years in the Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards. The Freedom Class ships, notably, were the first Royal Caribbean ships to feature a FlowRider surfing simulator on their top decks — now a signature attraction for the line. The vessels also have multiple pool areas, a water park, a miniature golf course and a rock climbing wall on their top decks (which are among the most activity-packed at sea). While the line is perhaps best known for giant vessels — it operates six of the 10 biggest cruise ships in the world — it also markets some relatively smaller, more intimate ships.

royal caribbean cruise line wikipedia

Bigger, Better Ships for Royal Caribbean's Cruises

The only area they want to establish is Grand Lucayan Resort in Freeport. The hotel campus had been sold to a subsidiary of the Bahamian Government. One of the main differences between the Voyager Class and the Freedom Class is that the Royal Promenades on Voyager Class ships are shorter. The top-deck areas of the Voyager Class ships are also more truncated than the Freedom Class vessels. If you look closely at their deck plans, you'll notice that more of their main attractions are indoors and protected from the elements than the ships of the Icon, Oasis or Freedom classes, for example.

TUI Cruises

If you're thinking about booking a Royal Caribbean cruise, you'll find the line offers a wide range of ship styles and designs. It was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between the German tourism company TUI AG and the American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Group, both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company. Founded in 1994 by the Vlasov Group of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, Silver Cloud.[27] Since July 2020, it has been owned by Royal Caribbean Group. Royal Caribbean operates two privately owned resorts that are used as stops on some Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries. They are Labadee, a resort on the northern coast of Haiti, and Coco Cay, a private island in the Berry Islands region of the Bahamas. Each resort features canopies for eating, lounge chairs, palm trees, white sand beaches, and a number of activities.

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Icon of the Seas

Inside the vessels, as on Icon of the Seas, you'll find a seemingly endless number of lounges, bars, restaurants and shops, as well as large casinos, spas and showrooms. All Radiance-class ships have a gross tonnage of 90,090 and environmentally friendlier gas turbine engines. The Radiance class ships were constructed at Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany. Unlike the preceding Voyager class, these ships are built to the Panamax form factor, allowing them to pass through the Panama Canal.

The 7 classes of Royal Caribbean cruise ships, explained

The vessels also often sail longer trips in the Caribbean that include less-visited southerly islands. In both cases, the allure of the cruises has more to do with the ports the ships visit than the onboard experience. As recently as 2009, these were the biggest cruise ships in the world, and they're still quite big compared to almost all other cruise vessels afloat. Royal Caribbean's designers are masters at creating vessels that can carry thousands and thousands of people but still feel relatively uncrowded — at least in some areas. You can have a quiet afternoon reading a book on a bench in the sometimes nearly empty, tree-lined Central Park area of Icon of the Seas while, just a few decks above, thousands of vacationers are frolicking about at the ship's pools.

After the launch of so many new ships, the company's formerly innovative older ships were beginning to look less appealing. Similarly designed for worldwide cruising, they are larger with more balconies, dining choices and public areas. The popular shipboard mini-golf course was introduced, as was Royal Caribbean's now-signature adults-only indoor/outdoor pool area called the Solarium, one of the most impressive shipboard spaces that has been built to date.

Vision Class size & design

For instance, while every Royal Caribbean vessel now has one of the line's iconic climbing walls (some have two), only the 19 ships of the line's big-ship classes have a FlowRider surfing simulator. Only the 14 ships of the Icon, Oasis, Freedom and Voyager classes have ice skating rinks. It all starts with the boldest cruise ships at sea — and ours have won awards for everything from world class dining and spectacular entertainment, to record-setting onboard thrills and groundbreaking innovation. Royal Caribbean International has been delivering innovation at sea for more than 50 years. Each successive class of ships is an architectural marvel that feature the latest technology and guest experiences for today’s adventurous traveler.

Who was the Founder of Royal Caribbean International?

The first was Quantum of the Seas, which launched in fall 2014 for a North American audience but was quickly sent to the burgeoning Asia cruise market. The four Radiance-class ships -- Radiance of the Seas (2001), Brilliance of the Seas (2002), Serenade of the Seas (2003) and Jewel of the Seas (2004) -- were built in the early 2000s as a follow-up to the Vision-class vessels of the 1990s. Except for rock climbing walls, the Vision Class ships have none of the signature Royal Caribbean deck-top attractions such as surfing and skydiving simulators.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL

For the most part, their top decks are lined with pools, whirlpools and sunning areas, as is typical for ships built in the 1990s. All have at least two pools and six whirlpools, except for Enchantment of the Seas, which has three pools and six whirlpools. The Quantum Class ships aren't quite as big as Royal Caribbean's Icon Class and Oasis Class vessels (and thus don't have quite as much room for things like ice skating rinks). At around 169,000 tons, though, they're still among the biggest ships at sea, with a significant number of venues.

On Enchantment of the Seas is the Jump Zone, a set of four bungee trampolines where guests are strapped into a harness connected to bungee cords. This is similar to the Sky Pad on Royal Caribbean’s newer or amplified ships, although without the virtual reality feature. No company was properly prepared for the government mandated shutdown of the cruise industry, which was the only industry to voluntarily shut down on its own but then face stiff opposition to prevent it from returning. Like Song of Norway and Sovereign before her, Voyager of the Seas would innovate ship design for decades and become the new standard going forward. Kulovaara was brought onboard to help run the company’s shipbuilding department.

For the most part, Royal Caribbean operates big, bustling megaships that will appeal to people who like a megaresort experience. The company has built its brand around offering vacationers a ton of diversions on its ships, whether for dining (some vessels have more than 20 distinct places to grab a bite) or entertainment. Cruisers can book their Icon-class cruise today and experience the largest waterpark at sea and more than 40 restaurants. Until this year's debut of Icon of the Seas, these were the world's biggest and most venue-packed cruise ships. Although they're not quite as big as the new vessel, they remain among the very best options for vacationers who love nothing more than a big, bustling resort with every sort of amusement known to humans. Indeed, when you hear people talking about the wow factor of Royal Caribbean's "floating megaresorts," it's likely they're referring to the six ships in these two sets of vessels.

The first was Legend of the Seas, which was launched in May 1995 as the first Vision Class ship. In short, Oasis of the Seas continued Royal Caribbean's legacy of revolutionary cruise ship design. Any new mass-market cruise ship built since has had to compare itself to the game-changing Oasis of the Seas. This report galvanized Royal Caribbean, and in 1984, the world's largest purpose-built cruise ship, Sovereign of the Seas, was conceived. And the committee that bad been assembled to assist with the Little report evolved into Royal Caribbean's Steering Committee, with Fain remaining in the chair. Seasoned travel and hospitality executive Michael Bayley was named President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, the world’s largest cruise brand, in December 2014.

royal caribbean cruise line wikipedia

It will later be renamed Silver Endeavor when it joins the Silversea Cruise fleet. Another acquisition occurred in 2006 with the purchase of Pullmantur Cruises in Spain. Following this purchase, Royal Caribbean experienced a rapid expansion by creating Azamara Cruises. Azamara Cruises became a subsidiary of its Celebrity Cruises branch in 2007.

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These facilities are complimentary for guests to use throughout the cruise. On newer Royal Caribbean ship classes, guests must purchase a spa pass to access the sauna and steam rooms, so this is a great benefit of sailing on a Vision Class ship. Vision Class ships also have a Centrum instead of a Royal Promenade or Royal Esplanade.

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