Even in case you’re a newcomer to cruising, you have most likely heard of Royal Caribbean’s big Icon Class and Oasis Class ships. Excluding two MSC Cruises vessels — MSC World Europa and MSC World America — they’re far greater than every other cruise vessel afloat and like nothing else you will discover at sea.
Certainly, if you hear folks speaking concerning the wow issue of Royal Caribbean’s “floating megaresorts,” it is seemingly they’re referring to the seven ships in these two units of vessels. This contains the not too long ago unveiled Icon of the Seas — the world’s largest cruise ship.
That stated, not all Royal Caribbean ships are equally supersized. Whereas the road is probably greatest recognized for large vessels — it operates seven of the ten largest cruise ships on the earth — it additionally markets some comparatively smaller, extra intimate ships.
Actually, Royal Caribbean has eight vessels which are lower than half the dimensions of the Icon Class and Oasis Class ships.
Should you’re fascinated with reserving a Royal Caribbean cruise, you will discover the road provides a variety of ship kinds and designs.
With the addition of 4 new ships and the removing of two older vessels from its fleet since 2020, Royal Caribbean — the world’s largest cruise line by passenger capability — now has 28 oceangoing ships in all. That is greater than every other main cruise line, and it means that you’ve lots of selections on the subject of choosing the proper Royal Caribbean ship for you.
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The excellent news for these of you attempting to get a deal with on all of the choices is that the 28 ships can simply be bunched into simply seven teams of vessels which have comparable facilities. If you already know one member of the group, you already know all of them.
These seven teams are made up of ships constructed across the similar time with the identical fundamental design. They’re recognized in cruise business lingo as “courses,” and every has its personal feel and appear.
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An introduction to Royal Caribbean ships
For essentially the most half, Royal Caribbean operates huge, bustling megaships that may attraction to individuals who like a megaresort expertise. The corporate has constructed its model round providing vacationers a ton of diversions on its ships, whether or not for eating (some vessels have greater than 20 distinct locations to seize a chew) or leisure. Its vessels are full of life and enjoyable.
The over-the-top megaresort expertise on a Royal Caribbean ship varies from class to class, although.
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The road’s one Icon Class and 6 Oasis Class ships are not like the rest you will discover at sea on the subject of dimension, facilities and capability. They every can maintain greater than 6,600 passengers, with each berth full.
Considerably smaller in dimension however nonetheless big by any measure, every of the road’s 5 Quantum Class and three Freedom Class vessels has a complete capability starting from round 4,500 to five,600 passengers. With house for round 3,800 passengers at most occupancy, the road’s 5 Voyager Class vessels are comparatively giant, too.
Collectively, the 20 vessels of those 5 courses — Icon, Oasis, Quantum, Freedom and Voyager — make up Royal Caribbean’s big-ship fleet. The road’s remaining eight vessels, break up amongst two courses, are smaller, with most occupancy topping out at round 2,500 passengers.
Whereas now not the main focus at Royal Caribbean, the smaller ships (that are usually the road’s older ships) permit it to supply itineraries to locations that are not as simple for large ships to go to. Not all ports on the earth can deal with a ship the dimensions of Icon of the Seas.
The smaller ships additionally attraction to a subset of Royal Caribbean followers preferring extra intimacy in a cruise vessel and do not thoughts giving up some onboard facilities to get it. They’re additionally usually cheaper to sail per day.
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As you may count on, the largest Royal Caribbean ships have essentially the most facilities. With every step down in dimension, you will discover fewer eating places, bars, leisure venues and sights. Even the smallest Royal Caribbean ships nonetheless have fairly a bit to supply, although.
Should you’re crusing with the road for the primary time, it is essential to know that not all of Royal Caribbean’s signature sights and venues are current on all its ships. As an example, whereas each Royal Caribbean vessel now has one of many line’s iconic climbing partitions (some have two), solely the 20 ships of the road’s big-ship courses have a FlowRider browsing simulator. Solely the 15 ships of the Icon, Oasis, Freedom and Voyager courses have ice skating rinks.
Here’s a take a look at the seven courses of Royal Caribbean ships in additional element.
Icon Class
Ships at school: Icon of the Seas (2024), Star of the Seas (coming in August), Legend of the Seas (coming in 2026) and an unnamed vessel (coming in 2027)
Measurement: 248,663 tons
Is your thought of an ideal trip a visit to a megaresort loaded with extra eating places, bars, theaters and watery amusements than you may think about? Royal Caribbean’s new Icon Class is the ship class for you.
As talked about above, Icon of the Seas — the one Icon Class ship at present in operation — is greater than every other cruise vessel afloat at 248,663 tons, and for big-ship lovers, there’s actually nothing fairly prefer it. Three extra Icon Class ships debuting over the subsequent three years shall be equally excessive in dimension and venues.
Every of the Icon Class vessels which are working or quickly to debut has been designed with seven separate swimming pools (a brand new file for a cruise ship), a water park with six waterslides (additionally a file), a kiddie splash zone, browsing simulators, a miniature golf course, a basketball court docket and even a zipper line. And that is simply on their prime decks.
Contained in the vessels, you will discover extra lounges, bars, eating places and retailers than you may think about — plus enormous casinos, spas and showrooms with Broadway-style reveals. They even have indoor ice skating rinks, simply in case you wish to get your Michelle Kwan on.
What you will not discover on the Icon Class ships is intimacy. These are vessels that may carry as many as 7,600 passengers when each berth is stuffed. They function with round 2,300 crew members. Meaning you may be sharing your trip with almost 10,000 folks.
If the above sounds downright outrageous to you, it’s. Be mindful, although, that the largest megaresorts on land are even greater. The largest resort within the U.S. — The Venetian Resort Las Vegas — has 7,092 rooms. Meaning it will possibly maintain greater than 14,000 friends, assuming there are two folks per room.
By that measure, Icon Class ships are nearly small.
Icon Class ships additionally do not essentially really feel as crowded as they’re. Royal Caribbean’s designers are masters at creating vessels that may carry hundreds and hundreds of individuals however nonetheless really feel comparatively uncrowded — at the least in some areas. You may have a quiet afternoon studying a e-book on a bench within the generally almost empty, tree-lined Central Park space of Icon of the Seas whereas hundreds of vacationers are frolicking about on the ship’s swimming pools only a few decks above.
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Whereas just one ship on this sequence (Icon of the Seas) is at present working, the second and third vessels within the sequence (Star of the Seas and Legend of the Seas) are already open for bookings. The maiden voyage for Star of the Seas is about for Aug. 31, 2025. Legend of the Seas is scheduled to debut Aug. 2, 2026.
A fourth, as but unnamed, Icon Class ship is on order for supply in 2027.
Quantum Class
Ships at school: Quantum of the Seas (2014), Anthem of the Seas (2015), Ovation of the Seas (2016), Spectrum of the Seas (2019) and Odyssey of the Seas (2021)
Measurement: 168,666 to 169,379 tons
Unveiled in 2014, the Quantum Class could also be Royal Caribbean’s most progressive class ever.
Along with a variety of eating places, bars and showrooms, the 5 ships within the class function a number of the most uncommon new sights you will discover at sea. This contains bumper automobile pavilions (sure, by some means they discovered room for these) and skydiving simulators.
The ships even have glass-enclosed capsules mounted on mechanical arms that may take you hovering into the sky for hen’s-eye views. They’re known as the North Star rides, and so they will be the oddest sights ever added to the highest of a cruise ship.
Quantum Class ships additionally function uncommon multilevel leisure areas with floor-to-ceiling glass partitions known as Two70. The areas are house to progressive reveals that usually function aerial performers, singers and dancers who emerge from openings within the ground or the ceiling. At sure instances of the day, the glass partitions rework into an expansive ambient floor known as Vistarama that tasks actual and imagined scenes.
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All of the above come along with lots of the core Royal Caribbean sights you will discover on a lot of the model’s ships, together with swimming pools, mountaineering partitions, casinos, spas and Broadway-style reveals. However do not count on all of the basic Royal Caribbean options on Quantum Class ships. As an example, you will not discover ice skating rinks on the vessels though they are a staple of all different huge Royal Caribbean ships. Quantum Class ships additionally haven’t got water parks.
The Quantum Class ships aren’t fairly as huge as Royal Caribbean’s Icon Class and Oasis Class vessels (and thus haven’t got fairly as a lot room for issues like ice skating rinks). At round 169,000 tons, although, they’re nonetheless among the many largest ships at sea, with a big variety of venues.
In addition they can carry loads of individuals. A lot of the ships within the class maintain 4,180 passengers at double occupancy — 4,905 if each berth is stuffed. One exception is Spectrum of the Seas, which was particularly constructed for the China market with some design variations. It could actually maintain as much as 5,622 passengers. Moreover, the latest ship within the sequence, Odyssey of the Seas, can maintain as much as 5,498 passengers.
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Another huge distinction between the ships of the Quantum Class and different huge Royal Caribbean ships: The Quantum Class ships are designed to be extra versatile.
Should you look carefully at their deck plans, you will discover that extra of their primary sights are indoors and shielded from the weather than the ships of the Icon, Oasis and Freedom courses, for instance.
One of many two primary pool areas on every Quantum Class ship (besides Odyssey of the Seas) is enclosed. The bumper automobile pavilions are, too, doubling as curler skating rinks or indoor basketball courts. This permits Royal Caribbean to ship the ships to cooler areas of the world, resembling Alaska and Northern Europe, the place the temperatures aren’t all the time conducive to out of doors exercise.
Royal Caribbean has additionally used some Quantum Class ships for sailings out of China.
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Oasis Class
Ships at school: Oasis of the Seas (2009), Attract of the Seas (2010), Concord of the Seas (2016), Symphony of the Seas (2018), Surprise of the Seas (2022), Utopia of the Seas (2024) and an unnamed vessel (coming in 2028)
Measurement: 226,838 to 236,857 tons
Till this 12 months’s debut of Icon of the Seas, these have been the world’s largest and most venue-packed cruise ships. Though they are not fairly as huge as the brand new vessel, they continue to be among the many best possible choices for vacationers who love nothing greater than an enormous, bustling resort with each kind of amusement recognized to people.
Every of the Oasis Class vessels has three separate primary pool areas, a kiddie splash zone, browsing simulators, a miniature golf course, a basketball court docket and a zipper line on their prime decks — a virtually as big selection of options as the brand new Icon of the Seas. Contained in the vessels, as on Icon of the Seas, you will discover a seemingly infinite variety of lounges, bars, eating places and retailers, in addition to giant casinos, spas and showrooms. Like Icon of the Seas, every ship has an indoor ice skating rink.
As is the case for Royal Caribbean’s new Icon Class ships, which have many similarities with the Oasis Class ships, these vessels carry an enormous variety of folks. They will carry as many as 6,988 passengers when each berth is stuffed. They function with round 2,200 crew members. Meaning you may be sharing your trip with greater than 9,000 folks — not fairly as many because the almost 10,000 you may discover on an Icon Class ship however nonetheless an enormous quantity.
The excellent news for these of you fearful about extreme crowds is that, as is the case with the Icon Class ships, the Oasis Class ships do not essentially really feel as crowded as they’re. Royal Caribbean designed them with a “neighborhood” idea that spreads passengers out in seven or eight (relying on the ship) distinct areas, such because the Pool and Sports activities Zone and the Boardwalk amusement zone. A number of thought went into how passengers transfer between these neighborhoods, too.
Word that there are a number of variations from ship to ship within the Oasis Class sequence. For starters, the 4 latest and largest ships within the sequence — Utopia of the Seas, Surprise of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas and Concord of the Seas — have a number of extra sights and venues. Amongst them is the Final Abyss, a terrifying slide that drops 9 decks. (Royal Caribbean says it drops 10 decks, however do not be fooled; the road counts a nonexistent Deck 13.)
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A handful of eating places additionally differ from ship to ship within the sequence.
The 2 latest and largest ships within the sequence, Utopia of the Seas and Surprise of the Seas, have essentially the most variations from the opposite Oasis Class vessels. At 236,473 tons and 235,600 tons, respectively, they’re about 4% greater than the subsequent largest ship within the sequence; the additional house is dedicated to such additions as a devoted suite space with a personal lounge, a restaurant and a sundeck.
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A seventh, as-yet-unnamed ship within the Oasis Class sequence is underneath building and anticipated to debut in 2028. It is being constructed by the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France — the identical shipyard that constructed Utopia of the Seas and Surprise of the Seas.
Radiance Class
Ships at school: Radiance of the Seas (2001), Brilliance of the Seas (2002), Serenade of the Seas (2003) and Jewel of the Seas (2004)
Measurement: 90,090 tons
Undecided you wish to sail on a megaship with 6,000 folks however nonetheless desire a vessel with a great quantity of options and actions? The Radiance Class ships will be the excellent answer.
At 90,090 tons, the 4 vessels within the sequence are lower than half the dimensions of Royal Caribbean’s large Icon Class and Oasis Class ships however are nonetheless sufficiently big that they’ve loads to supply.
Every vessel has greater than a half dozen locations to eat, together with the principle restaurant, an informal buffet, a steakhouse, an Italian restaurant and an Asian venue.
You will additionally discover three swimming pools on every ship, whirlpools, a mountaineering wall, a miniature golf course, a sports activities court docket and an adults-only solarium. Every ship has a theater, a spa, a on line casino and a number of bars and lounges.
What you will not discover on the ships, due to their smaller dimension, are all of the gee-whiz sights — resembling ice skating rinks, browsing simulators, big waterslides and bumper automobile pavilions — that Royal Caribbean has placed on its greater vessels. If you cannot dwell with out these kinds of options on a cruise ship, the Radiance Class most likely is not for you.
Every Radiance Class ship holds greater than 2,100 passengers at double occupancy (plus a number of hundred extra with each berth stuffed). That is lower than half the variety of passengers on the largest Royal Caribbean ships.
That makes them excellent for cruisers who wish to get away from the kind of crowds on the largest megaships with out giving up lots of the facilities that huge ships provide.
Freedom Class
Ships at school: Freedom of the Seas (2006), Liberty of the Seas (2007) and Independence of the Seas (2008)
Measurement: 154,407 to 156,271 tons
As not too long ago as 2009, these have been the largest cruise ships on the earth, and so they’re nonetheless fairly huge in comparison with nearly all different cruise vessels afloat.
Whereas now not on the checklist of the highest 25 largest cruise ships — they have been displaced by Royal Caribbean’s Icon, Oasis and Quantum Class vessels, in addition to a number of ships from different traces — the Freedom Class vessels provide a basic big-ship expertise with a lot of eating places, bars, showrooms and deck-top sights.
The Freedom Class ships, notably, have been the primary Royal Caribbean ships to function a FlowRider browsing simulator on their prime decks — now a signature attraction for the road. Every of those vessels additionally has a number of pool areas, a water park, a miniature golf course and a mountaineering wall on its prime decks (that are among the many most activity-packed at sea).
Certainly, the highest decks of Freedom Class ships are extra loaded with sights than every other Royal Caribbean vessels besides the Icon Class and Oasis Class vessels. You simply will not discover a number of of essentially the most over-the-top sights, resembling zip traces, that Icon Class and Oasis Class ships have.
Of their interiors, Freedom Class vessels have the mall-like Royal Promenade areas stuffed with eateries, bars and retailers which have turn out to be commonplace on greater Royal Caribbean ships. In addition they have giant casinos and spas.
At round 156,000 tons, the Freedom Class ships are about 38% smaller than the Icon Class ships and 31% smaller than the Oasis Class ships, a big step down in dimension. They’re almost 8% smaller than the Quantum Class ships.
In addition they carry considerably fewer passengers than the Oasis Class ships. Freedom of the Seas and Independence of the Seas carry about 3,900 passengers at double occupancy (nearer to 4,600 with each berth stuffed). Liberty of the Seas can carry a number of hundred extra.
Voyager Class
Ships at school: Voyager of the Seas (1999), Explorer of the Seas (2000), Journey of the Seas (2001), Navigator of the Seas (2002) and Mariner of the Seas (2003)
Measurement: 137,276 to 139,999 tons
The Voyager Class ships are much like Freedom Class ships however shorter in size. In different phrases, the Freedom Class was a stretched model of the Voyager Class.
Just like the Freedom Class vessels, the Voyager Class ships have lots of Royal Caribbean’s signature sights, together with mountaineering partitions and ice skating rinks. Actually, the ships have been the primary at Royal Caribbean to have these sights.
Voyager Class ships have been additionally the primary to function a Royal Promenade with bars, cafes and retailers of their inside. Every additionally has a number of specialty eating places along with the principle eating room and informal buffet; specialty eating places embrace a model of Royal Caribbean’s signature Chops Grille steakhouse and an Italian restaurant.
One of many primary variations between the Voyager Class and the Freedom Class is that the Royal Promenades on Voyager Class ships are shorter. The highest-deck areas of the Voyager Class ships are additionally extra truncated than the Freedom Class vessels.
There are additionally fewer cabins on the Voyager Class ships, leading to fewer passengers on board a typical crusing. A lot of the ships carry round 3,100 passengers at double occupancy — about 800 fewer than the everyday Freedom Class ship.
At round 139,000 tons, the ships are about 11% smaller than the Freedom Class ships.
There are additionally some variations in sights among the many 5 Voyager Class vessels. Navigator of the Seas has a comparatively new waterslide zone that is house to The Blaster, the longest waterslide at sea. You will not discover that on the opposite ships, although most of them have completely different waterslides. Solely three of the 5 ships — Voyager of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas — have laser tag programs. Journey of the Seas is the one vessel within the class with a kiddie splash zone.
Imaginative and prescient Class
Ships at school: Grandeur of the Seas (1996), Rhapsody of the Seas (1997), Enchantment of the Seas (1997) and Imaginative and prescient of the Seas (1998)
Measurement: 73,817 to 82,910 tons
Relationship to the Nineteen Nineties, the Imaginative and prescient Class ships are the smallest at Royal Caribbean, and so they provide fewer onboard sights and facilities than is typical for the road’s vessels.
On the whole, they attraction to cruisers on the lookout for a extra intimate expertise on a cruise ship and people who care extra concerning the locations they go to than the onboard sights.
Alongside these traces, Royal Caribbean usually sends a few of its Imaginative and prescient Class ships to Europe in the summertime to function port call-intensive itineraries. The vessels additionally usually sail longer journeys within the Caribbean that embrace less-visited southerly islands. In each circumstances, the attract of the cruises has extra to do with the ports the ships go to than the onboard expertise.
Imaginative and prescient Class ships are additionally generally primarily based in secondary ports resembling Baltimore or San Juan, Puerto Rico, the place the dimensions of the native cruise market won’t warrant a bigger vessel.
Aside from mountaineering partitions, the Imaginative and prescient Class ships have not one of the signature Royal Caribbean deck-top sights resembling browsing and skydiving simulators. For essentially the most half, their prime decks are lined with swimming pools, whirlpools and sunning areas, as is typical for ships constructed within the Nineteen Nineties. All have at the least two swimming pools and 6 whirlpools, apart from Enchantment of the Seas, which has three swimming pools and 6 whirlpools.
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Along with primary eating places and informal buffets, every ship has at the least one (and sometimes a number of) extra specialty eating places. The road’s signature Chops Grille steakhouse and Italian eatery Giovanni’s Desk are two of them. Rhapsody of the Seas has the largest choice of eating; Enchantment of the Seas has the smallest. Three of the 4 vessels — all however Enchantment of the Seas — have an Izumi Asian restaurant.
Every of the ships varies barely in dimension. Grandeur of the Seas is the smallest of the 4 vessels, measuring round 74,000 tons. Enchantment of the Seas is the largest, measuring round 83,000 tons (it was, notably, lengthened by 73 toes in 2005).
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