Another record setter? Royal Caribbean orders what could be the world’s largest cruise ship

Yet another giant new Royal Caribbean ship is on the way. Maybe three.

The world’s largest cruise line on Tuesday ordered a fourth vessel for its new Icon Class series — the world’s largest cruise ships.

As part of the order, with the Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku, Royal Caribbean also got options for two more vessels in the series that could be built at a later date.

The agreement with Meyer Turku calls for the fourth Icon Class ship to be completed and ready to sail in 2027.

Meyer Turku built the original ship in the Icon Class series — the much-ballyhooed, seven-month-old Icon of the Seas. It’s also building the second ship in the series, Star of the Seas. That vessel is due to begin sailing in 2025.

A third as-yet-unnamed Icon Class ship also is on order from the Meyer Turku shipyard for delivery to Royal Caribbean in 2026.

“Building on the incredible momentum and market response to the launch of Icon of the Seas and the excitement for its sister ship, Star of the Seas, coming in 2025, we’re thrilled to join with Meyer Turku once again to expand our roster of Icon Class ships and continue our future growth plans,” Royal Caribbean Group president and CEO Jason Liberty said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Royal Caribbean Group is the parent company of Royal Caribbean as well as Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.

“Since its debut, Icon has changed the game in vacation experiences and exceeded our expectations in both guest satisfaction and financial performance,” Liberty added.

The world’s largest cruise ship?

Royal Caribbean didn’t say just how big the new Icon Class ship would be. But the line has a history of building ever-bigger vessels as it rolls out new series of ships.

Every vessel in the line’s seven-ship Oasis Class series, which is still rolling out, has been at least a little bigger than its predecessor. The Oasis Class ships were the world’s biggest vessels until the debut of Icon of the Seas.

At 248,663 gross tons, Icon of the Seas is the current size leader in the cruise world. It was nearly 6% bigger than the biggest ship at sea when it debuted in January. That ship, Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, measures 235,600 gross tons.

Icon of the Seas, notably, can carry up to 7,600 passengers — a new record for a passenger ship. That’s about 7% higher than the maximum capacity of the biggest ships that came before.

Add in 2,350 crew, and it can sail at times with nearly 10,000 people on board — a new all-time record for a ship.

The bigger passenger capacity is partly due to the ship’s greater focus on family travelers. Icon of the Seas was built with a lot more cabins that have plenty of extra bunks to accommodate families with many children. It also has more amenities geared toward families. This includes a new-for-the-line outdoor “neighborhood” called Surfside dedicated to families with young children.

Royal Caribbean on Tuesday didn’t reveal what features the newly ordered Icon Class vessel would have, but it’ll likely be similar to Icon of the Seas with a few new twists. That’s typical for ships built in the same series.

In a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts, Royal Caribbean executives said Icon of the Seas had been sailing at record-setting levels of occupancy since it first debuted.

Royal Caribbean is just the latest cruise line to order giant new ships in recent months as the cruise industry booms. Cruise giant Carnival ordered three massive new vessels just last month. The parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line ordered four big ships for that brand in April as well as four ships for sister brands Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises.

Disney Cruise Line also has been on an ordering spree, with an announcement for four news ships just this month on top of several other new vessels it already had on order.

With Tuesday’s order, Royal Caribbean now has four vessels on order — three Icon Class ships and one Oasis Class ship.

The line currently operates 28 ships in all split among seven different classes.

Royal Caribbean executives also have hinted that the brand could order another new series of smaller ships in the near future.

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