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

27.08.2024 - 19:43 / thepointsguy.com / Meyer Turku / Jason Liberty

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.

Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean

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.

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 ships in a series.

Every vessel in the line's seven-ship Oasis Class series, which is still rolling out, for instance, 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.

Related: Every Royal Caribbean ship ranked from biggest to smallest

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. Compared to earlier Royal Caribbean vessels,