What We Know About Royal Caribbean’s Newest Cruise Ship

Royal Caribbean has revealed that they plan to build a sixth Oasis-class ship, which will join the fleet in 2023.

Will It Be The Biggest Cruise Ship In The World?

Little is known about the newest ship Royal Caribbean has on order… especially given that there are still many details we don’t know about the fifth Oasis vessel, which is expected to be delivered in 2021.

All six of the sisters have/will be built at the Chantiers de l’Antantique shipyard in France. “This is the 23rd cruise ship that Royal Caribbean will be building at our shipyard,” said general manager Laurent Castaing, “and we are especially proud of it.”

Perhaps the biggest question — literally — is whether the unnamed sixth ship will claim the title of the largest passenger ship in the world.

Currently, that title belongs to the line’s Symphony of the Seas, who stole it from predecessor Harmony of the Seas. In discussing the fifth Oasis ship last year, CEO Michael Bayley indicated that it would be slightly larger than Symphony, so it seems fairly safe to assume that the sixth ship will follow suit and, upon her arrival, claim the title as its own.

The order of the new ship does come with one caveat, which is that it moving forward is contingent upon financing. But the company expects for that to be completed by the third quarter of this year at the latest.

So just how big is the world’s largest ship? Current record holder Symphony of the Seas, who took her maiden voyage in April of 2018, is 18 decks high, weighs over 228,000 gross tons and carries 5,518 passengers at double occupancy, with a maximum capacity of 6,680 guests.

The first of the Oasis-class ships — named, appropriately enough, Oasis of the Seas — is set for a drydock and refurbishment this fall, after which she’ll be homeported in Miami for the rest of the fall and winter season.