Royal Caribbean Names New Ship Harmony of the Seas

[Jan115]

Royal Caribbean International has named its third 225,282-ton, 5,400-passenger Oasis-class vessel "Harmony of the Seas". The name keeps with the line’s long tradition of ship names with the suffix “of the Seas.”

The company announced the name with a simple tweet on Twitter.

The company’s first two Oasis-class cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, operate out of Fort Lauderdale, although Allure is moving to Barcelona soon for a summer season in Europe this year.

The keel was laid on the third ship in May 2014 at STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, and it is scheduled for delivery in spring 2016. Construction began on the fourth one in early February 2015, also at STX in France; it is scheduled to enter service in 2018.

While the same size and shape as the first two in the Oasis class, details of the two ships under construction will be revealed in the coming months.

The Oasis-class ships introduced the “neighborhood concept” with seven distinct themed areas, including a Boardwalk area with a carousel and Central Park with more than 12,000 live trees and plants. They also have an 82-foot-long zipline, the Rising Tide bar that goes up and down like an elevator, and the AquaTheater high-diving performance venue.

Source: Theresa Norton Masek (TravelPulse, "Third Oasis-Class Ship Named Harmony of the Seas")

Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more.

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Featured image credit: Royal Caribbean International

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[Shari2]

Sounds like a great ship with lots to do...good name.

[Swath]

Royal is Making us Wait until March to find out Routes & Homeport

[jacketwatch]

Will there be more Quantum class ships??

[WeCruiseToo]

Will there be more Quantum class ships??

Yes. Anthem of the Seas will be out this year and Ovation of the Seas debuts in 2016.

[Jan115]

Is it just me, or does anyone else wish the cruise lines would throw in a few new smaller vessels now and then?

[WeCruiseToo]

Is it just me, or does anyone else wish the cruise lines would throw in a few new smaller vessels now and then?

I don’t think the business model of the mass-market lines makes that economically feasible any longer. Viking Ocean, Regent Seven Seas and Seabourn all have new "small" ships on order but those are premium and luxury lines commanding a higher price to offset the fewer passengers.

Maybe we need to redefine “smaller” nowadays. Holland America’s Koningsdam will be “only” 99,000 tons (with a sister ship of the same size to follow).

While we certainly aren’t about to give up big-ship cruising we do sometimes miss the smaller ship experience from when we started cruising almost 20 years ago. Fortunately we’ve found that experience (and so much more!) with river cruising and try to mix that in with our big-ship cruises when we can!

Edited March 3, 2015 by WeCruiseToo