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| Royal Caribbean |
Royal Caribbean International is a Norwegian / American cruise line brand based in Miami, Florida and owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.. With 42 ships in service under 5 different brands and one more under construction, it controls a 25.6% share of the world cruise market. All ships since 1991 have names ending in "of the Seas."
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was founded in 1968 by Anders Wilhelmsen & Company, I.M. Skaugen & Company, and Gotaas Larsen, Norwegian shipping companies. The newly created line put its first ship, the Song of Norway, into service two years later. The next year, the line's capacity was doubled with the addition of the Nordic Prince to the fleet. Continuing to expand, the line added the Sun Viking in 1972. After four years of successful operation, Royal Caribbean's Song of Norway became their first passenger ship to be lengthened. This was accomplished via the insertion of an 85-foot (26 m) section to the vessel's severed center. Following the success of this procedure, Nordic Prince was stretched in 1980. Royal Caribbean finally received widespread global recognition when in 1982 it launched the Song of America, over twice the size of Sun Viking and at the time the third largest passenger vessel afloat (after the Norway and the Queen Elizabeth 2)
Royal Caribbean innovated once again with its 1986 lease of a coastal property in Haiti for use as a private destination for its guests. This destination is now called Labadee. After a corporate restructuring in 1988, the line launched Sovereign of the Seas, the largest passenger vessel afloat at the time. Two years later, Nordic Empress and Viking Serenade entered service for the line, continuing a rapid growth trend within the company. In the same year Royal Caribbean purchased its second private destination, Little Stirrup Cay, an island in the Bahamas, which they rechristened "Coco Cay."
Monarch of the Seas, the second ship of the Sovereign class, entered service the next year. The third ship of the Sovereign class, Majesty of the Seas, was delivered one year later. With a large passenger capacity and a growing market share, Royal Caribbean finally went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993. Over the next two years the company experienced extreme growth. A new corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida was completed, and the Nordic Prince replaced by a new vessel, the Legend of the Seas.
The next year brought more growth. Two more Vision class vessels entered service, the Splendour of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas. Also in 1996, the company finalized its contracts for 130,000-ton vessels with Aker Finnyards in Finland. The trend of growth and change continued into 1997. The line's oldest ship, Song of Norway, was sold, and two new Vision-class ships entered service as Rhapsody of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas. The company also merged with the Greek cruise line Celebrity Cruises and changed its name from "Royal Caribbean Cruise Line" to "Royal Caribbean International." The next year marked a transition to a more "strictly modern line", when the last of the company's older vessels, Song of America and Sun Viking, were retired. In 1998, Vision of the Seas came into service, the last of the Vision Class Ships. In 2005, Royal Caribbean made history again with the massive refurbishment of Enchantment of the Seas, cutting the ship in half and adding a 74-foot (23 m) midsection. Grandeur of the Seas was rumored to be the next to have the massive refurbishment sometime in early 2008, but that never took place.
In 1999 the Voyager of the Seas, the line's newest and world's largest cruise ship entered service with much attention from the news media. The next two years saw the delivery of Voyager's sister ship, Explorer of the Seas, and the first of a new class of more environmentally friendly cruise liners, Radiance of the Seas, as well as the introduction of Royal Caribbean's "cruise tours Alaska", featuring glass-domed train cars to scenic destinations within the state and Canada. During Adventure of the Seas' christening ceremony in November 2001, Royal Caribbean made a $50,000 contribution to the Twin Towers Relief fund.
2002 saw the debut of the Navigator of the Seas, as well as the Brilliance of the Seas, the second ship of the Radiance class. Serenade of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas were introduced the next year, and rock-climbing walls were made a feature of every Royal Caribbean ship. Jewel of the Seas followed in 2004, and the line's ship Nordic Empress was refurbished and re-christened as Empress of the Seas, which was later sold to Pullmantur Cruises in 2008. Construction commenced on Freedom of the Seas, the line's newest ship, at Aker Finnyards in 2005 and the vessel launched the next year as the largest passenger vessel in the world. Freedom of the Seas' sister ship, Liberty of the Seas, was launched in 2007, and Independence of the Seas was delivered in 2008. An even larger class, the Oasis Class, featuring the Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas was launched in 2009 and 2010, guaranteeing Royal Caribbean the ship size lead for years to come.
In 2012, twelve ships of RCCL's fleet will sail in Europe. The Serenade of the Seas will make her European debut and will be home ported at Barcelona for cruises to the Mediterranean. Brilliance of the Seas will be home ported at Amsterdam and Copenhagen for a new series of Northern Europe cruises. She will visit the Norwegian Fjords, the North Cape and the Baltic. The Jewel of the Seas will continue with her sailings to the Baltic, but she will also offer a new cruise to Norway and Iceland. All cruises start and end in Harwich. For the second year, Mariner of the Seas will go no cruises to the Mediterranean.
Other ships in Europe are Liberty of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas (all Mediterranean), as well as Vision of the Seas which will sail to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
The first ship of this class, Oasis of the Seas surpassed the Freedom-class ships as the world's largest passenger ship in November 2009. It is able to accommodate up to 5,400 double-occupancy passengers (up to 6,296 when third and fourth passengers are included), has a registered tonnage of 225,282 tons and cost the line around US $1.4 billion. It is anticipated that the Oasis-class of vessels will primarily sail the waters of the Caribbean Sea, but Royal Caribbean may also choose to deploy these vessels in other parts of the world. A second Oasis-class ship was ordered on 2 April 2007, and was constructed at STX Europe's Finland Cruise Yards (formerly Aker Finnyards), Turku, Finland. It was delivered on 28 October 2010.
Freedom of the Seas left Aker Finnyards shipyard in Turku, Finland on 24 April 2006. With gross tonnage of 154,410 tons, they surpassed Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 as the largest ships in the world even though they are five meters shorter than the Queen Mary 2. Freedom of the Seas includes two new features, the Flowrider and the H2O Zone for kids. The Freedom of the Seas continues the traditions of the Voyager-class ships with a 400-foot (120 m) mall named the Royal Promenade, featuring pubs, shops, arcades, bars, and a 24 hour Cafe Promenade.
The fifth largest passenger ships at sea (behind the Oasis class, Freedom class]], Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Epic and Cunard's Queen Mary 2), the Voyager class ships were built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards' (now STX Europe) facility in Turku, Finland. They have a gross tonnage of around 137,000 tonnes. These ships include a 350-foot (110 m) indoor mall known as the Royal Promenade, featuring indoor pubs, shops, cafes, and bars. Activity options on board include: basketball courts, skating rinks, at least 3 pools, a mini-golf course, and a rock wall.
Radiance class ships have a gross tonnage of 90,090 gross tons. All ships have more environmentally-friendly gas turbine engines. The Radiance class ships have over 3 acres (12,000 m2) of glass, glass exterior viewing elevators, over 700 balcony staterooms, two-level glass windowed dining rooms, alternative restaurants, a retractable glass roof over a pool, an outdoor pool, as well as the first self-leveling billiard tables at sea. The Radiance class ships were constructed at Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany.
Technically speaking the Vision class consists of three pairs of sister ships and is not a "class" of ships in the same sense as the Radiance, Freedom, Voyager, or Oasis classes. Legend and Splendour, built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France have a gross tonnage of approximately 70,000 and are the only ones which have a golf course. Grandeur and Enchantment were built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Helsinki, Finland and have a tonnage of approximately 80,000 gross tons (after lengthening). The final pair, Rhapsody and Vision were also built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, and have a tonnage of 78,000 gross tons. All ships of this class feature over 2 acres (8,100 m2) of glass.
At approximately 73,000 GT (gross tonnage), these were the first "mega-ships" in the industry (with the exception of the SS Norway, an ocean liner converted into a cruise ship), built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The first one, Sovereign of the Seas, was launched in 1988. The Sovereign-class ships were the first ships ever to have an open atrium area. Like larger Royal Caribbean ships, the Sovereign Class ships have pools, open bars and lounges inside, and grand theaters.
In 2005, Monarch of the seas received a refit, and the Majesty of the Seas in 2007. New features include enhanced staterooms, public areas, Compass Deli, Jade, addition of rock walls, re-painted pool floors, new carpeting and more spaces enhanced for guest comfort.
It was reported that Royal Caribbean Cruise lines was docking cruise ships at the Labadee resort in Haiti despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. While the ships have delivered relief supplies to the affected and the company has promised to donate all proceeds from the visit to help the earthquake many passengers on board the cruise ships were "sickened" by the company's decision to dock in Haiti. Associate vice president John Weis defended the company's decision by stating that the company had "tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti ... Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most." The Labadee resort located over 60 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake is on lease to the company from the Government of Haiti.