Royal Caribbean Fans

The first steel block, which will be used to construct Quantum of the Seas has arrived at the shipyard in Germany.

The event marks another major milestone in the construction process of Royal Caribbean's latest vessel.

The ship will enter service in November 2014

More news to follow...

Royal Caribbean has unveiled Quantum of the Seas. 

She will be sailing out of the New York area and will feature Bungee Jumping and Bumper Cars!

If you cant wait to cruise on her, then there are speculation that bookings will open on Thursday 18th April.

More news to follow....

Royal Caribbean is to make a special announcement regarding the Project Sunshine project tomorrow.

Royal Caribbean indicated the announcement in a very short email to members of the media saying, "Stay tuned tomorrow for an exciting reveal regarding this next class of ships."

There is no word what will be announced tomorrow, but we will post all information here as soon as we receive it.

As part of Royal Caribbean's Revitalization program, Independence of the Seas will receive her refit in April 2013. 

The refit will be slightly less extensive than that of the work we have seen on the Vision and Radiance class ships. However, there will still be quite a hefty price tag, $7 million infact. 

Her refurbishment will take two weeks, where she will begin her summer season in Southampton on 2nd May. She will be offering some new shorter sailings such as Le Havre and Zeebrugge.

Independence of the Seas will receive;

• An outdoor movie screen
• Cupcake Cupboard
• Digital Signage Waypoints
• Improved Wi-Fi connectivity
• Tots nursery
• New 'Giovanni’s Table' specialty restaurant

It has been over a year since Adam Goldstein wrote on his blog that more details on the secretive 'Project Sunshine' should emerge.

In his post on 27th December 2011, he said "we simply cannot begin to divulge ship features until we begin the marketing cycle for Sunshine which is still more than a year from now."

We predict that more information regarding features and the actual ship name should start being annouced between March and May.

According to Royal Caribbean Blog, Royal Caribbean recently applied for 6 new trademarks which look set to be choices for the ship names. These are;

• Anthem of the Seas
• Ovation of the Seas
• Passion of the Seas
• Pulse of the Seas
• Quantum of the Seas
• Vantage of the Seas

There is still no recent word from Royal Caribbean about when they expect to release more information, but from what we can already work out, it won't be all that long until that exciting information is released.

To stay up to date with the latest Project Sunshine news, subscribe to our site to be updated via email.

Royal Caribbean has announced today that it has signed a contract with STX France to construct a third Oasis-class vessel with an expected delivery date of mid-2016.

In addition is an option for a second ship with a potential delivery in mid-2018.

“The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have fundamentally transformed the cruise experience for our guests,” said Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

“These ships have consistently generated outstanding guest satisfaction ratings and continue to produce superior financial results. We are thrilled to be adding a sister to this extraordinary class of vessels at a compelling price. Being back building in France just adds to the pleasure.”

The third ship will be built at the STX shipyard in France instead of the Aker Yard in Turku, Finland, where Oasis and Allure were built. 

“STX France is proud to partner with Royal Caribbean again and continue our decades-long relationship by building the third Oasis-class ship,” said Laurent Castaing, chief executive officer of STX France. “Royal Caribbean has always been an important part of our shipyard’s success, and we are delighted to add this highly innovative and spectacular ship to the list of vessels we have built together.”

The newbuild contract includes the transfer of Pullmantur’s Atlantic Star as part of the consideration.

Additionally, the contract is subject to satisfaction of financing and other conditions.

STX France has also provided the company with a one-year option for the mid-year 2018 delivery of a fourth Oasis-class vessel at similar pricing.

Royal Caribbean has confirmed that it is in negotiations for the possible construction of a third Oasis class cruise ship that would delivered in middle to late 2016.

Royal Caribbean announced the news during its third financial results meeting. Royal Caribbean first commented on the news in early October as 'just a rumor' however they have now confirmed, there is a possiblity for a third ship.  

Royal Caribbean has not entered into any sort of agreement at this time, it does hope to place an order by the end of the year. The new ship is expected to cost less on a per berth basis than either of the first two Oasis-class vessels.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain confirmed the news during his talks, "The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns. Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a lower cost, with better energy efficiency is very consistent with our balanced goals of prudent growth, return improvement and debt reduction."

This third Oasis class ship would be in addition to the other two Sunshine Class ships Royal Caribbean has already ordered and is in the process of being built.

Images have emerged of what is likely to be construction models of the facilities being planned for Royal Caribbean's Project Sunshine. 

We've already seen a possible leaked photo of the new Sunshine Class ship and now we have these models, which clearly mark that they may be designs for the Project Sunshine ship. 

The photos were found on Coroflot, which is a site designed for 3D modeling and rendering specialists to share photos. The user, who first published these models, has since removed them from the site.

To resepct the original users requests, we have removed the photos from our site.

Jewel of the Seas, which has been based in the Essex port for the past nine summer seasons, sailed away for the last time today.

Since its first cruise from Harwich in 2004, she has carried 400,000 passengers on cruises to the Baltics. She is now being relocated to the US port of Boston, Massachussetts, where she will offer 7 night voyages to new England and Canada. She will also be cruising from Tampa, Florida operating 4 ,5 and 7 night Caribbean cruises.

To mark its departure, a ceremony was held on board the ship with Captain Stig Nilsen, Royal Caribbean's port operations manager Adam Sharp, and Harwich Mayor John Thurlow along with his wife Patricia, who is Mayoress.

Jewel of the Seas set sail on a 16-night repositioning voyage to Boston and will be makng a rare visit to the Island of Portland in Dorset, on Sunday.

Jewel of the Seas will be replaced with Brilliance of the Seas, which is also a Radiance class ship. Brilliance will arrive in Harwich next summer after her dry dock period in May. Royal Caribbean International's sister line, Celebrity Cruises will also base the 2,154 passenger Celebrity Infinity in Harwich.

Wärtsilä Hamworthy has signed a deal with the Meyer Werft to build hybrid scrubbers for Royal Caribbean's new Sunshine Class ships.

Wärtsilä Hamworthy is a leading marine scrubbing technology company and will provide a total of four hybrid scrubber systems for the two ships that are under construction in Germany.

The choice of scrubbers for Royal Caribbean's new Sunshine class vessels will enable the new ships to travel anywhere in the world, because the scrubbers will be compliant with the 2015 Emission Control Area (ECA) 0.1% sulfur limit, as well as the worldwide 0.5% limit from 2020 and the impending North American ECA, by removing sulfur emissions and harmful particulates from the vessel's exhaust.

Royal Caribbean and Meyer Werft chose this solution not just because it ensures universal compliance with sulfur limits, allowing maximum choice over voyage routes and destinations; it also allows significant flexibility in the operation of the scrubber itself. The hybrid approach allows switching between open-loop and closed-loop scrubbing. This means that at sea, scrubbing using only sea water can be enabled but while maneuvering or in port the system can be closed, re-circulating the water already within the scrubber.