Yet another giant cruise ship is heading to Los Angeles as competition heats up
Cruise fans in Southern California are about to have another major option for sailings to Mexico.
Royal Caribbean executives this week revealed that the line's giant, amenity-packed Ovation of the Seas would reposition to Los Angeles for Mexico cruises starting in May. It will become the largest Royal Caribbean ship to ever be based in the city.
Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley and Senior Vice President for Sales Vicki Freed made the announcement Tuesday during a preview event for the line's new Utopia of the Seas, as reported by several media outlets that were at the event, including Seatrade Cruise and Travel Weekly.
According to the reports, the executives said the 4,180-passenger vessel would join Royal Caribbean's 3,388-passenger Navigator of the Seas in sailing from Los Angeles. Navigator of the Seas also operates voyages to Mexico.
Bayley and Freed said Ovation of the Seas' new itineraries out of Los Angeles will range from three to six nights in length. As of late Thursday, the sailings were not yet posted on the Royal Caribbean website.
The deployment marks a major expansion for Royal Caribbean on the West Coast and is a last-minute switch for the vessel. Ovation of the Seas was originally scheduled to sail out of Tianjin, China, next summer on sailings aimed at the Chinese market.
Currently, Ovation of the Seas is sailing to Alaska out of Seattle and will soon reposition to Sydney for fall and winter sailings to ports in Australia and New Zealand. It was slated to move to Tianjin after those voyages.
Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean announced plans to move Quantum of the Seas, a ship from the same series as Ovation of the Seas, to Los Angeles in the fall of 2025 — it's still scheduled to begin sailing from Los Angeles in October 2025.
At 168,666 tons, Ovation of the Seas will be one of the biggest cruise ships from any cruise line to ever be deployed to Los Angeles.
Among vessels that have sailed out of Los Angeles, only Norwegian Cruise Line's 3,998-passenger Norwegian Encore is bigger — and only by a tad. Norwegian Encore measures 169,116 tons.
When measured by tonnage, two other Norwegian ships that sail from Los Angeles seasonally, Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy, are slightly smaller than Ovation of the Seas. They measure 168,028 tons and 167,725 tons, respectively.
Other major ships sailing regularly from Los Angeles — including Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Firenze and Carnival Panorama — are significantly smaller than Ovation of the Seas.
Related: The best Royal Caribbean ships for every type of traveler
Ovation of the Seas will be the first vessel from Royal Caribbean's popular Quantum Class of ships to sail year-round from Los Angeles.
Unveiled in 2014, the Quantum Class is known as one of Royal Caribbean's most innovative series of ships. In addition to a wide range of restaurants, bars and showrooms, the five ships in this class feature some of the most unusual attractions you'll find at sea, including skydiving simulators and bumper car pavilions.
Related: 35 tips and tricks that will make your Royal Caribbean cruise better
Royal Caribbean has operated Quantum Class ships out of Seattle during summers for sailings to Alaska, but a Quantum Class ship has never been based in California for sailings to Mexico.
Notably, Royal Caribbean's decision comes just three months after startup cruise brand Virgin Voyages announced that it planned its first Los Angeles sailings in 2025. The Virgin sailings will take place on the line's next new ship, the 2,770-passenger Brilliant Lady.
Cruise giant Carnival also recently added a new ship to the Los Angeles area. One of its newest ships, Carnival Firenze, began sailing from Los Angeles County's Port of Long Beach in April.
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