World’s largest cruise ship, Wonder of the Seas, officially joins Royal Caribbean fleet
Wonder of the Seas, a highly anticipated cruise ship that can carry close to 7,000 passengers plus 2,300 crew, has officially joined the Royal Caribbean fleet. It's the fifth ship in the line's Oasis Class, and it usurps sister ship, Symphony of the Seas, for the title of world's largest ship. At 236,857 tons, the Wonder is nearly 4% bigger than the Symphony.
Royal Caribbean took delivery of the ship in Marseille, France, with dignitaries from the shipyard, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, in attendance for a traditional flag-changing ceremony.
Construction of the massive ship involved overcoming pandemic-related challenges.
"Taking delivery of Wonder of the Seas is the culmination of 30 months of ingenuity and partnership across more than 2,000 committed crew members and workers who are among the best at what they do," said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. He called the new ship "the most innovative" in the fleet.
"Our teams have worked under difficult conditions but in a very united way to finally make major changes that enhanced the ship performance," said Laurent Castaing, general manager, Chantiers de l'Atlantique. "Wonder is really an outstanding new ship."
Related: The best destinations you can visit on a Royal Caribbean cruise
Wonder of the Seas will officially debut in Fort Lauderdale on March 4, and conduct a series of seven-night Caribbean cruises before relocating to the Mediterranean in May. In Europe, the ship will sail from Barcelona and Rome. The Wonder returns to Florida in November for cruises from Port Canaveral.
Like Royal Caribbean's other four Oasis-class ships, Wonder of the Seas is a floating city with "neighborhoods" – such as a boardwalk area with a carousel and high-diving show and the Central Park area with 20,000 real plants. The new ship adds an eighth neighborhood reserved for big-spending suite guests.
Wonder of the Seas was originally supposed to debut in Asia and sail from Shanghai. With cruise travel in China shut down due to COVID-19, Royal Caribbean changed plans and announced the switch to the Caribbean and Mediterranean earlier this year.
Related: Royal Caribbean just announced the most epic around-the-world cruise ever
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