NEWSLETTER
Cruises continue to increase. In the last 20 years, more or less, there has been a massive change of cruises that are floating hotels that take you to places to be the destinations themselves.
Now, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Cine and, to a lesser extent, MSC cruises have built giant ships whose main stops are the private cruise -owned islands. That is partly because it seems to be what consumers want and partly because these large ships do not fit in each port.
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Even if a port can accommodate a mega ship, local stores and restaurants will be overwhelmed by more than 6,000 passengers.
What really makes a great cruise has changed a lot in a not very long period of time. In 2006, the freedom of Royal Caribbean's seas was the largest cruise in the world. That ship currently has a gross tonnage of 156,271 tons.
Actually, it was a little smaller in the launch, but it has undergone multiple improvements, including a recent Dydock that added a new casino not smoking. However, its size in the launch was sufficient at that time to be the largest cruise in the world.
The icon of Royal Caribbean's seas, the largest ship in the world, is approximately 100 larger tons. With 250,800 tons, the cruise line claimed that crown, one that has had for decades, but being the largest no longer seems a priority for the Royal Caribbean (and perhaps any of its rivals).
Royal Caribbean's seas star will not claim the title
While Icon of the Seas claimed the “largest cruise title in the world”, the ship in the icon line, Star of the Seas, will not present that statement. In fact, the cruise line says that the two ships will be exactly the same size.
That doesn't seem like an accident. It seems that Royal Caribbean has decided to get out of the game when it comes to claiming that title.
In fact, no cruise lines seems to want to take that mantle. MSC Cruises could have built its new US flagship, UU., America of the world, to take the crown of the “biggest ship”, but did not.
Clearly, Royal Caribbean could have made Star of the Seas a little larger than his brother ship, but I chose not to do it. Carnival president Cruise Line, Christine Duffy, did not play the idea that her new Cruise Lines ship class would become the largest in the world.
He asked that question and said specifically that he did not know during a media event on April 6 in the celebration of the Carnival.
It almost seems that the cruise industry has decided that the largest cruise title is one that may be withdrawn.
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What we know about the new Carnival class
Duffy shared very little information about the new class during the media event. She said she would house 8,000 passengers. That is more than the ability of the next star of Royal Caribbean's seas, which is identical to what is stated for Icon of the Seas.
The president of Carnival shared that the new class is called “AS” class, but that is not his official name.
Duffy shared a statement about Carnival's plans for the next five years.
“Looking towards the future, we have the opening of Celebration Key this July, followed by our expansion in Releleway, Half Moon Cay in 2026; the delivery of our fourth and fifth Excel ships in 2027 and 2028; and then the introduction of three ships in our new platform, Project Ace, starting in 2029, more improvements of fleets and investments in some of our existing destination,” he shared.
Carnival also shared a small statement on the project ACEs of the project.
“Looking later, the exclusive carnival ship platform, currently called ACE Project, includes three ships at 230,000 gross tons each built by farmhouse that will be delivered in 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively. With more than 3,000 invited stataraoms, the new ships will be the largest in the world of carnival corporations and can deliver more than the most of the guests. Total, “he shared.
That tonnage would not claim the title of “bigger cruise”, but that no longer seems to be something that no cruise line really wants.
(The Arena Group will win a commission if you reserve a cruise).
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