Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. - parent company of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises - has signed a memorandum of understanding with the STX France shipyard for three new ships. Should the order be finalized, one will be a fifth Oasis-class ship for Royal Caribbean and two will be third and fourth Edge-class ships for Celebrity.
The news follows the launch of Royal Caribbean's new Harmony of the Seas, the biggest cruise ship in the world at 227,000 tons and a capacity of 5,479 guests. A fourth Oasis-class ship was planned and is currently under construction at the shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France. Already the third is slightly larger than the first Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, and by the time the fifth comes along, it could very well be larger still. The fourth is planned for delivery in spring 2018, and the fifth is pending for spring 2021.
READ MORE: Royal Caribbean International Takes Delivery of the World's Largest Cruise Ship
"The response to the arrival of Harmony of the Seas is staggering, eliciting excitement from eager cruisers from markets on both sides of the Atlantic," said Richard D. Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International added, "The Oasis-class ships have delivered beyond expectations each time. Harmony of the Seas' warm reception is evidence that growing this class of ship will continue to drive exceptional performance for the brand."
Additionally, Celebrity Cruises now has a total of four Edge-class new-builds on its horizon - two for sure planned for fall 2018 and early 2020 and now another two potentially for fall 2021 and fall 2022. As of yet, few details have been released about these new ships beyond that they will be sized between the line's existing Millennium-class and Solstice-class, at 117,000 tons and 2,900 guests each. For comparison, its latest Celebrity Reflection measures in at 126,000 tons and a capacity of 3,030 guests.
READ MORE: Celebrity Plans Two New Cruise Ships
Regarding Celebrity, Fain said, "And Edge-class is one of the most highly anticipated new projects, following the high bar of Modern Luxury design set by its predecessor, the Solstice-class." Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises added, "Although our first Edge-class vessel is still over two years away from delivery, there has been a tremendous amount of interest around the new standard of style Edge-class will introduce. Solstice-class ushered in a new era of design for modern cruise ships, and Edge-class will not disappoint as the new generation of high style and design."
Finalization of the new ship orders is based on completed documentation and financing which is expected to occur within the quarter. "We are extremely pleased with the recent success of Harmony of the Seas and take great pride in our partnership with Royal Caribbean," said Laurent Castaing, Managing Director of STX France. "It is especially exciting to collaborate on such diverse projects from Oasis to Edge, both marvels in their own space."
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