Name: Royal Caribbean Ships By Age: Newest to Oldest (2023)
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Royal Caribbean Ships By Age: Newest to Oldest (2023)

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We list all the Royal Caribbean ships by age, from newest to oldest, including all the classes, and what new ships are joining the fleet.Affiliate DisclaimerRoyal Caribbean is a&nbsp;cruise line&nbsp;frequently lauded for offering cruisers the biggest and best&nbsp;cruise ships&nbsp;on the high seas. Throughout the last few decades, the cruise line has frequently unveiled ships that have earned the “biggest in the world” title, and unveiled a bevy of new&nbsp;onboard features that other&nbsp;cruise lines&nbsp;quickly replicated.That said, not all&nbsp;Royal Caribbean cruise&nbsp;ships are the same. Looking through the many (many)&nbsp;cruise ships&nbsp;in the Royal Caribbean family is like looking back in time — in a good way.While the&nbsp;cruise line’s newest ships are flashy, colorful resorts on the waves, the older ships are still charming, filled with fun, more intimate and not as overwhelmingly huge.So how do you know which is right for your upcoming&nbsp;cruise? It all starts with checking out our list of&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ships&nbsp;by age.Royal Caribbean’s fleet&nbsp;includes more than two dozen ships and seems to be growing every time you turn around.&nbsp;Currently, Royal Caribbean’s oldest ship,&nbsp;Grandeur of the Seas, is more than 25 years old, while the newest ship,&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas, debuted in early 2022 (though&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas&nbsp;will soon be overtaken by the two ships coming up in 2024,&nbsp;Icon of the Seas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Utopia of the Seas).Ships are spread out over eight classes, including, oldest to newest:The largest class is the&nbsp;Oasis Class, with six ships.&nbsp;However, while Royal Caribbean’s oldest ship is quite the adult by this point, Royal Caribbean’s history stretches back to the 1970s. The line debuted its very first ship in 1970,&nbsp;Song of Norway, as one of the world’s first purpose-built&nbsp;cruise ships.This ship and a handful of its predecessors have been either retired or sold off, meaning that the current oldest&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship&nbsp;(which is both still in service and still owned by Royal Caribbean) is&nbsp;Grandeur of the Seas, built in 1996.&nbsp;Currently (late 2023), the newest&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship&nbsp;is&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas, which debuted in early 2022. Part of the&nbsp;Oasis class,&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas&nbsp;offers some of the biggest and best&nbsp;amenities,&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;venues and services that you’ll find aboard a&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship.However, all that will change in 2024, when two new ships join the family. The highly anticipated&nbsp;Icon of the Seas&nbsp;leads the new Icon class starting in January, with eight gorgeous neighborhoods stretched across the ship; six record-breaking waterslides; an impressive number of restaurants and bars; and seven pools.&nbsp;Icon of the Seas&nbsp;will be the&nbsp;largest cruise ship&nbsp;in the world when it debuts.&nbsp;After Icon, though, will come&nbsp;Utopia of the Seas, later in 2024, as the sixth and final&nbsp;Oasis-class ship. While not as big and impressive as&nbsp;Icon of the Seas,&nbsp;Utopia of the Seas&nbsp;is certainly nothing to scoff at and will offer Royal Caribbean’s best of the&nbsp;Oasis class.Grandeur of the Seas&nbsp;is Royal Caribbean’s oldest ship still in operation. This ship debuted in 1996 and has since been refurbished, in 2012.Constructed in Turku, Finland, it’s relatively small compared to Royal Caribbean’s newest ships, at 73,817 gross tons and 12 total decks, for a maximum&nbsp;guest&nbsp;capacity of 2,440 people.The ship offers six dining options, a casino, theater, handful of&nbsp;lounges, two pools, solarium, fitness center and rock-climbing wall, among other features.&nbsp;Debuting as the world’s&nbsp;largest cruise ship&nbsp;(at least until Royal Caribbean unveils the next world’s&nbsp;largest cruise ship&nbsp;in 2024),&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas&nbsp;is the fifth&nbsp;Oasis-class ship, to be followed by the sixth&nbsp;Oasis-class ship&nbsp;in 2024 (Utopia of the Seas).Built by Chantiers De L’Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France,&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas&nbsp;boasts a suite neighborhood, the&nbsp;cruise line’s Ultimate Family Suite, and a range of beloved and new dining venues.&nbsp;Built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany,&nbsp;Odyssey of the Seas&nbsp;is still relatively new and, as such, features some of the newer&nbsp;amenities&nbsp;and venues that the&nbsp;cruise line&nbsp;has started adding to its ships. You’ll find indoor skydiving, an indoor sports area called the SeaPlex and a revamped pool deck experience.&nbsp;Sister ship to&nbsp;Odyssey of the Seas&nbsp;and the first Quantum Ultra-class ship,&nbsp;Spectrum of the Seas&nbsp;features many of the same venues,&nbsp;amenities&nbsp;and&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;options, like the iFly skydiving simulator,&nbsp;North Star&nbsp;observation capsule and Seaplex&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;complex. This ship primarily caters to the Asian&nbsp;cruising&nbsp;market.The last&nbsp;Oasis-class ship&nbsp;to debut before&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas&nbsp;earlier in 2023,&nbsp;Symphony of the Seas&nbsp;is like a fairly downgraded version of Wonder. This ship has a lot to love … just not quite as much as her younger sister.&nbsp;There are seven on-board neighborhoods; the Ultimate Family Suite; a 10-story slide known as The Ultimate Abyss; and a laser tag arena.&nbsp;Built at STX France in St. Nazaire, France, Harmony of the Seas offers much of the same special features as sister ship&nbsp;Symphony of the Seas. There’s the same trio of waterslides known as The Perfect Storm, the 10-story Ultimate Abyss dry slide and seven on-board neighborhoods.&nbsp;The year 2016 was a big one for Royal Caribbean, as the&nbsp;cruise line&nbsp;debuted two&nbsp;cruise ships&nbsp;in just as many months. Of course,&nbsp;Ovation of the Seas&nbsp;is definitely smaller than&nbsp;Harmony of the Seas, but&nbsp;Ovation&nbsp;still offers plenty for cruisers to enjoy across its 16 decks.At the same size and passenger capacity of sister ships&nbsp;Ovation of the Seas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Quantum of the Seas,&nbsp;Anthem of the Seas, built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, launched into service in Southampton, England. After sailing&nbsp;Europe&nbsp;for the ship’s maiden voyage,&nbsp;Anthem of the Seas&nbsp;has gone on to serve&nbsp;cruise&nbsp;itineraries throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean.&nbsp;Quantum of the Seas&nbsp;kicked off the&nbsp;Quantum class&nbsp;in high style. Built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, the ship is notable for being the first&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship&nbsp;to offer first-at-sea activities, including the iFly skydiving activity, the&nbsp;North Star&nbsp;observation pod and the Bionic Bar. These&nbsp;amenities&nbsp;would go on to be added to future&nbsp;Quantum-class ships&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;This&nbsp;Oasis-class ship&nbsp;is bigger than all of the&nbsp;Quantum-class ships&nbsp;that directly followed it, and offers a large selection of highlight features, including the aquatheater Royal Caribbean has featured on a range of its ships, the Central Park zone and a&nbsp;zip line.&nbsp;Constructed in Turku, Finland, at STX&nbsp;Europe, the ship is getting up there in age and was due for some refurbishments just a few years ago, but the Covid-19 pandemic put a pause on those plans.&nbsp;The lead ship for the&nbsp;Oasis class,&nbsp;Oasis of the Seas&nbsp;was met with much fanfare. While, sure, it didn’t have as many amazing new features as the later&nbsp;Quantum of the Seas&nbsp;and the overall&nbsp;Quantum class,&nbsp;Oasis of the Seas&nbsp;still brought new offerings and was, for a time, the largest and the longest&nbsp;cruise ship&nbsp;in the world.&nbsp;This ship underwent renovations in 2019 to include the tallest slide at sea, the first barbecue restaurant for Royal Caribbean, and some of the line’s Ultimate Panoramic suites.&nbsp;Debuted in 2008 after being built in Turku, Finland, and most recently refurbished in 2013 and then 2018,&nbsp;Independence of the Seas&nbsp;was the last of Royal Caribbean’s&nbsp;Freedom class.Sailing short&nbsp;cruises&nbsp;around the Caribbean, the ship offers classic&nbsp;cruising&nbsp;experiences in a smaller, lower-key setting. Its 2018 refurbishments brought waterslides and other features.&nbsp;One of three&nbsp;Freedom-class&nbsp;ships,&nbsp;Liberty of the Seas&nbsp;is technically the same size as sister ship&nbsp;Independence of the Seas, but can accommodate more&nbsp;guests.In 2016, the ship was majorly overhauled to receive new dining and&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;options, water slides, a water park, and more.&nbsp;The very first&nbsp;Freedom-class&nbsp;ship,&nbsp;Freedom of the Seas&nbsp;is slightly larger than its two following sister ships.Unlike some ships that had their renovations pushed back or delayed indefinitely in 2020,&nbsp;Freedom of the Seas&nbsp;managed to squeeze hers in, with amplifications that year bringing new life to the pool decks, adding waterslides, and revamping the restaurant and bar options. The ship was built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Turku, Finland.At less than half the size of some of Royal Caribbean’s newest ships,&nbsp;Jewel of the Seas&nbsp;feels positively intimate. A&nbsp;cruise&nbsp;on this ship, built at Meyer Werft Yard in Papenberg, Germany, means only sharing your space at sea with a few thousand other cruisers.&nbsp;The ship was the last&nbsp;Royal Caribbean vessel&nbsp;to include a multi-story atrium (as opposed to a promenade) and she received renovations in 2016. Since launch, the ship has served&nbsp;cruise&nbsp;routes throughout the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Persian Gulf.&nbsp;One of five Royal Caribbean&nbsp;Voyager-class&nbsp;vessels,&nbsp;Mariner of the Seas&nbsp;isn’t as small as the&nbsp;Radiance-class&nbsp;ships, but still manages to stay on the small side.The ship, which was built in Turku, Finland, for a cost of $650 million, was renovated last in 2018 to add new&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;and dining features.With a slightly smaller&nbsp;guest&nbsp;capacity than later sister ship&nbsp;Jewel of the Seas,&nbsp;Serenade of the Seas&nbsp;still offers much of the same experiences.The ship, built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, received note as the first&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship&nbsp;to sail to&nbsp;Alaska, as well as to offer the longest&nbsp;cruising&nbsp;itinerary ever, at 274 days spent traveling the entire globe during a single itinerary.&nbsp;Built in Turku, Finland,&nbsp;Navigator of the Seas&nbsp;has been updated multiple times since 2002. In 2014, Royal Caribbean added extra&nbsp;cabins&nbsp;to the ship, as well as its trademark surfing simulator and outdoor movie screen.In 2019, further changes were made, to add waterslides and new dining options, among other new features.Another smaller&nbsp;Radiance-class&nbsp;ship,&nbsp;Brilliance of the Seas&nbsp;was last renovated in 2013, so it still features some of the classic Royal Caribbean&nbsp;amenities&nbsp;and&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;options, even if it might not have all of the latest and greatest, newest features.There’s still a rock-climbing wall, solarium, mini golf course and a handful of dining and drinking options.&nbsp;Built in Turku, Finland,&nbsp;Adventure of the Seas&nbsp;may not be as updated as some of the ships that were originally launched around the same time, but the ship does still feature some of cruisers’ favorite Royal Caribbean&nbsp;amenities.There’s the&nbsp;rock climbing&nbsp;wall, Flowrider surfing simulator, Perfect Storm water slides and more.The very first&nbsp;Radiance-class&nbsp;ship,&nbsp;Radiance of the Seas&nbsp;was built at Meyer Werft Yard in Papenburg, Germany. The ship made waves when it debuted, as the ship containing the most glass in its construction out of any other&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ships, as well as the very first ship in the industry to feature gyroscopically-stabilized pool tables.&nbsp;Built in Turku, Finland, this ship received updates fairly recently, in 2023, when Royal Caribbean added some waterslides. When Explorer of the Seas first debuted, it contained a notable oceanographic laboratory used by university researchers, though that lab has since been retired.&nbsp;The first&nbsp;Voyager-class&nbsp;vessel for Royal Caribbean,&nbsp;Voyager of the Seas&nbsp;launched in — believe it or not — the last century. This ship was ground-breaking when it debuted, with the first Royal Caribbean promenade, the first ice skating rink and the first&nbsp;rock climbing&nbsp;wall.As so many Royal Caribbean cruise ships have been, the ship was the largest in the world when it first set sail.&nbsp;Vision of the Seas&nbsp;is the newest of Royal Caribbean’s oldest class of&nbsp;cruise ships&nbsp;still in operation. It was built in St. Nazaire, France. The ship has been refitted as recently as 2013 to feature certain Royal Caribbean features that came standard on later ships, such as a rock-climbing wall.This ship, built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, has the unique distinction of having been stretched — Enchantment of the Seas was literally lengthened by 73 feet in 2005, with a new midsection inserted at a shipyard in The Netherlands.&nbsp;Most recently, the ship was refitted in 2013, and now includes features such as a rock-climbing wall, splash deck, outdoor theater screen and more.Debuting just a few months before sister ship&nbsp;Enchantment of the Seas,&nbsp;Rhapsody of the Seas&nbsp;was built at Chantiers de L’Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France.The ship was refurbished in 2012 to add more&nbsp;cabins, a new outdoor movie screen and new dining options; other refurbishments occurred in 2016 and 2019, though the included changes were relatively minor.The oldest of Royal Caribbean’s ships still in operation,&nbsp;Grandeur of the Seas&nbsp;was originally going to be transferred to Pullmantur&nbsp;Cruises&nbsp;in 2021, though these plans were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;The ship received refurbishments in 2012 and features many of the same venues,&nbsp;amenities&nbsp;and restaurants that you’ll spot on other&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ships&nbsp;built throughout the 1990s and 2000s.&nbsp;When deciding between&nbsp;cruising&nbsp;on a newer or older&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship, there are a few big differences that you’ll want to consider.&nbsp;Newer ships are significantly larger than older ships. This is both good and bad. You’ll enjoy far more&nbsp;entertainment, dining and stateroom options, but you’ll also deal with more crowds and just have to navigate your way around a much larger ship, which could prove annoying for some.Older ships, though, are less updated and less tech-savvy. While new ships feature laser tag arenas and VR experiences, older ships rely on&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;like pools and rock-climbing walls.Read Also: Are Royal Caribbean Cruises All Inclusive?Likewise, staterooms are far less luxurious on older ships than they are on the newer ships, and you get more stateroom and suite options overall on newer ships than you do on the older ships.&nbsp;These are all considerations to take into account before you book your&nbsp;Royal Caribbean cruise.Currently (late 2023), the newest&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship&nbsp;is&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas, which debuted in early 2022. Part of the&nbsp;Oasis class,&nbsp;Wonder of the Seas&nbsp;offers some of the biggest and best&nbsp;amenities,&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;venues and services that you’ll find aboard a&nbsp;Royal Caribbean ship.Grandeur of the Seas&nbsp;is Royal Caribbean’s oldest ship still in operation. This ship debuted in 1996 and has since been refurbished, in 2012. Built in Turku, Finland, it’s relatively small compared to Royal Caribbean’s newest ships, at 73,817 GT and 12 total decks, for a maximum&nbsp;guest&nbsp;capacity of 2,440 people.The newest Royal Caribbean ship class is the Icon Class. The highly anticipated Icon of the Seas leads the new Icon class starting in January 2024. Icon of the Seas will be the largest cruise ship in the world when it debuts.Free expert cruise tips and news from Cruise Hive! We'll send you the latest cruise updates daily to your inbox.View All CruisesPowered by Cruiseline.comCruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines. We make sure cruisers are fully prepared for their cruise vacation with tips on ships and ports.Millions of travelers rely on Cruise Hive in the United States, Europe, Australia, and around the world.CRUISE HIVE LTD © 2008-2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.Copy

We list all the Royal Caribbean ships by age, from newest to oldest, including all the classes, and what new ships are joining the fleet.Affiliate DisclaimerRoyal Caribbean is a&nbsp;cruise line&nbsp;frequently lauded for offering cruisers the biggest and best&nbsp;cruise ships&nbsp;on the high seas. Throughout the last few decades, the cruise line has frequently unveiled ships that have earned the “biggest in the world” title, and unveiled a bevy of new&nbsp;onboard features that other&nbsp;cruise lines&nbsp;quickly replicated.That said, not all&nbsp;Royal Caribbean cruise&nbsp;ships are...

Royal Caribbean Ships By Age: Newest to Oldest (2023)

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