Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the largest cruise line by revenue and second largest by passengers counts. In 2018, Royal Caribbean International controlled 19.2% of the worldwide cruise market by passengers and 14.0% by revenue.[1] It operates the five largest passenger ships in the world. As of January 2022, the line operates twenty-six ships and has four additional ships on order.

History

Royal Caribbean's first ship, Song of Norway

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was founded in 1968 by three Norwegian shipping companies: Anders Wilhelmsen & Company, I.M. Skaugen & Company, and Gotaas Larsen. The newly created line put its first ship, Song of Norway, into service two years later. A year later, the line added Nordic Prince to the fleet and in 1972 it added Sun Viking. In 1978, Song of Norway became Royal Caribbean's first passenger ship to be lengthened. This was accomplished via the insertion of an 85-foot (26 m) section to the vessel's severed center. Following the success of this work, Nordic Prince was also stretched in 1980. During the stretching of both ships, their sterns were modified to create more open space, however Sun Viking was neither stretched nor modified. In 1982, Royal Caribbean launched Song of America, over twice the size of Sun Viking and at the time the third largest passenger vessel afloat (after Norway and Queen Elizabeth 2).[citation needed]

Royal Caribbean's third ship, Sun Viking

In 1986, Royal Caribbean leased a coastal property in Labadie, Haiti, to be used as a private destination for its guests, renamed as Labadee.[2] After a corporate restructuring in 1988, the line launched Sovereign of the Seas, the largest passenger vessel afloat at the time.[3] That same year, Royal Caribbean also merged with Admiral Cruises.[4] Two years later in 1990, Nordic Empress and Viking Serenade entered service and Royal Caribbean purchased a second private destination, Little Stirrup Cay, an island in the Bahamas, which they branded as CocoCay.[4]

Majesty of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas in Nassau, Bahamas

The second and third Sovereign-class cruise ships Monarch of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas were delivered in 1991 and 1992 respectively.

Royal Caribbean went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993. Over the next two years, the company experienced rapid growth, and it built a new corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, and replaced the Nordic Prince with a new vessel, the Legend of the Seas.[citation needed]

Following these events, two new Vision-class vessels entered service, Splendour of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas. In 1996, the company contracted with Finland's Aker Finnyards for the construction of 130,000-ton vessels and, in 1997, the line's oldest ship, Song of Norway, was sold and two new Vision-class ships entered service, Rhapsody of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas.[citation needed]

Reorganisation and renaming

In 1997, it merged with the Greek cruise line Celebrity Cruises and changed its name from Royal Caribbean Cruise Line to Royal Caribbean International. At the same time, Royal Caribbean Group was formed as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to serve as a holding company that owned both Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. The next year, the last of the company's older vessels, Song of America and Sun Viking, were retired. In 1998, Vision of the Seas came into service, the last of the Vision-class ships.[citation needed]

In 1999, Voyager of the Seas, the line's newest and world's largest cruise ship entered service with much attention from the news media. Two years later, the line took delivery of a second Voyager-class ship, Explorer of the Seas, and the first of a new Radiance class of more environmentally friendly[clarification needed] cruise liners, Radiance of the Seas.[citation needed]

In 2000, Royal Caribbean operated a series of land-and-sea-based "cruise tours" in Alaska, featuring glass-domed train cars to scenic destinations within the state and Canada. Over the next two years, they also introduced cruise tours to destinations throughout Europe.[5]

The Voyager-class Navigator of the Seas and the Radiance-class Brilliance of the Seas were put into service in 2002. Mariner of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas, another pair of Voyager and Radiance-class ships, were introduced the next year, and rock-climbing walls were made a feature of every Royal Caribbean ship that year. A fourth Radiance-class ship, Jewel of the Seas, followed in 2004, and the line's Nordic Empress was reconditioned and re-christened as Empress of the Seas, which was later sold to Pullmantur Cruises in 2008. In 2005, Enchantment of the Seas underwent a massive renovation including enlarging the ship with a 74-foot (23 m) midsection.[citation needed]

Construction commenced on Freedom of the Seas, the line's newest ship, at Aker Finnyards in 2005, and the vessel launched the next year as the largest passenger vessel in the world. Freedom of the Seas's sister ship, Liberty of the Seas, was launched in 2007, and Independence of the Seas was delivered in 2008.[citation needed]

An even larger class, the Oasis class, featuring Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, was launched in 2009 and 2010, guaranteeing Royal Caribbean the ship size lead for years to come. In December 2012, Royal Caribbean announced that they had ordered a third Oasis-class cruise ship from STX France, which would be larger than the previous ships in the class.[6] In March 2014, Royal Caribbean announced that they had ordered a fourth Oasis-Class ship from STX France.[7]

In February 2013, Royal Caribbean announced the first two ships of their newest Quantum class, Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, which were being built at the Meyer Werft shipyard.[8][9][10] In May of that year, Royal Caribbean announced that they had signed a contract for a third Quantum-class ship for delivery in mid-2016.[11]

In September 2014, Royal Caribbean announced that the third Quantum-class ship would be named Ovation of the Seas,[12] and in February 2015 they announced that the third Oasis-class ship would be named Harmony of the Seas.[13]

In March 2015, Royal Caribbean announced that they had agreed to sell Splendour of the Seas to TUI Cruises in the second quarter of 2016.[14]

In June 2016, Royal Caribbean announced that they had agreed to sell Legend of the Seas to TUI Cruises in the second quarter of 2017.[15]

The company lobbies in various jurisdictions in which it operates. In the United States of America, lobbying expenditure records are held by the Senate Office of Public Records.[16] In South Australia, the company is represented by lobbying company Richardson Coutts Pty Ltd.[17]

In 2017, Royal Caribbean agreed to use Port Everglades as a preferred berth for its Oasis class ships.[18] The new agreement extended the past contract with Port Everglades until 2026, contingent upon a $100 million remodeling of Cruise Terminal 25, and approved by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners.[18]

On 15 March 2018, Royal Caribbean announced that they will conduct a huge renovation for their private island, Coco Cay, which is halfway done with parts opening in December 2018 and early to late 2019 with its first opening in May 2019 and its official opening with everything completed by November or December 2019.[citation needed]

In December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Caribbean suspended sailings across its fleet. It also sold Empress of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas,[19][20] with the former going to Cordelia Cruises.[21] As of 12 January 2021, its first and only ship to resume sailing was Quantum of the Seas, which began sailing from Singapore in December 2020 under health and safety regulations formulated by the Singapore government.[22]

On 29 June 2021, Royal Caribbean International's Ovation of the Seas became the first cruise ship to return to the Port of Seattle since the COVID-19 Pandemic began.[23]

Partnerships/capabilities

In August 2022, the company announced that it would partner with SpaceX to use its Starlink technology across all its ships, in an effort to improve historically weak internet connections. This comes on the heels of the Federal Communications Commission authorizing SpaceX to provide its services to boats, planes, and trucks.[24]

Fleet

Current fleet

Since Sovereign of the Seas entered service in 1987, all subsequent Royal Caribbean ships have names ending with the phrase "of the Seas".

Vision class

Main article: Vision-class cruise ship

The Vision class consists of three pairs of sister ships. Legend and Splendour, built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France have a gross tonnage of approximately 70,000. Grandeur and Enchantment were built at Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Helsinki, Finland and had an original tonnage of approximately 73,000 GT. The final pair, Rhapsody and Vision were also built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, and have a tonnage of 78,000 GT. In 2005, a 74-foot (23 m) midsection was added to Enchantment of the Seas, bringing its tonnage to over 80,000 GT. All ships of this class feature over 2 acres (8,100 m2) of glass. Royal Caribbean sold both Splendour of the Seas and Legend of the Seas to Marella Cruises. Splendour of the Seas last sailed for Royal Caribbean on 4 April 2016, and the final Legend of the Seas sailing for Royal Caribbean left port on 13 March 2017.[25][26] In October 2019, Royal Caribbean announced a plan to transfer Grandeur of the Seas to Pullmantur Cruises after its last scheduled sailing on 21 March 2021.[27] However, following Pullmantur's filing for bankruptcy, Royal Caribbean later announced in August 2020 that Grandeur would remain in Royal Caribbean's fleet.[28]

Ship Year

built Gross

tonnage Berths