Symphony of the Seas

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Symphony of the Seas
SymphonyOfTheSeas (cropped) 02.jpg
Symphony of the Seas in Saint Nazaire
History
Civil Ensign of the Bahamas.svg Bahamas
NameSymphony of the Seas
Owner Royal Caribbean Group
Operator House Flag of Royal Caribbean International.svg Royal Caribbean International
Port of registry Nassau, Civil Ensign of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas
Route Caribbean
Ordered9 May 2014 [1]
Builder Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France
CostUS$1.35 billion (2016)
Yard numberB34 [2]
Laid down29 October 2015 [2] [3]
Launched9 June 2017 (float-out) [4]
Sponsored by Carlos, Alexa, and Ocean PenaVega
Completed23 March 2018 [2]
Acquired23 March 2018 [5]
Maiden voyage7 April 2018 [6]
In service2018–present [5]
Homeport PortMiami
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and type Oasis-class cruise ship
Tonnage
Length361.8 m (1,187 ft 0 in) [2]
Beam
  • 47.448 m (155 ft 8.0 in) waterline [2]
  • 66 m (215.5 ft) max beam [6]
Height72.5 m (238 ft) [7]
Draught9.322 m (30 ft 7.0 in) [2]
Decks18 [6]
Installed power
  • 3 × 14.4 MW (19,300 hp) Wärtsilä 12V46D
  • 3 × 19.2 MW (25,700 hp) Wärtsilä 16V46D
Propulsion
Speed22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) cruising [6]
Capacity
  • 5,518 passengers at double occupancy [6]
  • 6,680 passengers maximum [6]
Crew2,200 [6]
NotesWorld's largest cruise ship from March 2018–January 2022

Symphony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. [8] She was built in 2018 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, [9] the fourth in Royal Caribbean's Oasis class of cruise ships. [10]

Contents

At 228,081  GT, she was the largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage when built, surpassing her sister ship Harmony of the Seas, also owned by Royal Caribbean International, and surpassed by her sister ship Wonder of the Seas in 2022. [11]

Description and design

Symphony of the Seas at Costa Maya, Mexico Symphony of the Seas bow.jpg
Symphony of the Seas at Costa Maya, Mexico

Symphony of the Seas measures 361.011 metres (1,184 ft 5.0 in) in length and has a gross tonnage of 228,081 across 18 decks. [2] She can accommodate 5,518 passengers at double occupancy up to a maximum capacity of 6,680 passengers, as well as a 2,200-person crew. [6] There are 16 decks for guest use, 22 restaurants, 4 pools and 2,759 cabins. [12]

Symphony of the Seas is about 30 metres (98 ft) longer than the largest military ships ever built, the U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. [13]

Facilities include a children's water park, a full-size basketball court, an ice-skating rink, a zip line that is 10 decks high, a 1,400-seat theater, an outdoor aquatic theater with Olympic-height platforms, and two 43-foot (13 m) rock-climbing walls. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] There is also a park containing over 20,000 tropical plants. [12]

Symphony of the Seas is powered onboard by six marine-diesel sets composed of three 16-cylinder Wärtsilä 16V46D common rail engines and three 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 12V46D engines. [19]

The energy-efficient design of Symphony of the Seas requires less shipboard power generation, with 85 MW versus the 100 MW normally found on Oasis-class ships. [20] One of the key design features is the use of only LED or fluorescent lights in order to avoid the heat generation from incandescent bulbs, thereby reducing the load on air conditioning systems. [20] Additional energy efficiency is accomplished by using a 2 MW steam turbine to recover waste heat from the engines and converting it into energy to power a portion of the onboard hotel load. [21]

For propulsion, Symphony of the Seas uses three 20 MW azipod main engines, which are electric thrusters. These engines are mounted under the stern of the ship and they each drive 6.1-metre (20 ft)-wide rotatable propellers. In addition to the three main engines, there are four bow thrusters used for docking, each with 5.5 MW of power or 7,380 horsepower. [19]

Among the Oasis-class ships, Symphony of the Seas uses 25% less fuel due to design changes. One of these is the implementation of a new system that releases tiny air bubbles under the hull to enable the vessel to glide more smoothly through the water. [22] The air layer also reduces excitation from the propellers, which cuts noise and vibration levels in the aft part of the ship. [21]

Construction and career

On 29 October 2015, the vessel's keel was laid by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. [3] Symphony of the Seas floated out on 9 June 2017. [23] Actors Alexa Vega and Carlos Pena Jr., and their 23-month-old son Ocean were chosen as the "Godfamily" of the ship, marking the first time in the industry that a family was a ship sponsor. [24] The christening ceremony took place in Miami in November 2018. [25]

Symphony of the Seas in Saint-Nazaire after her completion SymphonyOfTheSeas (cropped) 02.jpg
Symphony of the Seas in Saint-Nazaire after her completion

From 15 to 18 February 2018, the cruise ship underwent sea trials [26] and was formally turned over to Royal Caribbean International on 23 March. [7] On 24 March, the ship left Saint-Nazaire for Málaga [27] under the command of Rob Hempstead, arriving on 27 March, [28] [29] and arrived at the vessel's first homeport of Barcelona, Spain on 29 March. [29]

Symphony of the Seas in Naples, Italy Symphony of the Seas.jpg
Symphony of the Seas in Naples, Italy

On 31 March 2018, Symphony of the Seas offered her first passenger cruise [5] and began her maiden voyage on 7 April for a week-long trip through the Mediterranean. [30] [31]

During her first season, Symphony of the Seas continued to sail on seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona. She re-positioned on 28 October and arrived on 9 November at her new home port at the Royal Caribbean terminal at PortMiami in Florida, United States to provide cruises of the Caribbean. [32] [33]

In January 2019, while the ship was docked in Nassau, Bahamas, a guest jumped overboard as part of a stunt and survived. [34] [35] He and his friends were turned over to law enforcement but were not charged, and they were required to return home at their own expense. [36] Subsequently, Royal Caribbean announced that it would permanently ban the guests from sailing on any of its ships.

In August 2019, an Australian passenger died after going overboard during a seven-day cruise of the Caribbean. His body was recovered shortly afterwards by the ship's officials. [37] [38]

During the COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships, Royal Caribbean suspended all services across most of its fleet, including Symphony of the Seas. [39] [40] A 27-year old crew member from the housekeeping department was medically evacuated in March 2020 and subsequently died from COVID-19 in April 2020. [41] [42] The family later sued Royal Caribbean for wrongful death. [41]

In 2020, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom aired a behind-the-scenes show featuring Symphony of the Seas called Billion Pound Cruise. [43] The three-part series was filmed at the end of 2019 and covers the on-board experiences. [44] [45]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Caribbean International</span> Norwegian–American cruise line

Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSC Cruises</span> Cruise line registered in Switzerland

MSC Cruises is a Swiss-Italian global cruise line based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1988 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the world's largest privately held cruise company, employing about 23,500 people worldwide and with offices in 45 countries as of 2017, MSC Cruises is the third-largest cruise company in the world, after Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Group, with a 10.2% share of all passengers carried in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chantiers de l'Atlantique</span> French shipyard

Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and the deep waters of the Atlantic, which make the sailing of large ships in and out of the shipyards easy.

<i>Oasis</i>-class cruise ship Class of Royal Caribbean International cruise ships

The Oasis class is a class of seven Royal Caribbean International cruise ships. The first two ships in the class, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, were delivered respectively in 2009 and 2010 by STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland. A third Oasis-class vessel, Harmony of the Seas, was delivered in 2016 built by STX France. A fourth vessel, Symphony of the Seas, was completed in March 2018. As of March 2022, the fifth Oasis-class ship, Wonder of the Seas, was the largest cruise ship in the world. A sixth ship, Utopia of the Seas, slightly larger than the previous one, followed in July 2024, with a seventh to follow in 2028.

Vision-class cruise ship Cruise ships, built 1995–1998

The Vision class is a group of six cruise ships built by Royal Caribbean International, and operated by themselves and Marella Cruises. Although called a class by Royal Caribbean, the Vision-class ships were built as three pairs of sister ships, each pair differing from the others in size and design. Unlike other Royal Caribbean classes, the Vision class is not named for the first ship built; Vision of the Seas was the last ship in the class to be built. Royal Caribbean had been promoting "Project Vision" for some time before ordering the first two ships in the class in 1992, but Vision of the Seas was not ordered until 1994.

<i>Sovereign</i>-class cruise ship Class of Royal Caribbean cruise ships

The Sovereign class is Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd's third generation of cruise ship, formerly operated by Royal Caribbean International

STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.

<i>Norwegian Epic</i> Cruise ship

Norwegian Epic is a cruise ship of the Norwegian Cruise Line built under NCL's F3 Project by the STX Europe Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. When built she was the third largest cruise ship in the world.

<i>Oasis of the Seas</i> Cruise ship; first of the Oasis class

Oasis of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the first of her class, the Oasis class, whose ships were the largest passenger ships in the world, until surpassed in 2023 by the Icon class. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and delivered to Royal Caribbean in October 2009. At the time of construction, Oasis of the Seas set a new capacity record of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The first of her class, she was joined by sister ships Allure of the Seas in December 2010, Harmony of the Seas in May 2016, Symphony of the Seas in April 2018, and Wonder of the Seas in March 2022, as well as Utopia of the Seas in July 2024. As of November 2024, Oasis of the Seas conducts cruises in the Caribbean from her home port of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

<i>Allure of the Seas</i> Oasis-class cruise ship

Allure of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. As of 2018, the Oasis class ships were the largest passenger vessels ever in service, and Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than her sister ship Oasis of the Seas, though both were built to the same specifications. Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard, Turku, Finland, in February 2008. She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister. The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.

MS <i>Insignia</i>

MS Insignia is the lead ship of the R class of cruise ships built for Renaissance Cruises. She is now owned by Oceania Cruises as part of its Regatta class of ships, but recently sailed for Hapag-Lloyd as the Columbus 2. She was built in 1998 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France for Renaissance Cruises as MS R One. On 11 December 2014, three crew members died in a fire that broke out in the engine room when the ship was docked at Saint Lucia.

<i>Harmony of the Seas</i> Oasis-class Royal Caribbean International cruise ship

Harmony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship built by STX France at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, for Royal Caribbean International. With a gross tonnage of 226,963 GT, she is the fourth largest passenger ship in the world, larger than her older sisters Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, but surpassed by her newer sisters Symphony of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas.

<i>MSC Meraviglia</i> Cruise ship operated by MSC Cruises

MSC Meraviglia is a cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises, built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, by STX France. MSC Meraviglia is the lead ship of MSC's new "Vista Project" vessels, the Meraviglia class, with MSC Bellissima following in 2019. Each vessel has a passenger capacity of 4,500. When it entered service in June 2017, it was the sixth largest cruise ship in the world, behind Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class cruise ships and AIDAnova.

<i>Edge</i>-class cruise ship Class of cruise ship

The Edge class is a class of cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The class is constructed by Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France. At present, there are four active Edge-class ships: the lead vessel of the class Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Beyond, and Celebrity Ascent. Celebrity Apex was scheduled to begin operations in April 2020, but entry into service was delayed until June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Celebrity Ascent is the newest ship to debut and welcomed its first guests in November 2023. A fifth ship, Celebrity Xcel is currently under construction.

<i>Celebrity Apex</i> Cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Apex is an Edge-class cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Constructed at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, she is the second vessel in the company's Edge class of ships, following the delivery of her sister ship, Celebrity Edge, in 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her debut sailing was from Athens on June 19, 2021 to the Greek Islands.

<i>Wonder of the Seas</i> Oasis-class cruise ship

Wonder of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was completed in 2022 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire France, the fifth in Royal Caribbean's Oasis class of cruise ships. At 235,600 GT, she was the largest cruise ship by gross tonnage, until she was surpassed in 2024 by the Icon-class cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, also owned by Royal Caribbean International.

World-class cruise ship Class of cruise ships under construction for MSC Cruises

The World class is a class of cruise ships being built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France for MSC Cruises. There are four vessels planned, with the lead vessel, MSC World Europa, delivered in 2022.

<i>MSC World Europa</i> Cruise ship to operate for MSC Cruises beginning in 2022

MSC World Europa is a World-class cruise ship of MSC Cruises. LNG-powered, she was built by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and as of June 2024 is the world's eighth largest passenger ship and the largest cruise ship in the world that is not owned by Royal Caribbean International currently. MSC World Europa began public operations from 20 December 2022 in a 9-day roundtrip from Qatar after serving as a hotel ship in Doha during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. She became MSC's first World-class ship and will be joined by three sister ships in 2025, 2026, and 2027, respectively.

<i>Utopia of the Seas</i> Cruise ship

Utopia of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the sixth ship in the Oasis Class and entered service on 19 July 2024 out of Port Canaveral. She is larger than sister ship Wonder of the Seas by gross tonnage.

References

  1. ↑ "Royal Caribbean Orders Fourth Oasis-Class Vessel" (Press release). Royal Caribbean. PR Newswire. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Symphony of the Seas (34719)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV . Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Royal Caribbean International Lays Keel for Oasis No. 4". World Maritime News. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Groizeleau, Vincent (9 June 2017). "Saint-Nazaire met à l'eau le Symphony of the Seas". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Sloan, Gene (23 March 2018). "Royal Caribbean takes delivery of Symphony of the Seas, world's largest cruise ship". USA Today . Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ship Fact Sheets: Symphony of the Seas". Royal Caribbean Press Center. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Symphony of the Seas Delivered". Cruise Industry News. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Sloan, Gene (8 March 2017). "New Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas cruise ship will be the world's largest". USA Today. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  9. ↑ Tribou, Richard (8 March 2017). "New world's largest ship to be named Symphony of the Seas, sail from Miami". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  10. ↑ Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (1 April 2018). "The dizzying story of Symphony of the Seas, the largest and most ambitious cruise ship ever built". Wired UK. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Leasca, Stacey (23 March 2018). "Royal Caribbean Just Beat Its Own Record For World's Largest Cruise Ship". Travel + Leisure . Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  12. 1 2 Springer, Kate (12 April 2018). "Symphony of the Seas: World's largest cruise ship sets sail". CNN. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Goldstein, Michael. "Enormous Ships Like Symphony Of The Seas Reflect Growing Cruise Industry". Forbes. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  14. ↑ Becker, Kayla (9 March 2017). "Meet the new largest cruise ship in the world". Fox News.
  15. ↑ "Symphony of the Seas". Royal Caribbean International. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  16. ↑ "Zip Line - Onboard Activity | Cruise Activities". Royal Caribbean. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  17. ↑ Sloan, Gene. "The dazzling shows on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas, world's largest cruise ship". USA Today. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "Symphony of the Seas By The Numbers" (Press release). Royal Caribbean Press Center. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  19. 1 2 "Engineering the Biggest Cruise Ship in the World: Symphony of the Seas". Interesting Engineering. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  20. 1 2 "What's behind Symphony of the Seas' 25% leap in energy efficiency". Seatrade Cruise News. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  21. 1 2 Moore, Rebecca. "STX France unveils energy-savings triumph of Symphony of the Seas". Riviera. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  22. ↑ Sloan, Gene. "Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas isn't just bigger. It's more energy efficient, too". USA Today. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  23. ↑ Sloan, Gene (9 June 2017). "World's largest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas, takes to water for first time". USA Today.
  24. ↑ "Royal Caribbean Honors Actors Carlos and Alexa PenaVega, with Baby Son Ocean, as First-ever Godfamily for Global Cruise Line". Royal Caribbean. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  25. ↑ Saltzman, Dori (11 May 2018). "PenaVega Family to Serve as Godfamily of Royal Caribbean's New Symphony of the Seas Cruise Ship". Cruise Critic. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  26. ↑ "Sea Trials Complete for Symphony of the Seas". The Maritime Executive. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "Today Symphony of the Seas left Saint-Nazaire yard" (Press release). Chantiers de l'Atlantique. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  28. ↑ Espérandieu, Matthias (26 March 2018). "Symphony of the Seas: Saint-Nazaire livre un nouveau géant" [Symphony of the Seas: Saint-Nazaire delivers a new giant]. Mer et Marine (in French). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  29. 1 2 Bond, Mary (3 April 2018). "GPH's Malaga and Barcelona welcome Symphony of the Seas". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  30. ↑ Saunders, Aaron (18 April 2018). "Symphony of the Seas set to make big waves for maiden season". canada.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  31. ↑ Tribou, Richard (24 March 2018). "Royal Caribbean takes delivery of world's largest cruise ship". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  32. ↑ Satchell, Arlene (8 March 2017). "Symphony of the Seas, the next world's largest cruise ship to sail from Miami in late 2018". Sun-Sentinel .
  33. ↑ "Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas docks at PortMiami". WSVN Miami . 9 November 2018.
  34. ↑ "'I don't regret it': Vancouver man banned after viral video shows him jumping off 11th deck of cruise ship". KGW. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  35. ↑ Diaz, Johnny (24 January 2019). "Don't do it, says man who jumped off Royal Caribbean cruise ship; 'a lot of things could go wrong'". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  36. ↑ Featherstone, Emma (18 January 2019). "Man banned for life after jumping from cruise ship balcony". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  37. ↑ Neal, David J.; Dolven, Taylor (15 August 2019). "A man went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. What happened next was unusual". Miami Herald. The McClatchy Company. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  38. ↑ Cole, Brendan (15 August 2019). "Seas Cruise Ship, Body Recovered by Rescue Boat". Newsweek. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  39. ↑ Thompson, Julia; Hines, Morgan (22 June 2020). "Royal Caribbean, MSC, Carnival Cruise Line extend sailing suspensions into fall". USA TODAY. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  40. ↑ "Coronavirus Disease 2019". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  41. 1 2 Licon, Adriana Gomez (5 May 2020). "Family of dead crew member with virus sues Royal Caribbean". dayton247now.com.
  42. ↑ Dolven, Taylor (16 April 2020). "27-year-old Royal Caribbean crew member youngest to die from COVID-19 in South Florida". Miami Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  43. ↑ "Billion Pound Cruise - All 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  44. ↑ "Symphony of the Seas to feature on More4 documentary". 21 October 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  45. ↑ "Royal Caribbean To Star In New Feel-Good 'Virtual Holiday' TV Series". World of Cruising Magazine. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
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