Largest cruise ship in the world departs on sea trials
The world’s largest cruise ship Wonder of the Seas has departed on sea trials ahead of her anticipated March, 2022 delivery and (possible) cruise via Dubai. The 236,857-gross ton, 5,734 passenger Wonder of the Seas is the largest of all the Oasis-class ships and is expected to cruise via Dubai on her repositioning voyage from Europe to Asia.
Wonder of the Seas is the fifth cruise ship in the Oasis-class for Royal Caribbean International, and although she is a sister ship to Oasis, Allure, Harmony and Symphony of the Seas, she is slightly larger. Each Oasis-class cruise ship has been slightly larger than the last, and continuing that trend, Wonder of the Seas has 100 more cabins than Symphony of the Seas, which in turn had more cabins than Harmony of the Seas.
Wonder of the Seas’ sea trials will last four days, during which every aspect of her equipment and systems will be tested under various conditions. The shipyard will evaluate Wonder of the Seas’ speed, fuel consumption, stability, noise and vibration measurements among other tests before she is handed over to Royal Caribbean International.
The ship was built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Naizaire, France, where the two lastest Oasis-class cruise ships (Harmony and Symphony of the Seas) were also built. Although her double-berth passenger capacity is 5,734, Wonder of the Seas will be able to carry a maximum of 6,800 passengers if all her berths are occupied, along with a crew of 2,400.
At 362 metres in length, with a beam of 66 metres, she is a gargantuan cruise ship, and will feature all the popular amenities that make the Oasis-class cruise ships a favourite for many Royal Caribbean passengers. These include the Ultimate Abyss slide, the tallest at sea, which drops more than 10 decks from the sun deck at the top of the ship down to the Boardwalk.
The Boardwalk is one of seven ‘neighbourhoods’ aboard the Oasis-class ships. The others are Central Park, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and the Youth Zone. Royal Caribbean hasn’t released many details about Wonder of the Seas’ features yet, but her most recent sister ship Symphony of the Seas offers 12 restaurants, 20 cafes and bars, an ice rink, Aquatheater, a zipline across the Central Park neighbourhood, a skydiving wind tunnel, surf simulator and more.
Wonder of the Seas was meant to be delivered this year, but her debut was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused mass disruption to the global cruise industry. While Wonder of the Seas is now scheduled to begin cruising from Shanghai, China on March 26th, 2022, Royal Caribbean hasn’t said anything about her repositioning voyage from the shipyard in Europe to China.
Every other brand-new China-bound Royal Caribbean cruise ship has cruised via Dubai on their way to China. The most recent was Spectrum of the Seas in 2019, before that was Ovation of the Seas in 2018, and Quantum of the Seas in 2015.
