Royal Caribbean orders two mammoth ships, expanding private resorts

Royal Caribbean Group, which is headquartered on PortMiami, last week ordered two more Finnish-built ships to be delivered in 2029 and 2030 as the cruise company expands its portfolio of ships and private resorts.

“We expect another year of double-digit revenue and earnings growth,” Chairman and CEO Jason Liberty reported last week. “We are expanding our portfolio through the recent launch of Royal Beach Club Santorini, the upcoming delivery of Legend of the Seas, and the recent orders for Icon VI and VII.”

Legend of the Seas, to debut in July, is a 250,800-ton megaship that has a 5,600-passenger capacity and 20 decks. It’s to launch in Barcelona with Western Mediterranean cruises before moving to Port Everglades in Brevard County in November.

The corporation reported that its overall capacity is expected to grow by 6.7% this year from last, with increases of 4%, 6% and 7% respectively in 2027, 2028 and 2029.

In March, a game-changing project for Royal Caribbean Cruises on PortMiami increased again from the original cost. The design and construction of Terminal G and Berth 10 improvements for the global cruise industry giant had risen from $325 million to $425 million in 2023, the year after an earlier agreement was signed. An agreement change in March raised the total to $463 million.

In the long run, the amended agreement will increase Royal Caribbean’s capital recovery surcharge contribution to the county for the project, resulting in a $35 million positive fiscal impact to the port, county commissioners were told.

The new order for two more Icon Class ships from Meyer Turku in Finland is part of a three-decade relationship between the two entities, Royal Caribbean said, “during which the shipyard has built 25 ships for the company…. Each Icon ship represents the largest industrial projects in Finland.”

Royal Caribbean says it has secured shipbuilding capacity from Meyer Turku through 2036.

The company today operates 69 ships sailing to more than 1,000 destinations in all seven continents through three wholly owned brands – Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea – and a 50% interest in TUI Cruises, which operates the Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd brands.

The corporation says it is expanding its portfolio of private destinations from three to eight by 2028 and plans to enter river cruising in 2027 with Celebrity River Cruises.

Bookings slipped in March and early April for Mediterranean itineraries after the United States attacked Iran but those bookings have recovered and are currently ahead of last year’s pace, the corporation said. Fuel costs also rose with the attacks.

The company said revenue is expected to grow by about 10% this year.