A Guide to the Newest Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships, From Icon to Utopia of the Seas
Is bigger better when it comes to cruise ships? Royal Caribbean certainly believes so: its Icon Class of cruise ships are the largest afloat in the world. The debutant Icon of the Seas, launched in 2024, weighs in at nearly a quarter of a million gross tons and carries more than 5,600 passengers. In fact, all of the Royal Caribbean ships christened in the last decade — all either Oasis or Quantum class vessels — carry 4,000 or more guests.
Royal Caribbean offers itineraries all over the world, but the Caribbean is still the cruise line’s home waters, so if you take a Royal Caribbean cruise to the islands — even if it’s just a quick trip from Florida to the Bahamas (something the company is making an even bigger priority)— chances are you’ll be onboard one of these latest and greatest cruise ships:
Royal Caribbean’s newest Oasis-class cruise ship is used mostly for Bahamas cruises out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The idea, the company says, is shorter getaways — something parent company RCCL is also introducing with its sister company, Celebrity. Like other Oasis-class ships, public spaces onboard the Utopia are designed around a series of “neighborhoods” that keep guests entertained and fed while also helping to spread passengers around the ship. Onboard amenities include a wave pool, waterslides, a 10-story “dry” slide, and more than 20 dining options. Three night itineraries out of Port Canaveral (Orlando) visit Nassau and Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, CocoCay; four-night Western Caribbean trips add a port call in Cozumel, Mexico.
The de facto flagship of the Royal Caribbean, the world’s largest cruise ship had her maiden voyage in 2024 and boasts a mind-boggling array of amenities including seven swimming pools, a water park, mini golf, a zip line, an ice rink, and of course multiple dining and drinking outlets. Icon sails on seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, all with a “Perfect Day at CocoCay” stop. Port calls on various itineraries include St. Kitts; St. Thomas (USVI); San Juan; Cozumel; Puerto Costa Maya in Mexico’s southern Yucatan state; Roatan, Honduras; St. Maarten; and Labadee, Haiti.
The biggest of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships, the Wonder of the Seas displaces 235,600 gross tons and can carry 6,734 passengers. It first sailed in 2022. The ship sails on three, four, and seven night Caribbean cruises, calling at CocoCay as well as Nassau, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan, Puerto Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel, and St. Kitts (depending on itinerary, of course).
The newest of Royal Caribbean’s Quantum class ships, the Odyssey of the Seas carries about 4,200 passengers; like other ships in this class, the Odyssey has unusual attractions like bumper cars, skydiving simulators, and North Star rides that swing guests out from the sides of the ships in glass observation capsules. Large entertainment venues allow for spectacular shows featuring acrobats and other high-flying performers. With its name, it’s not surprising that Odyssey of the Seas spends time sailing the Greek islands part of the year, but the ship also operates on seven, eight, and 11-day Caribbean itineraries out of Cape Liberty, N.J., — longer trips that allow for port calls at some less-visited destinations like Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados.
More than 5,500 passengers can be welcomed aboard this Oasis-class ship that first set sail in 2018. Home ported in Miami, Symphony of the Seas embarks on four, seven, and nine night cruises to the Bahamas and Eastern and Western Caribbean stopping at many of the same ports of call as other Royal Caribbean ships but also visiting Puerto Plata and the Dominican Republic and Falmouth, Jamaica on some itineraries.
The world’s largest cruise ship when it debuted in 2016, the Oasis-class Harmony of the Seas has a passenger capacity of 5,479 and sails from its home port of Galveston, Texas to the eastern and western Caribbean on six, seven, and eight night itineraries. It also stops at Nassau, Bahamas as part of a 16-night transatlantic cruise.
For more on itineraries and pricing, you can visit RC and Book Now.
