Our writer Michael Poole has some fun facts to share today!
With all the excitement around all the new ships being built, ships changing homeports, and some even getting a full makeover in dry dock, I thought it would be fun to share some random facts about Royal Caribbean that you may not have known.
5. Johnny Rockets at Sea
In 1999, Royal Caribbean introduced the very first Johnny Rockets at Sea on Voyager of the Seas.
Back when it was launched, the American-style burger restaurant was completely complimentary with the cruise fare. This quickly created problems with wait times pushing over two hours, as everyone wanted to dine here for lunch on sea days.
After a few years, Royal Caribbean added a cover charge to this venue to help with the crowd control for a nominal fee.
At the time of this post, you can dine there for $6.95 per person, which includes gratuity.
4. Nine Ships in six years
In 1999 the very first Voyager Class ship launched, changing the way we know cruising today. Voyager of the Seas was the largest cruise ship in the world at 137,308 gross tons.
But it didn’t stop there; between 1999-2004 Royal Caribbean launched nine new ships, marking the largest growth in the company’s history.
But did you know Jewel of the Seas is newer than all the Voyager class ships?
Jewel of the Seas launched in 2004, and the Voyager class was complete in 2003. All of the ships are still in the fleet today, and we have all grown to love each of them over the years.
3. Enchantment of the Seas stretch
In 2005, Enchantment of the Seas underwent the largest dry dock project in the company's history.
In fact, they cut the ship in half to insert a new 73-foot section, to make her the longest ship in her Vision Class.
This stretch is very noticeable by the suspension bridges on the top deck. Her sister ship, Grandeur of the Seas was scheduled to receive the stretch, but the project was canceled due to the high cost of the project.
So now we have one-of-a-kind in the Vision class, the really long Enchantment of the Seas.
2. Eight Retired ships
Royal Caribbean began as a company in 1968 and since then, we have said goodbye to eight cruise ships. But the good news is one of these retired ladies is coming back to the fleet next year after a major dry dock, Empress of the Seas.
Current Retired ships:
- Song of Norway
- Nordic Prince
- Sun Viking
- Song of America
- Viking Serenade
- Nordic Empress / Empress of the Seas (coming back in 2016)
- Sovereign of the Seas
- Monarch of the Seas
Have you ever sailed on any of these retired ships?
1. Project Genesis
In 2006, Royal Caribbean launched a new project called "Project Genesis" and at the time, we knew very little about this project.
Royal Caribbean started leaking some information to tease us about their new class of ships. The excitement for this project was unlike anything I’ve ever experience with the launch of a ship.
In 2008, they announced Project Genesis would be its next cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas.
If you happen to sail on Oasis of the Seas today, you will see a man in the Royal Promenade washing away graffiti of Genesis.
