We have our first hint how big Royal Caribbean's new Discovery Class cruise ships will be.

The cruise line announced in January that it will build a new kind of cruise ship, but provided very little detail about it.

What we do know is Royal Caribbean had been planning the Discovery Class as a replacement for its smaller, aging ships, but the exact size was a mystery.

While Royal Caribbean hasn't made any further official announcements regarding anything about these new ships, their filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission provides a glimpse of what we can expect.

A big ship that isn't as big as others

According to Royal Caribbean Group's form 10-Q filing with the SEC, we now know the passenger count for the Discovery Class ships.

Because Royal Caribbean Group is a publicly traded company and new cruise ships are financed and are quite expensive, they have to disclose certain details to investors. It outlines their debt commitments, so investors can get a better sense of the company's financial state.

In their filings, Royal Caribbean Group lists two unnamed Discovery Class ships on the order books at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard with an approximate passenger count (berths) of 4,300.

This appears to be the ship's double occupancy limit, as the other berths listed for unbuilt Icon and Oasis Class ships reflect their respective double occupancy limit, as opposed to the maximum limit.

Legend of the Seas is listed at approximately 5,600 on the SEC filing.  We already know that ship's exact limit is 5,610, but it could go up to 7,600 when you add in every possible third, fourth, or fifth passenger into a cabin.

Where Discovery Class fits

To put this in perspective, the passenger count makes this ship have roughly the same capacity as a Quantum Class ship.

For comparison:

• Icon Class ships carry over 5,600 passengers at double occupancy
• Oasis Class ships accommodate around 5,400 passengers
• Quantum Class ships come in closer to 4,100 passengers
• Freedom Class ships carry roughly 3,900 passengers

Odyssey of the Seas, which launched in 2021, accommodates 4,198 guests at double occupancy and up to 5,510 at maximum capacity.

Freedom of the Seas is a bit smaller, with a passenger capacity of 3,926 guests at double occupancy and up to 4,515 at maximum capacity.

The filing also says the first ship will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2029.  Keep in mind delivery date and first sailing aren't the same thing.

When a new cruise ship is delivered, it means it's construction is complete.  But the ship still needs to be furnished, incorporate crew members, and generally prepare the ship.

When Icon of the Seas debuted, it went to Spain for a few weeks to provision the ship, before heading to Puerto Rico to load up all the crew members.  There were then a series of preview sailings leading up to the inaugural voyage.  

The first ship in any class will always require more prep time.

When the second Discovery Class ship launches, it will be ready in the second quarter of 2032.

This filing doesn't tell the whole story

One thing to keep in mind is filings with the SEC are estimates, and it's not the total picture of what this ship will be.

When the Icon Class first was announced, Royal Caribbean didn't market it as the new biggest ship in the world. In fact, SEC filings made it seem to be larger than a Quantum Class but smaller than an Oasis Class.

However, the design of the ship later revealed a different reality.

Moreover, we still don't have any indication on what a Discovery Class ship would look like, or other key features.

The one thing this SEC filing does confirm is that it won't be a very small ship by Royal Caribbean standards.

In 2024, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty talked about how its smaller vessels are becoming outdated.

"We're looking at smaller ships that will replace some of those older ships," Liberty said, touching on the cruise line's next project.

That lead some to assume the Discovery Class could be roughly the same size or capacity as an aging Vision Class ship, which are approaching 30 years in age.

What we still don’t know

While the new SEC filing tells us more than we knew before, there are still many unanswered questions for these new ships.

Royal Caribbean has not yet confirmed:

• Gross tonnage
• Ship length or design specifics
• Onboard features or neighborhood concepts
• Launch timeline beyond initial order announcements

The company has only said that Discovery Class will be a new platform, suggesting it won't simply be a scaled-down version of existing ships.

Royal Caribbean finally revealed plans it will build a new set of cruise ships, known as the Discovery Class, but don't believe what you've read online.

Our concept for what a Discovery Class ship might look like

The announcement confirms the ship order and when the first two ships will arrive.  Other than that, there's no other confirmed information.

Not only are cruise fans curious what this new type of cruise ship will look like, but so is Wall Street.

During Royal Caribbean Group's fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday, a question was raised about if the Discovery Class would indeed be smaller.

"[The] industry chatter is that it's going to be much smaller than the Icon, Oasis, and a lot of other ships you've done."

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley answered the question without sharing anything new about the project, however, he did say there's a lot of "inaccurate" information swirling online about it.

A game changer

Mr. Bayley's response primarily danced around the question, as the company is not prepared to reveal any other details yet.

But he did shoot down the notion that the rumor mill has it all right.

"Many of the assumptions that are currently out there in social media, in terms of size, capacity, etc, probably, it's fair to say inaccurate."

He's likely referencing guesses and statements related to the ship's size, destinations, or homeports.

"Just as Icon was introduced and kind of changed the game, Discovery is going to do exactly the same thing," he explained.

"We are really excited with the innovation, creativity and the kind of product that we've now created with Discovery."

But he said more will come soon, "We have a promotional campaign that'll be ready to go soon, and we'll be very excited to visit multiple cities and start talking about Discovery."

Here's what executives have said about Discovery Class ships so far

Nearly everything the public knows about Discovery Class ships stems from statements made by crew members, ship Captains, and even cruise line executives.

Michael Bayley spoke at two different events in 2025 in which is seemingly confirmed a few details about the Discovery Class.  That is, assuming what he said at the time is still part of the plan going forward.

At a trade event on in June 2025, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President of Sales and Trade Support & Service was standing next to Mr. Bayley when she confirmed Discovery will be smaller than Icon Class ships.

"The Discovery Class will be a smaller ship than Icon. That much we can tell you."

Mr. Bayley was far more forthcoming in September 2025 on the President's Cruise when he mentioned two key facts about the ship.

First, they hope it will sail to different places. "We want the ship[s] to be able to really focus on...the more exotic itineraries," Bayley said. 

"[Discovery ships] would...come in and start replacing the older hardware that currently operates in many of those itineraries," Bayley added.

Second, he said it would be small enough to fit in the Panama Canal.

"It'll go through the Panama Canal, which we think will be a real positive because it'll be able to go to Alaska in the summer, and it can get back into the Caribbean," Bayley said.

There have been many more rumors and comments shared by ship Captains and other crew members during Q&A events held onboard.

First ship coming in 2029

Royal Caribbean Group placed an order for two new Discovery Class ships, with the option for more in the future.

The first will debut in 2029, followed by a second in 2032. The ships will be built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France.

Nothing else substantive was shared as part of the announcement, such as ship size, dimensions, or any other details.

"We are really looking forward to sharing more details about Discovery, but we're not planning on saying much about it today or in the next couple of months," Mr. Bayley said during the earnings call.

It's official: Royal Caribbean will build a new class of cruise ship called the Discovery Class.

Rumors of this class have swirled for years, but Royal Caribbean Group confirmed it will indeed build them in a statement today.

While the plans are now official, details on what we can expect are still quite few and far between.

Nonetheless, it's the first step in moving forward with new cruise ship plans that cruise fans have anticipated for many years.

Here's what we know so far.

First ship coming in 2029

Two Discovery Class ships will be built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France, with the first debuting in 2029 and the second in 2032.

Additionally, there are options for four additional ships. 

Options means the ship orders aren't confirmed, but the shipyard will hold spots "in line" for Royal Caribbean so if they later decide to build them, the ships can be constructed without delay.

Unfortunately, that's all the details about these ships that were announced.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Jason Liberty celebrated the announcement in a press release statement, "The Discovery Class represents our continued commitment to shaping the future of vacations. These ships will be a showcase of what's possible when design meets purpose, ultimately bringing the world closer to our guests

"Through our partnership with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, we are leveraging France's world‑class shipbuilding ecosystem and new technology to, once again, reimagine the industry for decades to come."

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley described the Discovery Class ships as being a "bold new concept," The Discovery Class introduces a bold new concept that puts our guests at the center of it all. It will deliver extraordinary, one-of-a-kind experiences — from cutting edge design to immersive moments — every detail crafted to surprise and delight guests in ways they've never imagined, all while visiting truly breathtaking destinations around the world."

Later in the Royal Caribbean Group's 2025 earnings, Mr. Liberty alluded to the idea these Discovery Class ships would be for far flung destionations.

"With Discovery Class, we're building a new platform with Chantiers de l'Atlantique that will advance next-generation innovation and sustainability while taking our guests to extraordinary destinations around the world."

A 'smaller' cruise ship?

Breadcrumbs of information have leaked out from Royal Caribbean for years about what this new kind of ship would be, and it's always been referred to as being smaller than the Icon or Oasis Class ships.

Cruise ship captains and even Mr. Bayley himself have alluded to the Discovery Class at various times, but never confirmed what we can expect.

"We've been working a lot on the Discovery Class...it takes a lot of work to design a ship," he said during the 2025 President's Cruise.

He also indicated the name of this class is no coincidence. They want these ships to discover new and interesting ports of call. 

"We want the ship[s] to be able to really focus on...the more exotic itineraries," Bayley explained.

While we don't yet have any official size of the ship, Mr. Bayley did say it would be small enough to fit through the Panama Canal.

"It'll go through the Panama Canal, which we think will be a real positive because it'll be able to go to Alaska in the summer, and it can get back into the Caribbean," Bayley said.

To date, the largest vessel to sail through the Panama Canal was Norwegian Bliss. 

Based on that, it's likely that Discovery Class ships won't be larger than 168,000 gross registered tons (GRT) and 1,094 feet long. 

Another ship class to come?

Today's confirmation that Discovery Class ships will be built in France means there's potentially a second ship class also under development.

In September, Royal Caribbean confirmed the order of the fifth Icon Class ship with Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. However, the announcement also alluded to the possibility of another ship class. 

"This multi-year agreement strengthens Royal Caribbean Group's relationship with Meyer Turku, one of the world's largest and most modern shipyards specializing in cruise ships, and readies Royal Caribbean Group for a new, game-changing class of ship beyond Icon," the press release said. 

At the time, we assumed that "game-changing class of ship" was Discovery, but since that's being built in France, clearly there are plans for something else.

Nothing has been confirmed or announced beyond that statement that came out in September, but it appears Royal Caribbean Group is positioning itself to launch the next generation of Royal Caribbean ships in the 2030s.

A pipeline of new ships coming

With today's announcement, Royal Caribbean is poised for a major growth spurt that we haven't seen in quite some time.

Confirmed ship orders now look like this:

• 2026: Legend of the Seas
• 2027: Icon 4
• 2028: Icon 5
• 2028: Oasis 7
• 2029: Discovery 1
• 2032: Discovery 2

Options exist for Icon 6, Icon 7, Discovery 3, Discovery 4, Discovery 5, and Discovery 6.