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.