Royal Caribbean Orders Oasis Class #7

[Plumlee2028]

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/royal-caribbean-group-signs-agreement-with-chantiers-next-oasis-class-ship/

 

Royal Caribbean ordered a 7th Oasis Class for Delivery in 2028 from Chantiers (financing needs completed).  I was a little surprised to read that this morning, I assumed another large one would be Icon class at this point.  

Could be a sign they are working on another class of Ship with Meyer Group (Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku), such as the Discovery Class, or they could still be planning more Icon from them as well.  

There is no delivery in 2027 on their current schedule, but that may be intentional to absorb some capacity.  From very late 2023-2026 is 3 Icon class and an Oasis Class already. 

[smokeybandit]

There's been a 7th Oasis ship already on the books with a ship code of "LE"

Legend getting another tour of duty?

[JohnK6404]

Here's Matt's article this morning on the announcement...

Royal Caribbean announces order for new Oasis Class ship | Royal Caribbean Blog

[smokeybandit]

I would think this pushes any Discovery ship to 2030 at the earliest.

[Plumlee2028]

I wouldn't expect the parent group to order nothing in 2027, but that may be a year to order for Celebrity (Xcel in 2025 is their last) or Silversea (Silver Ray this year is their last order).  Or they could just think they will need a break.  They generally take delivery of 2-3 ships a year.  Last year was 3, and then 3 this year (including TUI), 3 next year (including TUI), and 2 in 2026 (including TUI).  

[Matt]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I would think this pushes any Discovery ship to 2030 at the earliest.

That sounds about right to me. 2029 if you sacrifice small animals at the altar of @twangster

[smokeybandit]

13 minutes ago, Matt said:

That sounds about right to me. 2029 if you sacrifice small animals at the altar of @twangster

[twangster]

41 minutes ago, Matt said:

That sounds about right to me. 2029 if you sacrifice small animals at the altar of @twangster

I've moved on to sacrificing Royal trinkets such as keychains, highlighters and single use backpacks.  

[USFFrank]

 This is strictly my opinion, and I'm sure someone here is going to try and correct me, but this is all I can see right now after reading this announcement. I thought Royal Caribbean had a debt to pay. They jacked their prices up so much on everything in order to pay this debt that I can't afford to cruise with them now.  Maybe I should thank them for this. Because of what they are charging, I'm branching out, I booked a Carnival cruise that was less expensive and goes to 3 ports I have not visited yet. Now instead of building a smaller ship like they had hinted at, they are now going to build another giant ship with a limited itinerary that you need to take out a second mortgage out in order to sail on, not to mention jacking up the prices again on every other ship in the fleet. And yes, I know the sailings will all sell out, but I won't be on them. And for those of you who do choose to buy them, more power to you.

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, USFFrank said:

 This is strictly my opinion, and I'm sure someone here is going to try and correct me, but this is all I can see right now after reading this announcement. I thought Royal Caribbean had a debt to pay. They jacked their prices up so much on everything in order to pay this debt that I can't afford to cruise with them now.  Maybe I should thank them for this. Because of what they are charging, I'm branching out, I booked a Carnival cruise that was less expensive and goes to 3 ports I have not visited yet. Now instead of building a smaller ship like they had hinted at, they are now going to build another giant ship with a limited itinerary that you need to take out a second mortgage out in order to sail on, not to mention jacking up the prices again on every other ship in the fleet. And yes, I know the sailings will all sell out, but I won't be on them. And for those of you who do choose to buy them, more power to you.

In fairness Royal's executive team has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders.  That comes way ahead of building ships that a small subset of return guest desire.  

I agree with your assessment though.  Most of my research now is going into exotic train journeys which come with stops at various places with excursions.  They are like a cruise on rails with very good food, like Michelin rated food.  My first train trip will take place this summer.  There is one in Peru, several across Australia and New Zealand that look really interesting.  Some of them are less than a balcony on Icon.  

[smokeybandit]

8 minutes ago, USFFrank said:

 This is strictly my opinion, and I'm sure someone here is going to try and correct me, but this is all I can see right now after reading this announcement. I thought Royal Caribbean had a debt to pay. They jacked their prices up so much on everything in order to pay this debt that I can't afford to cruise with them now.  Maybe I should thank them for this. Because of what they are charging, I'm branching out, I booked a Carnival cruise that was less expensive and goes to 3 ports I have not visited yet. Now instead of building a smaller ship like they had hinted at, they are now going to build another giant ship with a limited itinerary that you need to take out a second mortgage out in order to sail on, not to mention jacking up the prices again on every other ship in the fleet. And yes, I know the sailings will all sell out, but I won't be on them. And for those of you who do choose to buy them, more power to you.

They do have debt to pay. They always will have debt to pay.

They will also have 12 ships 25+ years old by the time Icon 7 is delivered with the entire Vision class being in their 30s.

[Leroyr55]

Financial debate aside my humble opinion is I pretty much think I prefer another Oasis class over an Icon class. I just think the Icon class has become an amusement park at sea. I like my vacations to be relaxing. Guess I’m showing my age

[markinct]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

There's been a 7th Oasis ship already on the books with a ship code of "LE"

Legend getting another tour of duty?

A commentator on Matt's blog article suggested Paradise of the Seas, and I think that's excellent. Though RCL may want to save that for an Icon class ship. But Legend of the Seas would be epic..... heh - as would Epic of the Seas . . . 

[Rackham]

4 hours ago, Plumlee2028 said:

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/royal-caribbean-group-signs-agreement-with-chantiers-next-oasis-class-ship/

 

Royal Caribbean ordered a 7th Oasis Class for Delivery in 2028 from Chantiers (financing needs completed).  I was a little surprised to read that this morning, I assumed another large one would be Icon class at this point.  

I wonder if what's required to build the AquaDome doesn't restrict which shipyards can build an Icon class ship? 

I'm somewhat surprised, but not, on the announcement of another Oasis class. They print money for Royal and no other line has an offering quite like it. 

Concering smaller ships, Icon 2 & 3 together have more passanger capacity than all 4 of the Vision class ships in operation combined. I could see the company sunsetting these ships before having even ordered a single Discovery class vessel. Adding in Oasis 7 with the 2 Icon class ships yet to be delivered, passanger capacity between them is over 167% of all Vision class ships added together. 

[markinct]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

In fairness Royal's executive team has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders.  That comes way ahead of building ships that a small subset of return guest desire.  

I agree with your assessment though.  Most of my research now is going into exotic train journeys which come with stops at various places with excursions.  They are like a cruise on rails with very good food, like Michelin rated food.  My first train trip will take place this summer.  There is one in Peru, several across Australia and New Zealand that look really interesting.  Some of them are less than a balcony on Icon.  

Look at the Rocky Mountaineer - they have routes in Canada and USA. 

Also, check into may favorite (non-cruise) travel YouTuber - a Brit named Paul Lucas who has a lot of bucket list train trips on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Paul_Lucas

[smokeybandit]

24 minutes ago, markinct said:

A commentator on Matt's blog article suggested Paradise of the Seas, and I think that's excellent. Though RCL may want to save that for an Icon class ship. But Legend of the Seas would be epic..... heh - as would Epic of the Seas . . . 

WHen you log into your account, a file with all the ships across the RCG portfolio gets loaded in the background. Including this

[Vancity Cruiser]

43 minutes ago, Rackham said:

Concering smaller ships, Icon 2 & 3 together have more passanger capacity than all 4 of the Vision class ships in operation combined. I could see the company sunsetting these ships before having even ordered a single Discovery class vessel

NCL recently did full refurbs of 2 of their older smaller ships. And not just public areas, all staterooms were done as well and the result is brand new looking, fresh small ships at about the 10th of a cost of new vessels. I feel like this is something Royal should do with Radiance Class if they don't want to build new smaller ships. The down side of course is you still have the older, less environmentally friendly power source propelling them. 

[twangster]

2 hours ago, markinct said:

Look at the Rocky Mountaineer - they have routes in Canada and USA. 

Also, check into may favorite (non-cruise) travel YouTuber - a Brit named Paul Lucas who has a lot of bucket list train trips on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Paul_Lucas

Booked it last year for summer 2024.

[markinct]

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

Booked it last year for summer 2024.

I hope you post a travel report!

The Mountaineer is a 'bucket list' trip for me. I also want to do a few Amtrak long hauls - from NY to Chicago, then onto the Texas Eagle or the Southwest Chief.... then on to the Coast Starlight....  

 

[Zambia-Zaire]

3 hours ago, markinct said:

A commentator on Matt's blog article suggested Paradise of the Seas, and I think that's excellent. Though RCL may want to save that for an Icon class ship. But Legend of the Seas would be epic..... heh - as would Epic of the Seas . . . 

Still holding out for Melody of the Seas...

[JasonOasis]

3 hours ago, USFFrank said:

 This is strictly my opinion, and I'm sure someone here is going to try and correct me, but this is all I can see right now after reading this announcement. I thought Royal Caribbean had a debt to pay. They jacked their prices up so much on everything in order to pay this debt that I can't afford to cruise with them now.  Maybe I should thank them for this. Because of what they are charging, I'm branching out, I booked a Carnival cruise that was less expensive and goes to 3 ports I have not visited yet. Now instead of building a smaller ship like they had hinted at, they are now going to build another giant ship with a limited itinerary that you need to take out a second mortgage out in order to sail on, not to mention jacking up the prices again on every other ship in the fleet. And yes, I know the sailings will all sell out, but I won't be on them. And for those of you who do choose to buy them, more power to you.

Carnival also announced they placed an order for another Excel Class ship so Royal isn't alone in ordering more large cruise ships. And cruises on any Carnival Excel Class ship is nearly the same price as a cruise on any Royal Oasis Class ship. 

Project Discovery will happen and to be honest I'm not surprised to see this order for an Oasis 7.  If I'm not mistaken last year Matt hinted at such an order on this very site on the main page when he wrote an article about Royal have the option to order another Oasis Class ship but was being mum on whether or not they would exercise that option.  Also the reason I'm not surprised is because I don't think Royal has changed their plans for placing an Oasis Class ship in the Chinese market.  Having said that I don't think anyone could have guessed that the US market would be able to absorb 6 Oasis Class ships plus several Icon class ships.  Now that Royal see's the US market can handle that kind of capacity I don't think they have any plans on sending Wonder to China which was where Wonder was supposed to originally go. Could Oasis 7 end up in China I don't know and I don't think any of us will know for sure until Royal announces where the ship is going.  However I don't think ordering Oasis 7 signals Royal isn't moving forward and continuing the process with Project Discovery.   Should Project Discovery be officially launched (and order placed) if it's a "white ship" or a clean sheet design, a ship like that wouldn't even be delivered until at least 2030 or later. 

[twangster]

6 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

NCL recently did full refurbs of 2 of their older smaller ships. And not just public areas, all staterooms were done as well and the result is brand new looking, fresh small ships at about the 10th of a cost of new vessels. I feel like this is something Royal should do with Radiance Class if they don't want to build new smaller ships. The down side of course is you still have the older, less environmentally friendly power source propelling them. 

The problem is no one wants pretty but polluting ships.  More regions are strengthening emission requirements.   Making guest areas pretty is really lipstick on a pig if they don't replace or retrofit the now very old engines.

Thinking this through... Radiance class use jet turbines engines so they are not the same bunker based engines that most ships around the world use. Those jet engines are now 20+ year jet engines.  No airlines runs the original 20 year jet turbines, most western based airlines operate newer jet turbines and even those newer jet engines are under attack for not being clean enough or green enough.  

There have been some concepts put forth for converting old bunker based fuel oil engines to run biofuel but so far this hasn't been attempted at large scale in the cruise industry.  That concept doesn't apply to jet turbines engines with no clear manner to convert very old jet turbines to run biofuel.  Nor has biofuel been offered in bulk at cruise ports around the world.  

Placing jet turbines in Radiance class was a great idea in their time but that time has long past.  Those jet turnibers may just make Radiance class prime to eliminate from the fleet albeit for different reasons than eliminating Vision class.  

Silversea is part of the same parent company to which Royal and Celebrity belong.  They did do full retrofits of old ships of the same vintage as Radiance class.  The interiors of those ships look brand new.  Despite that Silversea is aiming to eliminate those old ships over the next few years despite just recently investing heavily into retrofits.   I think with that expensive lesson learned it is unlikely that Radiance will receive anything other than basic marine maintenance they are forced to do to keep the ships registered.  

[Joe01]

I love the Oasis Class but I think a 7th is overkill, especially with Icon being a mega ship with a new design. With 7 Oasis's and at least 3 Icons, where are they going to put them all as well?

[smokeybandit]

15 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

I love the Oasis Class but I think a 7th is overkill, especially with Icon being a mega ship with a new design. With 7 Oasis's and at least 3 Icons, where are they going to put them all as well?

Ramping up for the Asia market again?

[JasonOasis]

21 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Ramping up for the Asia market again?

Bingo!!!

Don't forget Disney Cruise Lines purchased the Global Dream an unfinished 6,000 plus passenger mega cruise ship which will be exclusively based in Asia when it launches sometime in 2025.  As good as Spectrum of the Seas is it's no Oasis Class ship.  With Disney throwing down the gauntlet so to speak in Asia with their still unnamed mega ship I think Royal is dusting off their Asia market plans which they shelved during the pandemic. And what better ship to go head to head with a Disney mega ship than an Oasis Class ship.  

Royal may not be able to respond to Disney's move in 2025 when Disney launches their new ship in Asia, but that doesn't mean Royal  has to sit on the sideline.  I think Oasis 7 is Royal's response and most likely will go to Asia, China in particular to take on Disney.

[markinct]

3 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

Still holding out for Melody of the Seas...

That, too, would be ... euphonic! 
But if this ship is destined for the Asia market as some have guessed, I wonder if that would make Melody a better name? I am fantastically ignorant of Asian branding sensibilities. 

[Michael Vitale]

By the time this ship is built, if Icon is any indication, it will cost $10,000 for an interior guarantee.  No thanks.  

It's said in some quarters that they're still recovering from the Covid shutdown/losses.  That's why the obvious cost cutting measures on board, such as blah, unimaginative dining choices, elimination of the turndown service, and institution of charges for room service, among other things.  But throwing another $1B+ onto the debt load ???  No problem. 

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, Michael Vitale said:

It's said in some quarters that they're still recovering from the Covid shutdown/losses.  That's why the obvious cost cutting measures on board, such as blah, unimaginative dining choices, elimination of the turndown service, and institution of charges for room service, among other things. But throwing another $1B+ onto the debt load ???  No problem. 

It's not very hard to finance a new build when they have iconic numbers to show as predictions for estimated returns.  That billion dollar+ ship also secures that billion dollar new debt for that new ship so it's a lot different than spending a billion fixing up old ships or servicing $40B in debt for example.

Cost cutting and new charges are a way of the mass market cruise industry.  Everyone who plays in the mass market space is doing it.   Cost cutting or "service optimization" does allow debt to be repaid faster.   

As much as I hate the service changes I also recognize why investors would demand it.  The company also has to keep the future on the radar screen.  All these mega ships generating mega profit will allow them to work on a smaller less profitable platform such as Discovery.   More LNG capable ships prepares them for when they will have no choice but to get rid of Voyager and Freedom class.  That day isn't in the near term but it's not that far off either. 

[asquared17]

...a seventh oasis class.

perhaps we can skip the bionic bar and abyss slides on this one

[Jamesszy94]

As long as it's not based in North America, it's whatever. Does Royal know something get we don't know? Are they finally building a new port in Port Kembla in Australia? Will Oasis7 be based in Australia?!

[Jamesszy94]

14 hours ago, Leroyr55 said:

Financial debate aside my humble opinion is I pretty much think I prefer another Oasis class over an Icon class. I just think the Icon class has become an amusement park at sea. I like my vacations to be relaxing. Guess I’m showing my age

Stop. Don't give them ideas for ship names...

Amusement Park of the Seas..

[twangster]

11 hours ago, markinct said:

I hope you post a travel report!

The Mountaineer is a 'bucket list' trip for me. I also want to do a few Amtrak long hauls - from NY to Chicago, then onto the Texas Eagle or the Southwest Chief.... then on to the Coast Starlight....  

 

It’s bad enough folks are using this forum to post other cruise line trip reports.  Doing a train live thread here is even further far fetched.

[tonyfsu21]

@Matt I think a sub forum on complaints/price increase and the long awaited (and anticipated) casino royale sub forum would be excellent about now! 

[Jenn G-MEI Travel]

It makes sense, it is their most popular class among all cruisers. And it probably is more affordable to build than Icon 4. 

[jeffmw]

I imagine both Utopia and Oasis 7 will have a few significant new features that set them apart from the first 5. Particularly with Icon Class now out there, it doesn't seem like Royal would be content just spitting out 2 more Wonders. These two ships will need something that give people who have already been on Oasis Class ships several times a reason to want to try them out. 

As for Discovery Class, I wonder if Royal is waiting to see what direction they end up going as a company. If they keep going the "compete with Disney" route, maybe all they do from here forward is big, family friendly ships that go to Cozumel & Nassau, and maybe the smaller boats more focused on creative itineraries will be built under the Celebrity brand?

[markinct]

14 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

Stop. Don't give them ideas for ship names...

Amusement Park of the Seas..

"You must be this tall to sail...."

[Michael Vitale]

On 2/15/2024 at 7:26 PM, twangster said:

It's not very hard to finance a new build when they have iconic numbers to show as predictions for estimated returns.  That billion dollar+ ship also secures that billion dollar new debt for that new ship so it's a lot different than spending a billion fixing up old ships or servicing $40B in debt for example.

Cost cutting and new charges are a way of the mass market cruise industry.  Everyone who plays in the mass market space is doing it.   Cost cutting or "service optimization" does allow debt to be repaid faster.   

As much as I hate the service changes I also recognize why investors would demand it.  The company also has to keep the future on the radar screen.  All these mega ships generating mega profit will allow them to work on a smaller less profitable platform such as Discovery.   More LNG capable ships prepares them for when they will have no choice but to get rid of Voyager and Freedom class.  That day isn't in the near term but it's not that far off either. 

You're not wrong, and I don't disagree.  It's just a bit off-putting that so many reviews (and I agree with them) show that cruisers who are basically loyal to Royal are growing disenchanted with the decreased quality of the experience.  Unless of course you spring for a mega bucks cruise on a mega bucks ship.  

[GatorCruiser]

The prices are annoying, no doubt. 

[Jill]

23 hours ago, jeffmw said:

I imagine both Utopia and Oasis 7 will have a few significant new features that set them apart from the first 5. Particularly with Icon Class now out there, it doesn't seem like Royal would be content just spitting out 2 more Wonders. These two ships will need something that give people who have already been on Oasis Class ships several times a reason to want to try them out. 

As for Discovery Class, I wonder if Royal is waiting to see what direction they end up going as a company. If they keep going the "compete with Disney" route, maybe all they do from here forward is big, family friendly ships that go to Cozumel & Nassau, and maybe the smaller boats more focused on creative itineraries will be built under the Celebrity brand?

Got an email this morning showing Izumi in the park on Utopia. I think oasis 7 is going to blend some icon features like the open promenade (get rid of promenade cabins) and have deck 6 go all the way around

Also think Wonder will head to Asia. After all all her Chinese signs are down in the basement

[CrimsonCruiser]

well..i was just going to copy paste the comment I made on the Facebook post of Matt's article...but for some reason or another it no longer seems to be there...

Basically my initial thoughts are:

• this most likely means an 8th Oasis class will be coming as well since the oasis fleet has "sisters" within the fleet. Oasis & allure, harmony & symphony, wonder & utopia. This new ship will have something new about it that the other versions don't have and an 8th will probably come to complete the set.
• My issue with that is that Oasis class ships can't exactly go to many varied ports due to its size so you have up to 8 ships running the same general itineraries which could result in only oasis class ships doing those stops so the smaller ships are more freed up to venture to more locations and the price to visit staples in the Caribbean and Bahamas getting too high for old and new cruisers alike.
• Also....by doing a 7th (and 8th) ship I can only imagine this means the Project Discovery isn't planning to see the light of day until maybe mid 2030s at best....