Wonder of the Seas

Wonder of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. It was built in 2018 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France the fifth in Royal Caribbean's Oasis class of cruise ships. She is the largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage, surpassing her sister ship Symphony of the Seas, also owned by Royal Caribbean International.

Wonder of the Seas

Wonder of the Seas measures 1,188 feet (362 m) in length and has a gross tonnage of 236,857 across 18 decks. This ship accommodates 5,734 passengers at double occupancy up to a maximum capacity of 6,988 passengers, as well as a 2,300 crew. There are 16 decks for guest use, 20 restaurants, 4 pools and 2,867 cabins.

Wonder of the Seas is about 30 metres (98 feet) longer than the largest military ships ever built, the U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

Facilities include a children's water park, a children's playground, a full-size basketball court, an ice-skating rink, a surf simulator, a zip line that is 10 decks high, a 1400-seat theater, an outdoor aquatic theater with 30-foot (9.1 m) high platforms, and two 43-foot (13 m) rock-climbing walls.

As with all Oasis-class ships, one of the special features on board is the Central Park, which consists of over 10,000 real plants.

Wonder of the Seas is powered onboard by six marine-diesel sets, each composed of three 16-cylinder Wärtsilä 16V46D common rail engines and three 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 12V46D engines.

For propulsion, Wonder of the Seas uses three 20,000 kilowatt azipod main engines, which are electric thrusters. These engines are mounted under the stern of the ship and they each drive 20 foot wide rotatable propellers. In addition to the three main engines, there are four bow thrusters used for docking, each with 5,500 kilowatts of power or 7,380 horsepower.

On 25 May 2016, Royal Caribbean Group signed a memorandum of understanding with STX France (now Chantiers de l'Atlantique) for a fifth Oasis-class ship for delivery in the spring of 2021. The first steel for the new ship was cut at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard in April 2019, and the vessel's keel was laid on 9 May 2016.

Wonder of the Seas under construction at Saint-Nazaire in 2020

In August 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Caribbean announced that delivery of the ship would be delayed until 2022.

In April 2021, Royal Caribbean opened bookings aboard Wonder of the Seas for an inaugural 2022 season sailing in Asia from ports in Shanghai and Hong Kong. However, in September of that year, Royal Caribbean announced that the ship would instead debut at Port Everglades, sailing Caribbean cruises, before moving to the Mediterranean in the summer, sailing out of Barcelona and Rome. In December, Royal Caribbean announced that the ship would homeport at Port Canaveral in Florida starting in November 2022.

On 29 October 2021, the Royal Caribbean accepted the ship for "technical delivery", and the following week it sailed under its own power from Saint-Nazaire to a Chantier Naval de Marseille drydock in Marseille-Fos Port for finishing work. On 27 January 2022, the ship was handed over to Royal Caribbean