It always pays to make a reservation when you know the restaurant or hotel will be busy, but Royal Caribbean has taken that a step further, reserving space at the shipyard that produces most of its new ships, and builds for other lines as well.
The cruise line and the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland signed a deal that covers three more Icon class ships beyond the four already ordered, and guarantees space in the production schedule for what RC calls “a new game-changing class of ship beyond Icon.” The deal extends through 2036.
Icon of the Seas, the first of the class, was launched as the world’s largest cruise ship. It’s been followed by Star of the Seas, launched in August and Legend scheduled to sail next year. An as-yet-unnamed Icon 4 is scheduled for 2027; the new deal confirms an order for a fifth ship to be delivered in 2028 and confirms options for two more of the Icon class.
The Turku yard, owned by Germany’s Meyer Werft, has been building in Turku since 1737 and specializes now in cruise ships; it’s built 25 of them for RC alone since the 1990s.
