New Oasis from STX France to be 227,700 Tons

New Oasis from STX France to be 227,700 Tons

ON 23 SEPTEMBER 2013.

Royal Caribbean International cut the first piece of steel today for its third Oasis-class ship, marking the first construction milestone for a vessel that, at approximately 227,700 GRT, will be the world’s largest and most innovative cruise ship. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard D. Fain, Yves Joaven, operations director, STX France, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO, Adam Goldstein, Executive Vice President Newbuild and Fleet Design, Harri Kulovaara and Laurent Castaing, chief executive officer, STX France attended the event at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, where the ship will be built. The cruise line’s third Oasis-class ship is expected to be delivered in mid-2016.Royal Caribbean International cut the first piece of steel today for its third Oasis-class ship, marking the first construction milestone for a vessel that, at approximately 227,700 GRT, will be the world’s largest and most innovative cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Richard D. Fain and Royal Caribbean International President and CEO, Adam Goldstein together with Laurent Castaing, chief executive officer, STX France, attended the event at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, where the ship will be built.

The cruise line’s third Oasis-class ship is expected to be delivered in mid-2016.

“The Oasis-class ships have fundamentally changed the cruising landscape with the cornucopia of amenities and innovations that can be found onboard,” said Fain. “We are delighted to be offering a third Oasis-class vessel for our guests as well as to be back at STX France after such a long tradition of building amazing ships together.”

“We are excited to once again partner with Royal Caribbean International,” said Castaing, “We have built 12 ships for Royal Caribbean and are extremely proud of the strength of our relationship. Oasis 3 is one of the biggest challenges ever undertaken in the history of our company and our teams are excited and ready to make this a successful project.”

Oasis 3 joins sister-ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas which took the cruise industry by storm with their introduction in 2009 and 2010, respectively, featuring a revolutionary design with a split superstructure and the cruise line’s neighborhood concept of seven distinct themed areas.

“Our Oasis-class ships have led the charge in delivering the WOW for which Royal Caribbean is known,” said Goldstein. “We are delighted to get the building process underway and look forward to the next chapter of this amazing class of ships.”

Details of the third Oasis-class ship will be revealed in the coming months.

Royal Caribbean ‘could base Oasis-class ship in Mediterranean’

Royal Caribbean ‘could base Oasis-class ship in Mediterranean’

By Jane Archer

Royal Caribbean International has refused to rule out basing one of its mega Oasis-class ships in the Mediterranean when a third vessel launches in 2016.

The line’s president and chief executive officer Adam Goldstein refused to discuss plans for the new vessel, dubbed Oasis 3, but said the cruise line was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the reaction to Oasis of the Seas’ micro-season in the Mediterranean next autumn.

Oasis, which holds 6,400 passengers when full, will be operating two five-night cruises from Barcelona and a seven-night voyage from the Spanish port to Rotterdam in September 2014. It will be the first time an Oasis-class ship has sailed in Europe.

Oasis returns to Port Everglades in Florida on a 13-night cruise from Rotterdam on October 14, also embarking passengers at Southampton on October 15.

Speaking today at a steel-cutting ceremony for Oasis 3 at the STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France, Goldstein said bringing Oasis to Europe had been an ‘experiment’ but demand had been ‘quite promising’.

He added: “We always felt demand would be high but we needed to do it in real life to be sure. We are offering attractive itineraries so we already feel we have the ports we need for Oasis to operate in Europe.”

Because of its size, Oasis will fit into a limited number of ports. The five-night Mediterranean cruises will call at Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Naples, while the seven-night voyage to Rotterdam stops at Malaga and Vigo in Spain. Goldstein confirmed 2015-16 itineraries would be revealed in early 2014.

The keel for Oasis 3 will be laid at the end of April 2014, with delivery set for spring 2016. The 227,700-ton ship will hold 6,360 passengers when full.

Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain refused to comment on planned features but said the new ship will be ‘fundamentally’ the same as Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

It will be the biggest cruise ship built at STX’s St Nazaire shipyard, where Queen Mary 2 was built a decade ago.