Nathan Graveson

Norwegian Luna as of today! I think we need a new thread for her now!

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I have heard that Discovery-Class will be built at Meyer Werft, with talks nearly finished and a deal nearly struck. However, you never know…

It is mostly speculation and rumour to be honest… the Oasis-Class generation come in pairs, so it would make sense for Gen-4 to be Oasis 7 and 8…

Thanks! Meyer Werft’s schedule at the minute looks like this: Disney Treasure - October 2024 Asuka III - March 2025 Disney Destiny - October 2025 Carnival Excel 4 - Spring 2027 Disney New Project 1 - Fall 2027 Carnival Excel 5 - Spring 2028 Oriental Land Company/Disney Wish 4 - Fall 2028 Disney New Project 2 - Fall 2029 Disney New Project 3 - Fall 2030 Disney New Project 4 - Fall 2031 There is room to start Discovery-Class for a Spring 2029 delivery, and then yearly for 4 ships… Oasis 8 order should go ahead pretty soon too, Gen 4 Oasis-Class is gonna be mega!

And just like that ICON 4 ordered at Meyer Turku for 2027! Options for 5 & 6 have been made available too!

Considering Disney just ordered 4 more ships, shows their confidence in the yard to stay afloat, the situation at Meyer Werft is bad, however, isn't as bad as it could be. From my very reliable sources, the conversations between Royal and Meyer Group have been successful, however a deal has not yet been struck. ICON 4 is very much in consideration at the Turku yard, so that could be the yard that build Discovery-Class, however, the Meyer Werft site makes more sense for ships of their size...

From what I know: Icon 4 - Fall 2027 Oasis 7 - Summer 2028 Discovery 1 - Spring 2029 Oasis 8 - Summer 2029 Discovery 2 - Spring 2030

I want to give my take on this topic, as I have kind of sat back and watched as everyone passed on their opinions, and I think we have come to a good point were we are talking timelines... It is important to lay down some of the evidence for the now named, Discovery-Class, where it began, what has been said and where it could go: 1. Michael Bayley seemingly confirmed that the line was working on a conceptual idea for a smaller class of ship in Early 2023 as part of an earnings call - this was the first public mention and confirmation from Royal Caribbean about a new smaller class 2. The introductory text by Staff Captain Markus Alander, who has worked in Royal Caribbean's New Build Department for several years, suggests that he is also involved in the Discovery project. Alander has overseen the introduction of numerous new ships for the Royal Caribbean Group in recent years. 3. Multiple Captain's Corner events have revealed that Royal are working on a smaller class, with the Captain of Radiance of the Seas, confirming the lead ship of the new class being named Discovery of the Seas. 4. Onboard the media launch event for the amazing new Utopia of the Seas, Michael Bayley officially confirmed that the "Discovery-Class" will be the name of this new project. 5. In an unreleased video interview with Bayley, he said, "the discussions started with a 'smaller' ship, this changed to a 'larger' and most recently it's larger again" - alluding to a similar thing that happened with Project Icon. Now that's out the way, my thoughts and what I have been made aware of... Discovery-Class will be Freedom/Quantum-Class size - think around 150,000 gross tons, which I am aware is not what many want to hear, however, the fact is, Royal Caribbean have found that the larger ships, especially on shorter itineraries, works out more profitable than the smaller ships on longer sailings. As much as there is still an audience for the smaller ships, there is no dragging Royal Caribbean away from building larger ships, the same philosophy can be applied to Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line, as they are moving to ships over 200,000 gross tons, that should tell you all you need to know. In terms of homeports, it is a difficult one, because there is two sides to this argument, Miami and Port Canaveral are Royal's gold mines, that's where the new, biggest and boldest ships go, as they know they will be successful there, however, in ports such as Tampa and Baltimore, they are used as the retirement homes for the older ships, which works well for the market demographics in these areas... So, from a personal point of view, it is hard for me to understand how Royal could launch new ships from these areas, considering the immense demand at the 2 main ports... As I move onto design, I have heard people on this forum talk about Royal using the Edge or Quantum platform as a basis, however, with the changes in maritime law and technology, it is increasingly difficult to adapt existing platforms for use in a modern environment. Discovery-Class will be the grandest show-off of new technology, potentially, using similar Tri-fuel technology from the upcoming Celebrity Xcel. Now, I have seen a lot of people talking about the timeline and also shipyard schedule for the Discovery project, so lets assume that Royal will pick Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, considering they are one of only 2 major shipyards in the world with an open orderbook later this decade. Their current schedule is looking like this, based on when the ships are delivered: Disney Treasure - November 2024 Asuka III - April 2025 Disney Destiny - November 2025 Carnival Excel 4 - July 2027 Carnival Excel 5 - July 2028 OLC Disney Wish 4 - December 2028 Meyer Werft do have the capability of producing 2 large ships a year, as evident in 2028, however slots for 2026 and 2027 are apparently already taken and yet to be announced. So for Discovery-Class, expect the first ship to launch in 2029, with orders running at one per year. However, some more fuel to the fire, is the potential order of Icon 4 at Meyer Turku and the potential order of Oasis 8 at Chantiers De L'Atlantique, therefore maybe taking some capital from the project to fund the payments for these orders, however, we are unsure to say whether or not these orders will be placed. I think that is everything so far, if I think of anything else I will be sure to let you all know, however please remember these are personal opinions and workings out, so don't scrutinise too much!

I think: Leo #4 - Norwegian Bella Leo #5 - Norwegian Luna Leo #6 - Norwegian Ultima

Well, Oasis 7 was originally planned just as Covid-19 hit, shelving the project until recently. It was always in the plans to build more after Utopia, carrying on the variation philosophy of the Oasis-Class starting with paired sister generations. To be completely honest now, I would not be surprised at all if Royal order an 8th Oasis-Class ship... Royal have seen massive success with the class, with each sailing running at over 75% capacity all year round, with the new ships selling out maiden seasons, such as Wonder and Utopia. As for Project Discovery, Royal are in a very funny position. The success of Icon, has very much surpassed Royal's expectations, getting to the point of having to open 2026 sailings due to the demand for the product. This will have affected the new project very heavily, possibly even changing it completely. If the success of the mega cruise ship continues, we must say goodbye to new Royal ships under 150,000 gross tons... From what I have heard however, plans and concepts are still being drawn up for what could be the perfect replacement for both Vision and Radiance-Class, further into the future. As for launch dates, many Captains have said they are aiming for the end of the decade, from my research into orderbooks, Meyer Werft is the only shipyard that can accommodate these new ships, after Carnival's final Excel-Class ship in 2028.

So, I have looked on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and these 3 are the remaining names for the Project Leonardo lineage. The names translated to English are as follows: Norwegian Luna - Norwegian Moon Norwegian Bella - Norwegian Pretty Norwegian Ultima - Norwegian Last So Norwegian Ultima will be the 6th and final name, so only Luna and Bella remain... My bets are currently on Bella for Leo 4 and Luna for Leo 5!

https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74508865&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch Legend of the Seas has been Registered and is now Live for Royal Caribbean...

Where are you finding these at?

LEAKED - Name for ICON 3 - Legend of the Seas

Credit - Loyal to Royal on Instagram

Titan of the Seas???

She is sat on wooden/steel Keel blocks that prevent the actual bottom of the hull from touching/scraping along the concrete base of the dry dock… but yeah, it has to support ALOT of weight… 😂

A few pictures from various sources…

Thats just one of the pictures I put but inverted...

This is exactly what I have been told. As much as Royal Caribbean want to replace the older-ships in the fleet, size brings MORE! From what I have been told is Voyager/Freedom size, with LNG-Hybrid propulsion...

Its Floating Day at Fincantieri for the beautiful Norwegian Aqua!

They will be announcing the ship orders soon with the Meyer Group shortly, from what I've been told...

No... Carnival aim to take delivery of the first 2 ship of their new class at Fincantieri in 2028, with a 3rd in 2029 and a 4th in 2030... NCL's new ships are on order for 2030, 32, 34 & 36...

The first block for Prima 4/Prima-Plus 2 has been spotted on site at the Fincantieri, Maghera yard in Italy! Lets go!