The captain of Allure of the Seas has conceded his ship will soon lose its mantle as the world’s largest cruise ship, following the construction of the third and fourth Oasis-class megaliners.
Royal Caribbean’s latest announcement to proceed with the order of “Oasis IV” will see the ship built by STX France for delivery in 2018.
Speaking to Captain Johnny Faevelen onboard Allure of the Seas in the Caribbean when the news came through, TD Cruise Update asked if he was concerned that new vessels would be bigger than his.
“I will be surprised if she isn’t,” he said.
“Knowing how proud the French are, I am sure they will manage to squeeze in an extra inch somewhere.”
But “Captain Johnny”, as he is widely known, said: “It doesn’t matter, it’s just a game – fuel efficiency is what counts.”
According to RCCL, the third Oasis-class ship will be 20% more fuel efficient than Allure and Oasis of the Seas, which are currently the most energy-efficient cruise ships on the oceans today.
Oasis IV will further build on that efficiency, the company said.
“If you consider when Allure was constructed, it is a 10-year-old product now, and there has been a lot of new technology in the last decade, so we learn from the first and second ships how to make the third and fourth better,” Captain Johnny said.
RCCL’s chairman and ceo Richard Fain and president and coo Adam Goldstein announced the Oasis IV order at the keel-laying ceremony for “Oasis III” at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.
Still to be named, this third Oasis-class ship will be delivered in spring 2016.
The Oasis IV order is subject to documentation, financing and other customary conditions.
Projected capital expenditures for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are US$1.4 bn, US$1.4 bn, US$2.2 bn, US$0.3 bn and US$1.5 bn, respectively.