voyager class meaning

The 7 classes of Royal Caribbean cruise ships, explained

Editor's Note

Even if you're a newcomer to cruising, you've probably heard of Royal Caribbean 's giant Icon Class and Oasis Class ships. With the exception of a single MSC Cruises vessel , they're far bigger than any other cruise vessel afloat and like nothing else you'll find at sea.

Indeed, when you hear people talking about the wow factor of Royal Caribbean's "floating megaresorts," it's likely they're referring to the six ships in these two sets of vessels. This includes the just-unveiled Icon of the Seas — the world's biggest cruise ship.

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That said, not all Royal Caribbean ships are similarly supersized. While the line is perhaps best known for giant vessels — it operates six of the 10 biggest cruise ships in the world — it also markets some relatively smaller, more intimate ships.

In fact, Royal Caribbean has eight vessels that are less than half the size of the Oasis Class ships.

If you're thinking about booking a Royal Caribbean cruise, you'll find the line offers a wide range of ship styles and designs.

With the relatively recent removal of two older ships from its fleet, Royal Caribbean — the world's largest cruise line by passenger capacity — now has 27 oceangoing vessels in all. That's more than any other major cruise line, and it means that you have a lot of choices when it comes to picking the perfect Royal Caribbean ship for you.

Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean

The good news for those of you trying to get a handle on all the options is that the 27 ships can easily be bunched into just seven groups of vessels that have similar amenities. If you know one member of the group, you know them all.

These seven groups are made up of ships constructed around the same time with the same basic design. They're known in cruise industry lingo as "classes," and each has its own look and feel.

An introduction to Royal Caribbean ships

For the most part, Royal Caribbean operates big, bustling megaships that will appeal to people who like a megaresort experience. The company has built its brand around offering vacationers a ton of diversions on its ships, whether for dining (some vessels have more than 20 distinct places to grab a bite) or entertainment. Its vessels are lively and fun.

The over-the-top megaresort experience on a Royal Caribbean ship varies from class to class, though.

Related: Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean cabins and suites

The line's one Icon Class and five Oasis Class ships are unlike anything else you'll find at sea when it comes to size, amenities and capacity. They each can hold more than 6,600 passengers, with every berth full.

Somewhat smaller in size but still giant by any measure, each of the line's five Quantum Class and three Freedom Class vessels has a total capacity ranging from around 4,500 to 5,600 passengers. With space for around 3,800 passengers at maximum occupancy, the line's five Voyager Class vessels are relatively large, too.

Together, the 19 vessels of these five classes — Icon, Oasis, Quantum, Freedom and Voyager — make up Royal Caribbean's big-ship fleet. The line's remaining eight vessels, split among two classes, are smaller, with maximum occupancy topping out at around 2,500 passengers.

While no longer the focus at Royal Caribbean, the smaller ships (which are generally the line's older ships) allow it to offer itineraries to places that aren't as easy for big ships to visit. Not all ports in the world can handle a ship the size of Icon of the Seas.

The smaller ships also appeal to a subset of Royal Caribbean fans who prefer more intimacy in a cruise vessel and don't mind giving up some onboard amenities to get it. They are also often less expensive to sail per day.

Related: A beginners guide to picking a cruise line

As you might expect, the biggest Royal Caribbean ships have the most amenities. With each step down in size, you'll find fewer restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and attractions. Even the smallest Royal Caribbean ships still have quite a bit to offer, though.

If you're sailing with the line for the first time, it's important to understand that not all of Royal Caribbean's signature attractions and venues are present on all its ships. For instance, while every Royal Caribbean vessel now has one of the line's iconic climbing walls (some have two), only the 19 ships of the line's big-ship classes have a FlowRider surfing simulator. Only the 14 ships of the Icon, Oasis, Freedom and Voyager classes have ice skating rinks.

Here is a look at the seven classes of Royal Caribbean ships in more detail.

Ships in class: Icon of the Seas (2024), Star of the Seas (coming in 2025); unnamed vessel (coming in 2026)

Size: 250,800 tons

Is your idea of a great vacation a trip to a megaresort loaded with more restaurants, bars, theaters and watery amusements than you can imagine? Royal Caribbean's new Icon Class is the ship class for you.

As mentioned above, Icon of the Seas — the only Icon Class ship currently in operation — is bigger than any other cruise vessel afloat at 250,800 tons, and for big-ship lovers, there's really nothing quite like it. The two more Icon Class ships debuting soon will be equally over-the-top in size and venues.

Each of the Icon Class vessels that are operating or soon to debut has been designed with seven separate pools (a new record for a cruise ship), a water park with six waterslides (also a record), a kiddie splash zone, surfing simulators, a miniature golf course, a basketball court and even a zip line. And that's just on their top decks.

Inside the vessels, you'll find more lounges, bars, restaurants and shops than you can imagine — plus huge casinos, spas and showrooms with Broadway-style shows. They even have indoor ice skating rinks, just in case you want to get your Michelle Kwan on.

What you won't find on the Icon Class ships is intimacy. These are vessels that can carry as many as 7,600 passengers when every berth is filled. They operate with around 2,300 crew members. That means you could be sharing your vacation with nearly 10,000 people.

If the above sounds downright outrageous to you, it is. Keep in mind, though, that the biggest megaresorts on land are even bigger. The biggest resort in the U.S. — The Venetian in Las Vegas — has 7,092 rooms. That means it can hold more than 14,000 guests, assuming there are two people per room.

By that measure, Icon Class ships are almost small.

Icon Class ships also don't necessarily feel as crowded as they are. Royal Caribbean's designers are masters at creating vessels that can carry thousands and thousands of people but still feel relatively uncrowded — at least in some areas. You can have a quiet afternoon reading a book on a bench in the sometimes nearly empty, tree-lined Central Park area of Icon of the Seas while, just a few decks above, thousands of vacationers are frolicking about at the ship's pools.

Related: Why Royal Caribbean's new Icon of the Seas won't feel as crowded as you think

Only one ship in this series (Icon of the Seas) is currently operating, but the second vessel in the series (Star of the Seas) is already open for bookings. Its maiden voyage is set for Aug. 17, 2025.

Quantum Class

Ships in class: Quantum of the Seas (2014), Anthem of the Seas (2015), Ovation of the Seas (2016), Spectrum of the Seas (2019) and Odyssey of the Seas (2021)

Size: 168,666 to 169,379 tons

Unveiled in 2014, the Quantum Class may be Royal Caribbean's most innovative class ever.

In addition to a wide range of restaurants, bars and showrooms, the five ships in the class feature some of the most unusual new attractions you'll find at sea. This includes bumper car pavilions (yes, somehow they found room for these) and skydiving simulators.

The ships also have glass-enclosed capsules mounted on mechanical arms that will take you soaring into the sky for bird's-eye views. They're called the North Star rides, and they may be the oddest attractions ever added to the top of a cruise ship.

Quantum Class ships also feature unusual, multilevel entertainment spaces with floor-to-ceiling glass walls called Two70. The spaces are home to innovative shows that often feature aerial performers, singers and dancers who emerge from openings in the floor or the ceiling. At certain times of the day, the glass walls transform into an expansive ambient surface called Vistarama that projects real and imagined scenes.

Related: The 10 wildest attractions you'll find on a cruise ship

All the above come in addition to many of the core Royal Caribbean attractions you'll find on most of the brand's ships, including pools, rock climbing walls, casinos, spas and Broadway-style shows. But don't expect all the classic Royal Caribbean features on Quantum Class ships. For instance, you won't find ice skating rinks on the vessels even though they're a staple of all other big Royal Caribbean ships. Quantum Class ships also don't have water parks.

The Quantum Class ships aren't quite as big as Royal Caribbean's Icon Class and Oasis Class vessels (and thus don't have quite as much room for things like ice skating rinks). At around 169,000 tons, though, they're still among the biggest ships at sea, with a significant number of venues.

They also can carry a lot of people. Most of the ships in the class hold 4,180 passengers at double occupancy — 4,905 if every berth is filled. One exception is Spectrum of the Seas, which was specifically built for the China market with some design differences. It can hold up to 5,622 passengers. Additionally, the newest ship in the series, Odyssey of the Seas, can hold up to 5,498 passengers.

Related: 4 things you'll love about Royal Caribbean's new Odyssey of the Seas

One more big difference between the ships of the Quantum Class and other big Royal Caribbean ships: The Quantum Class ships are designed to be more versatile.

If you look closely at their deck plans, you'll notice that more of their main attractions are indoors and protected from the elements than the ships of the Icon, Oasis or Freedom classes, for example.

One of the two main pool areas on each Quantum Class ship (except Odyssey of the Seas) is enclosed. The bumper car pavilions are, too, doubling as roller skating rinks or indoor basketball courts. This allows Royal Caribbean to send the ships to cooler regions of the world, such as Alaska and Northern Europe, where the temperatures aren't always conducive to outdoor activity.

Royal Caribbean has also used some Quantum Class ships for sailings out of China.

Related: Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean's loyalty program

Oasis Class

Ships in class: Oasis of the Seas (2009), Allure of the Seas (2010), Harmony of the Seas (2016), Symphony of the Seas (2018), Wonder of the Seas (2022) and Utopia of the Seas (coming 2024)

Size: 226,838 to 236,857 tons

Until this year's debut of Icon of the Seas, these were the world's biggest and most venue-packed cruise ships. Although they're not quite as big as the new vessel, they remain among the very best options for vacationers who love nothing more than a big, bustling resort with every sort of amusement known to humans.

Each of the Oasis Class vessels has three separate main pool areas, a kiddie splash zone, surfing simulators, a miniature golf course, a basketball court and a zip line on their top decks — a nearly as wide array of features as the new Icon of the Seas. Inside the vessels, as on Icon of the Seas, you'll find a seemingly endless number of lounges, bars, restaurants and shops, as well as large casinos, spas and showrooms. Like Icon of the Seas, each ship has an indoor ice skating rink.

As is the case for Royal Caribbean's new Icon Class ships, which have many similarities with the Oasis Class ships, these vessels carry a huge number of people. They can carry as many as 6,988 passengers when every berth is filled. They operate with around 2,200 crew members. That means you could be sharing your vacation with more than 9,000 people — not quite as many as the nearly 10,000 you could find on an Icon Class ship but still a huge number.

The good news for those of you worried about excessive crowds is that, as is the case with the Icon Class ships, the Oasis Class ships don't necessarily feel as crowded as they are. Royal Caribbean designed them with a "neighborhood" concept that spreads passengers out in seven or eight (depending on the ship) distinct areas, such as the Pool and Sports Zone and the Boardwalk amusement zone. A lot of thought went into how passengers move between these neighborhoods, too.

Note that there are a few differences from ship to ship in the Oasis Class series. For starters, the three newest and largest ships in the series — Wonder of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas — have a few additional attractions and venues. Among them is the Ultimate Abyss, a terrifying slide that drops nine decks. (Royal Caribbean says it drops 10 decks, but don't be fooled; the line counts a nonexistent Deck 13.)

There are also giant waterslides on four of the five ships. Only Allure of the Seas is missing them. There are plans to add waterslides to Allure of the Seas, but they were put on hold after COVID-19 shut down cruising in 2020.

Related: The 6 most spectacular waterslides and watery fun zones at sea

A handful of restaurants also differ from ship to ship in the series.

The newest and largest ship in the series, Wonder of the Seas, has the most differences from the other Oasis Class vessels. At 236,857 tons, it's about 4% bigger than the next biggest ship in the series; the extra space is devoted to such additions as a dedicated suite area with a private lounge, a restaurant and a sun deck.

Related: Why Wonder of the Seas is awesome for families | Wonder of the Seas cabin comparison | A wild race to try every Wonder of the Seas attraction in 2 days

A sixth ship in the Oasis Class series, Utopia of the Seas , is scheduled to debut in July. Construction of the vessel began in April 2022 at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France — the same shipyard that built Wonder of the Seas.

Radiance Class

Ships in class: Radiance of the Seas (2001), Brilliance of the Seas (2002), Serenade of the Seas (2003) and Jewel of the Seas (2004)

Size: 90,090 tons

Not sure you want to sail on a megaship with 6,000 people but still want a vessel with a good amount of features and activities? The Radiance Class ships may be the perfect solution.

At 90,090 tons, the four vessels in the series are less than half the size of Royal Caribbean's massive Icon Class and Oasis Class ships, but still big enough that they have a lot to offer.

Each vessel has more than a half-dozen places to eat, including the main restaurant, a casual buffet, a steakhouse, an Italian restaurant and an Asian venue.

You'll also find three pools on each ship, whirlpools, a rock climbing wall, a miniature golf course, a sports court and an adults-only solarium. Each ship has a theater, a spa, a casino, and multiple bars and lounges.

What you won't find on the ships, because of their smaller size, are all the gee-whiz attractions — such as ice skating rinks, surfing simulators, giant waterslides and bumper car pavilions — that Royal Caribbean has put on its bigger vessels. If you can't live without those sorts of features on a cruise ship, the Radiance class probably isn't for you.

Each Radiance Class ship holds more than 2,100 passengers at double occupancy (plus a few hundred more with every berth filled). That's less than half the number of passengers on the biggest Royal Caribbean ships.

That makes them perfect for cruisers who want to get away from the sort of crowds on the biggest megaships without giving up many of the amenities that big ships offer.

Freedom Class

Ships in class: Freedom of the Seas (2006), Liberty of the Seas (2007) and Independence of the Seas (2008)

Size: 154,407 to 156,271 tons

As recently as 2009, these were the biggest cruise ships in the world, and they're still quite big compared to almost all other cruise vessels afloat.

While no longer on the list of the top 25 biggest cruise ships — they've been displaced by Royal Caribbean's Icon, Oasis and Quantum Class vessels, as well as several ships from other lines — the Freedom Class vessels offer a classic big-ship experience with lots of restaurants, bars, showrooms and deck-top attractions.

The Freedom Class ships, notably, were the first Royal Caribbean ships to feature a FlowRider surfing simulator on their top decks — now a signature attraction for the line. The vessels also have multiple pool areas, a water park, a miniature golf course and a rock climbing wall on their top decks (which are among the most activity-packed at sea).

Indeed, the top decks of Freedom Class ships are more loaded with attractions than any other Royal Caribbean vessels except the Icon Class and Oasis Class vessels. You just won't find several of the most over-the-top attractions, such as zip lines, that Icon Class and Oasis Class ships have.

In their interiors, Freedom Class vessels have the mall-like Royal Promenade spaces filled with eateries, bars and shops that have become standard on bigger Royal Caribbean ships. They also have large casinos and spas.

Related: Royal Caribbean just fixed the worst part of cruising

At around 156,000 tons, the Freedom Class ships are about 38% smaller than the Icon Class ships and 31% smaller than the Oasis Class ships, a significant step down in size. They're nearly 8% smaller than the Quantum Class ships.

They also carry significantly fewer passengers than the Oasis Class ships. Freedom of the Seas and Independence of the Seas carry about 3,900 passengers at double occupancy (closer to 4,600 with every berth filled). Liberty of the Seas can carry several hundred more.

Voyager Class

Ships in class: Voyager of the Seas (1999), Explorer of the Seas (2000), Adventure of the Seas (2001), Navigator of the Seas (2002) and Mariner of the Seas (2003)

Size: 137,276 to 139,999 tons

The Voyager Class ships are similar to Freedom Class ships but shorter in length. In other words, the Freedom Class was a stretched version of the Voyager Class.

Like the Freedom Class vessels, the Voyager Class ships have many of Royal Caribbean's signature attractions, including rock climbing walls and ice skating rinks. In fact, the ships were the first at Royal Caribbean to have those attractions.

Voyager Class ships were also the first to feature a Royal Promenade with bars, cafes and shops in their interior. Each also has several specialty restaurants in addition to the main dining room and casual buffet; specialty restaurants include a version of Royal Caribbean's signature Chops Grille steakhouse and an Italian restaurant.

One of the main differences between the Voyager Class and the Freedom Class is that the Royal Promenades on Voyager Class ships are shorter. The top-deck areas of the Voyager Class ships are also more truncated than the Freedom Class vessels.

There are also fewer cabins on the Voyager Class ships, resulting in fewer passengers on board a typical sailing. Most of the ships carry around 3,100 passengers at double occupancy — about 800 fewer than the typical Freedom Class ship.

At around 139,000 tons, the ships are about 11% smaller than the Freedom Class ships.

There are also some variations in attractions among the five Voyager Class vessels. Navigator of the Seas has a relatively new waterslide zone that's home to The Blaster, the longest waterslide at sea . You won't find that on the other ships, though most of them have different waterslides. Only three of the five ships — Voyager of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas — have laser tag courses. Adventure of the Seas is the only vessel in the class with a kiddie splash zone.

Related: Why the overhaul of Navigator of the Seas was so great

Vision Class

Ships in class: Grandeur of the Seas (1996), Rhapsody of the Seas (1997), Enchantment of the Seas (1997) and Vision of the Seas (1998)

Size: 73,817 to 82,910 tons

Dating to the 1990s, the Vision Class ships are the smallest at Royal Caribbean, and they offer fewer onboard attractions and amenities than is typical for the line's vessels.

In general, they appeal to cruisers looking for a more intimate experience on a cruise ship as well as those who care more about the destinations they visit than the onboard attractions.

Along those lines, Royal Caribbean often sends some of its Vision Class ships to Europe in the summer to operate port call-intensive itineraries. The vessels also often sail longer trips in the Caribbean that include less-visited southerly islands. In both cases, the allure of the cruises has more to do with the ports the ships visit than the onboard experience.

Vision Class ships are also sometimes based in secondary ports such as Baltimore or San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the size of the local cruise market might not warrant a larger vessel.

Except for rock climbing walls, the Vision Class ships have none of the signature Royal Caribbean deck-top attractions such as surfing and skydiving simulators. For the most part, their top decks are lined with pools, whirlpools and sunning areas, as is typical for ships built in the 1990s. All have at least two pools and six whirlpools, except for Enchantment of the Seas, which has three pools and six whirlpools.

Related: Is cruising right for you? Start by asking yourself these 7 questions

In addition to main restaurants and casual buffets, each ship has at least one (and often several) additional specialty restaurants. The line's signature Chops Grille steakhouse and Italian eatery Giovanni's Table are two of them. Rhapsody of the Seas has the biggest selection of dining; Enchantment of the Seas has the smallest. Three of the four vessels — all but Enchantment of the Seas — have an Izumi Asian restaurant.

Each of the ships varies slightly in size. Grandeur of the Seas is the smallest of the four vessels, measuring around 74,000 tons. Enchantment of the Seas is the biggest, measuring around 83,000 tons (it was, notably, lengthened by 73 feet in 2005).

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Complete Guide to Royal Caribbean Fleet & Ship Classes

Of the major cruise lines, few offer a more diverse lineup of ship classes than Royal Caribbean. In fact, for the most-part, Royal Caribbean ship classes are quite distinguishable from each other. In this post, we’re highlighting class specific features and giving you the insight to choose the best ship for your next Royal Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean has been a leading innovator in the cruising industry for over five decades. From 1996 through 2021, Royal Caribbean introduced a new cruise ship every year in all but six of those years. Their current fleet of 26 ships which includes two under construction, are grouped into seven ship classes, each with their own base of specific common features.

Vision Class

Currently the oldest vessels in the fleet, Vision Class ships were launched between 1995 and 1998 and of the original six ships in this class there are four remaining. With two full decks of balcony staterooms & suites, Vision class ships made the once out-of-reach balcony stateroom more accessible for cruisers. Theses ships were also the first to feature Royal Caribbean’s adult-only Solarium.

Grandeur of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Southern Caribbean (Barbados), Short Caribbean (Galveston), Caribbean (Miami)

Rhapsody of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Europe (Venice), Caribbean (Tampa)

Enchantment of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries : Bermuda (Baltimore), Bahamas/Caribbean (Baltimore), Canada/New England (Baltimore)

Notes: Enchantment of the Seas was lengthened in 2005 by cutting the ship in two and adding a new 73-foot section. This resulted in increased capacity with 151 new staterooms, kids splash area, many new venues and the unique bridges on the pool deck.

Vision of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (San Juan, Fort Lauderdale), Mediterranean (Barcelona)

Voyager Class

Voyager Class was not only a game-changer for Royal Caribbean, but also the cruise industry. These incredible five ships launched between 1999 and 2003, proved that just about anything is possible on a cruise ship. Aside from their tremendous size, Voyager Class introduced many firsts like ice skating on real ice, the rock-climbing wall, the Royal Promenade with interior facing staterooms, Johnny Rockets Diner with waterview booths, plus expanded food and beverage options, entertainment venues and enhanced Royal Caribbean signature spaces. Over the years, these ships have been upgraded many times to include some of the latest most popular features from across the fleet.

Voyager of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Japan/Far East (Tianjin), Southeast Asia (Singapore), Baltics/Russia (Copenhagen, Stockholm), Canada/New England (Boston), Caribbean (San Juan)

2019 Amplification Highlights: – Addition of Perfect Storm Waterslides – Glow-in-the-dark laser tag – Redesigned Spa, Fitness Center & Kids Spaces – Addition of 72 new staterooms

Explorer of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Galveston, San Juan, Miami)

Notes: Explorer of the Seas was to receive a major amplification in 2020 which is now on hold indefinitely.

Adventure of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Bahamas (Nassau, Cape Liberty), Caribbean (Galveston), Bermuda (Cape Liberty), Canada/New England (Cape Liberty)

Notes: Adventure of the Seas was to receive a major amplification in 2021 which is now on hold indefinitely.

Navigator of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Bahamas (Miami, Fort Lauderdale), West Coast/Mexico (Los Angeles)

2019 Amplification Highlights – Addition of Blaster Aqua Coaster, Riptide Mat Racer – Reimagined Pool Deck – Glow-in-the-dark laser tag – Royal Escape Room – Redesigned Spa, Fitness Center & Kids Spaces – Several new dining venues and bars including Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, Hooked Seafood, El Loco Fresh, Lime & Coconut, Bamboo Room

Mariner of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Bahamas (Port Canaveral), Caribbean (Port Canaveral), Bermuda (Port Canaveral)

2018 Amplification Highlights – Addition of Perfect Storm Waterslides – Sky Pad – Glow-in-the-dark laser tag – Royal Escape Room – Several new dining venues and bars including Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, Jamie’s Italian, Izumi Hibachi & Sushi, Bamboo Room

Radiance Class

The four ships of the Radiance-Class were launched between 2001 and 2004. While Royal Caribbean was building the much larger Voyager class ships during that time, Radiance class ships were designed to Panamax standards to allow them to pass through the Panama Canal. There are many design elements carried over from previous classes, however, Radiance-Class ships were all about taking in the views. In fact, these ships boast exterior view elevators, two-level glass sections in the dining rooms, many ocean-facing public venues and over 500 balcony staterooms.

Radiance of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Caribbean (Miami), Alaska (Vancouver, Seward)

Notes: With their large use of glass throughout the vessels, Radiance Class ships have made a career visiting Alaska and other very scenic destinations.

Brilliance of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Tampa), Bahamas (Tampa), Mediterranean (Venice)

Serenade of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Australia/New Zealand (Sydney), Alaska (Vancouver), Caribbean (Tampa), Bahamas (Tampa)

Jewel of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Europe (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam), Canada/New England (Boston), Caribbean (Miami, Port Canaveral)

Freedom Class

The three ships of the Freedom class launched between 2006 and 2008, built on the success of the Voyager class ships with many enhancements. While the overall design between the two ship classes is quite similar, the increased size of Freedom class allowed designers at Royal Caribbean to push innovation and provide more onboard experiences. Freedom class introduced the lines first cantilevered whirlpools, FlowRider Surf Simulator and dedicated kids splash park, plus expanded dining and entertainment venues in the larger Royal Promenade and around the ship.

Freedom of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Bermuda (Cape Liberty), Canada/New England (Cape Liberty), Caribbean (Miami), Bahamas (Miami)

2020 Amplification Highlights – Addition of Perfect Storm Waterslides – Reimagined Pool Deck – Glow-in-the-dark laser tag – Conversion of H2O Zone to Splashaway Bay – Redesigned Spa, Fitness Center & Kids Spaces – Several new dining venues and bars including Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen, El Loco Fresh, Lime & Coconut

Liberty of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Galveston), Bahamas (Port Everglades)

Notes: Liberty of the Seas was to receive a major amplification in 2021 which is now on hold indefinitely. During her 2016 dry dock, Liberty of the Seas received Perfect Storm waterslides, including the only boomerang water slide at sea, Tidal Wave, conversion of H2O Zone to Splashaway Bay and new dining and beverage venues.

Independence of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Miami), Bahamas (Port Canaveral)

2018 Amplification Highlights – Addition of Perfect Storm Waterslides – Sky Pad – Glow-in-the-dark laser tag – Royal Escape Room – Conversion of H2O Zone to Splashaway Bay – Several new dining venues and bars including Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, Izumi Hibachi & Sushi, Fish & Ships, Sugar Beach

Oasis Class

When it comes to major leaps forward within the cruise industry, the introduction of the Oasis class ships in 2009 has been one that has set the bar to such a high level, that even after more than a decade, no other cruise lines have come close. The four Oasis Class vessels, with a fifth under construction and another on order, are vessels whose design is so revolutionary in size, amenities, varieties of accommodation and awe-inspiring onboard experiences. Royal Caribbean delivered a long list of firsts with Oasis class ships. These include the first Zip Line at Sea, diving and entertainment venue the AquaTheater, two-level loft suites, hand-crafted carousel and the two split hull sections of Central Park and Boardwalk, offering dining, entertainment and the first non-ocean view balcony staterooms.

Never to be outdone, even by their own vessels, in 2016 with the launch of Harmony of the Seas, the third Oasis Class ship, Royal Caribbean introduced the Ultimate Abyss slide that winds its way from Deck 16 down to the Boardwalk on Deck 6, The Perfect Storm waterslides including the line’s first champagne bowl slide, Splashaway Bay and the Bionic Bar.

These new features and more have also made their way to Oasis of the Seas following her 2019 Amplification with Allure of the Seas currently waiting to receive a similar makeover at a future date.

Oasis of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Bahamas (Cape Liberty), Caribbean (Miami), Canada/New England (Cape Liberty)

2019 Amplification Highlights – Addition of Perfect Storm Waterslides – Addition of Ultimate Abyss – Reimagined Pool Deck – Glow-in-the-dark laser tag – Royal Escape Room – Conversion of H2O Zone to Splashaway Bay – Several new dining venues and bars including Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, Music Hall, Lime & Coconut, Portside BBQ, El Loco Fresh

Allure of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, Galveston), Mediterranean (Barcelona, Civitavecchia)

Notes: Allure of the Seas was to receive a major amplification in 2020 which is now on hold indefinitely.

Harmony of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Port Canaveral), Mediterranean (Barcelona, Civitavecchia)

Notes: Harmony of the Seas continued the evolution of the Oasis Class with the debut of the Ultimate Abyss, Perfect Storm waterslides, Splashaway Bay and Bionic Bar.

Symphony of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Miami)

Notes: Symphony of the Seas debuted casual eatery El Loco Fresh, Hooked Seafood, Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade and the Ultimate Family Suite.

Wonder of the Seas

2022-2023 Itineraries: Caribbean (Port Everglades, Port Canaveral), Mediterranean (Barcelona, Civitavecchia)

Notes: The fifth Oasis Class ship, Wonder of the Seas is currently under construction with a planned debut in 2022. Originally built for the Chinese cruise market, Royal Caribbean decided to reposition her debut. She will continue the evolution of the class with many new spaces and a design that is quite different from her sisters.

Quantum Class

Sometimes it’s not about building bigger, but smarter. Royal Caribbean’s Quantum Class is a convergence of style and technology that delivers an incredible array of features and onboard experiences. Firsts in this class include Ripcord by iFly, the only sky diving simulators at sea, North Star, where guests get elevated 360 degree views from the comfort of their observation capsule and SeaPlex, a two-level multi-purpose indoor space offering activities like bumper cars, roller skating, basketball and more. Be entertained in the one-of-a-kind theater, Two70, where the latest tech in robotics and high-definition displays envelopes the audience and is part of the show experience. Add to that, sophisticated dining choices and some of Royal Caribbean’s most popular features spun in a totally new way.

Quantum of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Far East (Singapore), Australia/New Zealand (Brisbane), Alaska (Seattle)

2019 Dry Dock Notes: During Quantum of the Seas scheduled 5-year dry dock in 2019, she received an Escape Room and Laser Tag along with routine maintenance.

Anthem of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Europe/Mediterranean (Southampton), Bahamas (Cape Liberty), Caribbean (Cape Liberty)

2020 Dry Dock Notes: During Anthem of the Seas scheduled 5-year dry dock in 2020, she received routine maintenance.

Ovation of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Australia/New Zealand (Sydney), Alaska (Seattle)

Notes: Ovation of the Seas was the third and final Quantum Class ship before the arrival of the enhanced Quantum Ultra Class.

Quantum Ultra Class

Expanding on the successful technological wonder of the Quantum Class, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum Ultra Class ships deliver the same excitement with some new additions. New to this class is Sky Pad, offering thrills of a virtual reality bungee trampoline, loads of new dining and beverage spots and glow-in-the-dark laser tag. Tweaks were also made to elevate the onboard experience throughout the ship.

Spectrum of the Seas

2021-2022 Itineraries: Far East (Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Tianjin)

Notes: Spectrum of the Seas was designed specifically for the Chinese cruise market and features exclusive venues not found on any other Royal Caribbean ships.

Odyssey of the Seas

2021-2023 Itineraries: Mediterranean (Civitavecchia), Caribbean (Port Everglades)

There’s not a lot publicly known about Royal Caribbean’s future new builds under the Icon Class. Currently, there are three ships in this class on order with the first scheduled for 2023 and vessels 2 and 3 following in 2025 and 2026. These ships will be an all-new design, likely featuring some incredible new experiences plus incorporate many of Royal Caribbean’s most popular ones. The 200,000-gross ton, 5,000 guest vessels will be larger than Quantum Class, but smaller than Oasis class and utilize new propulsion technology with an eco-friendly LNG drive system significantly reducing emissions.

How many of these Royal Caribbean ships have you sailed on? Let us know in the comments.

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Royal Caribbean Ship Classes: You’ve undoubtedly heard of Royal Caribbean’s enormous Icon Class and Oasis Class ships, even if you’ve never cruised before. They are unlike anything else at sea, and larger than any other cruise ship currently in operation, except one MSC Cruises ship.

It is quite possible that when someone discusses the impressive quality of Royal Caribbean’s “floating megaresorts,” they are referring to the six ships that comprise these two groups of ships. This includes the largest cruise ship in the world, the recently launched Icon of the Seas.

This article explores the different categories and their features as a kind introduction to Royal Caribbean ship classes. It is possible to make an informed choice about which Royal Caribbean cruise ship best meets your demands for the ultimate vacation experience by examining the similarities and differences between each class.

An overview of the ships operated by Royal Caribbean

Those who like a megaresort experience will mostly find interest in Royal Caribbean’s large, lively megaships. The company’s brand has been established on providing travelers with an abundance of entertainment options on board, as well as food options (some ships have over 20 different venues to grab a bite to eat) and entertainment. Its boats are enjoyable and vivacious.

However, the extravagant megaresort experience on a Royal Caribbean cruise differs according on the class.

The size, facilities, and capacity of the line’s five Oasis Class ships and one Icon Class ship are unmatched by anything else available at sea. With every berth filled, they can accommodate almost 6,600 passengers apiece.

The five Quantum Class and three Freedom Class ships in the line, while somewhat less in size, are still enormous by any standards, with a combined capacity of approximately 4,500 to 5,600 people. The line’s five Voyager Class ships are also rather large, seating up to 3,800 passengers at full capacity.

The big-ship fleet of Royal Caribbean consists of 19 ships from these five classes: Icon, Oasis, Quantum, Freedom, and Voyager. The remaining eight ships in the line, which are divided into two classes, are smaller and have a maximum occupancy of about 2,500 passengers.

Even though they are no longer the main attraction at Royal Caribbean, the line’s older, smaller ships nevertheless enable it to offer itineraries to destinations that are difficult for larger ships to reach. Not every port on Earth can accommodate a vessel the size of Icon of the Seas.

A portion of Royal Caribbean enthusiasts who desire greater intimacy aboard a cruise ship and are willing to forgo some onboard amenities in exchange are drawn to the smaller ships. Also, sailing them is frequently less expensive each day.

The largest Royal Caribbean ships have the most facilities, as one might anticipate. You’ll discover fewer eateries, pubs, entertainment centers, and attractions with every size reduction. Still, there’s a lot to offer on even the tiniest Royal Caribbean ships.

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Royal Caribbean Ship Classes

Ships in class:  Icon of the Seas (2024), Star of the Seas (coming in 2025); unnamed vessel (coming in 2026)

Size:  250,800 tons

When Icon of the Seas makes her debut in May 2024, she will surpass all other cruise ships in the world in size.

Since the Quantum class debuted in 2014, Royal Caribbean has launched its first new cruise ship type, the Icon class. Additionally, it is the first cruise ship in the Royal Caribbean class to run on LNG (liquified natural gas).

With a gross tonnage of 250,800 GT, the mega-cruise ship is approximately 6% larger than the Oasis-class ships. With 2,805 cabins and a length of 1,198 feet, the ship can hold up to 7,800 guests.

Bigger is better is the philosophy that Icon of the Seas adheres to.

Since tickets for Icon’s debut voyage sold out in less than 24 hours, devoted cruisers are thrilled.

Icon cruise ships, like those of the Oasis class, feature eight distinct neighborhoods:

The largest ice rink in Royal Caribbean’s fleet, the largest pool and waterpark at sea, the largest waterfall at sea, and a three-story Ultimate Family Townhouse are all features of the new class of cruise ships.

Oasis Class

Ships in class:  Oasis of the Seas (2009), Allure of the Seas (2010), Harmony of the Seas (2016), Symphony of the Seas (2018), Wonder of the Seas (2022) and Utopia of the Seas (coming 2024)

Size:  226,838 to 236,857 tons

These cruise ships were the largest and most jam-packed in the world until the launch of Icon of the Seas this year. They’re not quite as large as the new ship, but they’re still one of the greatest choices for travelers who would do anything to spend their holiday time at a large, busy resort with all the entertainment imaginable.

Nearly as many amenities as the new Icon of the Seas, the Oasis Class ships include three distinct primary pool areas, a kiddie splash zone, surfing simulators, a miniature golf course, a basketball court, and a zip line on their upper decks. Like on Icon of the Seas, there are several lounges, bars, restaurants, and stores inside the ships in addition to sizable casinos, spas, and showrooms. Each ship features an indoor ice skating rink, just like Icon of the Seas.

These ships can accommodate large crowds, just like the new Icon Class ships from Royal Caribbean, which resemble the Oasis Class ships in many ways. When every berth is occupied, they can accommodate up to 6,988 passengers. They have over 2,200 crew people working for them. This implies that you may be vacationing with almost 9,000 people, which is a significant amount of people even though it’s not nearly as many as the over 10,000 people you may find on an Icon Class ship.

The good news for those of you who are concerned about overcrowding is that the Oasis Class ships, like the Icon Class ships, don’t often feel as full as they actually are. The “neighborhood” concept, which was used in their design by Royal Caribbean, divides passengers into seven or eight distinct sections, depending on the ship, including the Boardwalk amusement zone and the Pool and Sports Zone. The way that commuters move between different areas has also been carefully considered.

Be aware that the Oasis Class series of ships varies slightly from ship to ship. To begin with, Wonder of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, and Harmony of the Seas, the three newest and biggest ships in the series, offer a few more features and venues. The Ultimate Abyss, a terrible slide that drops nine decks, is one of them. (While Royal Caribbean claims that it drops ten decks, the line counts a nonexistent Deck 13.)

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On four of the five ships, there are enormous waterslides as well. They are absent from Allure of the Seas only. The addition of waterslides to Allure of the Seas was planned, however it was shelved in 2020 when COVID-19 closed cruises.

Quantum Class

Ships in class:  Quantum of the Seas (2014), Anthem of the Seas (2015), Ovation of the Seas (2016), Spectrum of the Seas (2019) and Odyssey of the Seas (2021)

Size:  168,666 to 169,379 tons

Modern entertainment options and state-of-the-art technology are hallmarks of the Quantum Class ships. These ships are home to the famous North Star observation capsule, the Two70° entertainment venue, and RipCord by iFly.

Although significantly smaller than Oasis class cruise ships, Quantum class ships provide a number of features and activities not available on other Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

The ships can accommodate 4,200 passengers and have a gross tonnage of slightly under 170,000GT.

Technology is used in a new Two70 entertainment area at the ship’s aft to create a distinctive, multifunctional space. The entertainment facility features serene 270-degree panoramic ocean views during the day and heart-stopping performances at night.

An unique exercise is the North Star in the Quantum class. Passengers can ascend 300 feet over the ocean in the glass and steel observation pod, which takes you over the ship’s edge.

Accept it from us. The greatest way to take in Alaska’s beautiful scenery is with the North Star.

Royal Caribbean created the Quantum class to travel through both warm and cold climates. The covered sports complex and indoor pool on cruise ships allow you to take use of all the amenities that a cruise holiday has to offer, regardless of the weather.

Freedom Class

Ships in class:  Freedom of the Seas (2006), Liberty of the Seas (2007) and Independence of the Seas (2008)

Size:  154,407 to 156,271 tons

Although they are no longer among the top 25 largest cruise ships—Royal Caribbean’s Icon, Oasis, and Quantum Class ships, along with a few ships from other lines—the Freedom Class ships still provide a traditional big-ship experience with an abundance of dining options, bars, showrooms, and deck-top attractions.

Notably, the Freedom Class ships were the first on the Royal Caribbean fleet to have the FlowRider surfing simulator on its upper decks, which is currently the line’s hallmark feature. On their upper decks, which are among the busiest at sea, the ships also have a rock climbing wall, various pool areas, a water park, and a miniature golf course.

Except the Icon and Oasis classes of Royal Caribbean ships, the top decks of the Freedom class ships do, in fact, have the most attractions. Some of the more extravagant features that the Icon Class and Oasis Class ships have, such zip lines, are simply not available here.

The mall-like Royal Promenade areas that are home to restaurants, bars, and retail establishments are a feature of Freedom Class ships’ interiors that are common to larger Royal Caribbean ships. They also feature sizable spas and casinos.

The Freedom Class ships represent a considerable reduction in size, coming in at roughly 156,000 tons, which is roughly 38% smaller than the Icon Class ships and 31% smaller than the Oasis Class ships. Compared to the Quantum Class ships, they are over 8% smaller.

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Additionally, they have a far smaller passenger capacity than the Oasis Class ships. At double occupancy, Freedom of the Seas and Independence of the Seas can accommodate roughly 3,900 passengers (almost 4,600 when every berth is occupied). A few hundred more can be carried by Liberty of the Seas.

Voyager Class

Ships in class:  Voyager of the Seas (1999), Explorer of the Seas (2000), Adventure of the Seas (2001), Navigator of the Seas (2002) and Mariner of the Seas (2003)

Size:  137,276 to 139,999 tons

The Royal Promenade is a bustling street-like area with shops, bars, and entertainment that Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager Class introduced first.

A innovation in cruise ship design, the Royal Promenade gave rise to the Central Park and Boardwalk on Oasis-class ships.

Along with other things, Voyager Class introduced mini-golf and ice skating.

For cruisers, the Voyager class offers fantastic value. Royal Caribbean has renovated all of the Voyager class ships to offer remarkable new features, even though they are older than several of the ships on our list.

Consider FlowRiders, aqua parks, water slides, new eateries, and more.

Radiance Class

Ships in class:  Radiance of the Seas (2001), Brilliance of the Seas (2002), Serenade of the Seas (2003) and Jewel of the Seas (2004)

Size:  90,090 tons

Floor to ceiling glass windows, open layouts, and sleek designs are characteristics of Radiance Class ships, which offer breathtaking views of the ocean and beautiful ports of call.

The Radiance class offers a traditional cruise experience rather than all the attractions and conveniences of more modern cruise ships.

These boats were intended for leisurely cruises to picturesque locations. There are plenty of external vistas available to passengers thanks to its vast open areas and panoramic windows. Some of the greatest cruise ports and ocean vistas are available from their glass elevators.

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The Radiance class offers several unique itineraries since, as smaller ships, they can visit some smaller cruise destinations that larger ships cannot. The vessels weigh about 90,000 GT.

The Caribbean, Australia, Alaska, and the Panama Canal are all accessible by Royal Caribbean’s Radiance class.

The self-leveling pool tables outside the Safari Club are one unusual activity. Gyroscopes are used in the tables to maintain levelness even when the ship sways with the waves.

Vision Class

Ships in class:  Grandeur of the Seas (1996), Rhapsody of the Seas (1997), Enchantment of the Seas (1997) and Vision of the Seas (1998)

Size:  73,817 to 82,910 tons

These cruise ships have some amazing bargains. And while the Vision class lacks some of the extras seen on more modern ships, it does have rock climbing, pools, hot tubs, spa, casino, and arcade.

Because of their tiny size, the Vision class can fit into smaller cruise ports. With its Vision class ships, Royal Caribbean offers cruises to far-flung locations seldom visited by its larger cruise ships.

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Helping you find cruise ships you'll love

All about the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas

The Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas was built in 1999. It was renovated in 2019. It's considered a medium size ship. Coming in at 1,020 ft long and 157 ft wide, it's roughly the length of 2.8 football fields, as wide as 3 tractor trailers, and the same height as a 14-story building.

Voyager of the Seas Overview

• Ship and Passengers
• Food and Restaurants
• Bars and Drinks
• Pools and Hot Tubs
• Ship Features and Activities

Cruise Costs

• Onboard Costs

Voyager of the Seas Size and Passengers

The Voyager of the Seas can hold 3,602 based on double occupancy (two people per room) and more when you take into account 3rd and 4th passengers. When you compare the total tonnage of the ship to the number of passengers, the Voyager of the Seas has a space ratio of 38. Depending on the ship, this number can range from 30 to 52 (with a bigger number meaning more space per person) so this ship's space-to-person ratio is about average.

The Voyager of the Seas is one of five Voyager-class ships currently sailing with Royal Caribbean. The Voyager-class ships were the first to introduce the Royal Promenade, a large central hub that runs through the middle of the ship, offering shopping, restaurants, bars, and activities. It also saw the introduction of the Studio B Ice Skating Rink and a climbing wall onboard. The Voyager of the Seas is very similar to its sister-ships; Explorer of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas, although each ship may have some differences.

Voyager of the Seas Food and Restaurants

Food is a big part of any cruise, and there will plenty on the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas. You have 8 different dining options to choose from. Of those options, 3 are complementary, or included with your cruise fare. The other 5 options have an additional fee. Some of those options are a set price and some have a la cart menu pricing. Only 38% of the dining options are included meaning you might spend more while on the ship due to the additional fees.

Voyager of the Seas Bars and Drinks

Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas has 10 different bars and lounges where you can enjoy a beer or cocktail. It also has 1 other bars that are available for select guests.

Alcohol is not included in the base price of this cruise ship. To see if you would save money with a drink package, try our Drink Package Calculator.

Royal Caribbean also serves the Coca-cola family of products. That means Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Barqs Root Beer, although the selection can vary by ship. Most Royal Caribbean ships also have Coke Freestyle machines where you can make 100 different flavor combinations.

Pools and Hot Tubs on Voyager of the Seas

Nothing beats relaxing by a pool with a nice drink in hand as you feel the fresh sea breeze pass by you. The problem is that with thousands of people on a ship, there's not always room. If you want to spend all day in a pool, a cruise might not be the right choice. You would have a much better bet choosing a resort with a huge pool complex. That being said, a quick dip in the pool can be nice on a hot day.

The Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas has a total of 3 pools and 6 hot tubs.

Tired of loud kids and splashing? 1 of the pools and 2 of the hot tubs are adults only.

Cruise Coloring and Activity Books for Kids Get your kids ready for their cruise or keep them entertained while on board with our custom made coloring and activity books. These are the Royal Caribbean editions with places like Studio B and Sorrento's featured.

Cruise Ship Coloring Book for Kids 3-5 - Royal Caribbean Edition

Let's Get Cruising Activity Book for Kids 6-8 - Royal Caribbean Edition

Voyager of the Seas Features and Activities

There are quite a few things to do on the Voyager of the Seas. These are the main amenities that are available. Some are included in the cost of the cruise, while others have an additional charge.

Royal Caribbean is a mainstream cruise line. Mainstream cruise lines cater to a variety of guests, hoping to provide something for everyone. These typically cost about $100 - $350 per person per day.

Cruise pricing is dynamic and varies for each specific sailing based on factors such as departure point, ports of call, and time of year.

Voyager of the Seas Onboard Costs

Another way to gauge the cost of a cruise is to consider how much you'll spend on board. Even though a lot is included in the base cruise fare, you may still spend money on things like spa treatments, specialty dining, drinks, and excursions. In addition, guests can also have to pay for things like gratuities and tips.

Typically guests can expect to spend about 25 - 40% of the cost of the cruise on onboard expenses. In other words, if the cruise fare is $1,000 per person, you might spend between $250 and $400 on extra expenses.

The table below will help you understand what you might spend onboard a Royal Caribbean ship.

Royal Caribbean uses dynamic pricing, which means the pricing for many things will vary per sailing. The daily gratuities and tip are consistent across the fleet, but the pricing for the drink package, internet, and excursions will change. The only way to know your price is to consult the Royal Caribbean cruise planner once you're booked.

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From Transformers Wiki

Size class is how Hasbro categorizes the size and production resources allotted to a toy . Toys of the same size class tend to have the same number of plastic parts, paint applications , and gimmicks . The logic behind size classes is simple: retailers can order a case of toys, knowing exactly how much they will sell for and exactly how much shelf space they will occupy. Each size class corresponds to its own suggested price point , or MSRP . The actual price found in stores may vary - Walmart and Target might differ by a few cents, and online retailers may increase the price to cover shipping costs.

The names of the size classes, their actual size, and their pricepoints have changed over time, due to marketability trends , inflation, the price of oil , and other outside factors.

The Transformers

Since it was a patchwork of products gathered together from multiple unrelated toylines , the original The Transformers toyline did not feature the modern size classes we know today. As information on how much the original toys sold for back in the '80s is limited, the only real "size classes" back then were based on whether a toy came carded (including smaller toys such as Mini Vehicles , Mini-Cassettes or combiner limbs) or boxed (consisting of medium to large Transformers and giftsets of smaller toys).

Beast Wars had five size classes.

• Basic, the cheapest at US$5.
• Deluxe, at US$10. This was one of the strongest performing price points, and nearly all future retail lines would feature product in the Deluxe price range.
• Mega, at US$15. Toys of this size were often shelfwarmers .
• Ultra, at US$20. Only eight toys were sold at this price point.
• Super, at US$30. This size class contained only one toy, Optimal Optimus .

Basic and Deluxe were sold on cards for many years after Beast Wars' conclusion. Toys in larger size classes are still sold in boxes.

These size classes were also used in the concurrent Animorphs line.

Beast Machines

Beast Machines continued Beast Wars' size classes, but increased the price of Basic to US$7.

Supreme was introduced as a US$40 size class. Cheetor was the only Supreme in this line; a Supreme Optimus Primal toy was planned to be in this line, but was moved to Robots in Disguise . Both of these supreme class designs featured electronic lights and sounds. Supreme Optimus Primal even featured speech by voice actor Garry Chalk .

Two additional size classes, Deployers (US$5) and Beast Riders (US$10) would turn out to be short-lived. The size of Ultra toys was increased while maintaining the price.

Robots in Disguise

Robots in Disguise used the Beast Machines size classes, though the Basic price point was once again lowered to US$5. However, most of the toys at this price point were either Spychanger two-packs or redecoed Generation 1 combiner limbs, making them somewhat smaller and less intricate than previous lines' Basics (a notable exception is the recolor of Obsidian , which was sold for less than the original version).

Robots in Disguise also had three Mega-priced multipacks of smaller figures (the three smaller Predacons, a trio of recolored Beast Machines Basics as Autobots, and the recolored Laser Cycles ).

Several of the line's toys ran afoul of the differences between US and Japanese packaging policies. The Team Bullet Train toys were individually packaged as Megas, despite being smaller than the usual members of that size class. The near-Basic-sized Wedge was sold as a Deluxe.

The Armada toyline renamed or repurposed all the existing price points:

• Mini-Con, at US$6.50 replaced the Basic price point, with 3-packs of Mini-Cons .
• Super-Con, at US$10 replaced the Deluxe.
• Max-Con, at US$20 replaced the Ultra. All Max-Cons had electronic sound effects.
• Giga-Con, at US$25. All Giga-Cons (except for Tidal Wave ) featured electronic lights and sounds.
• Super-Base, at US$40 replaced Super, but used the Supreme price point. The only figure of this class was Optimus Prime , who featured an infrared-activated automatic transformation gimmick, as well as lights and sounds.
• " Unicron " was in his own class using the Supreme size, at US$50. He had lights, but no sounds.

The old US$15 price, previously used by the Mega size class, was effectively discontinued, taken up by roleplay toys like the Star Saber and the Dark Saber .

Universe (2003)

The original Universe line reused the Beast Wars Deluxe and Ultra (the latter at US$20) size classes.

After the Universe line as such had effectively ended, repackaged Energon (and even later, Cybertron ) toys were sold on Universe cards as discount chain exclusives , divided into the price points Basic (US$5) and Deluxe (US$8).

Alternators

The Alternators line was unique in that it only consisted of a single price point (US$20). This was owed to the uniform scale of the line at 1:24, as well as the fact that all the toys from the line were based on licensed vehicles.

Some retailers actually listed the toys under the "Mega" price point, but this designation was never officially used by Hasbro. In fact, there was an official "Mega Alternators" assortment of sorts, which consisted of shrinkwrapped two-packs consisting of two individual toys (mostly limited to shelfwarmers such as Smokescreen , Side Swipe , or Windcharger ), available for the price of a single Alternators toy exclusively at Toys'R'Us.

Hasbro later replaced the original mass retail Alternators assortment with a second one, which remained at the original one's price point. In the case of Alternators Optimus Prime , Hasbro reportedly accepted a smaller profit margin (since the toy was more expensive to produce than other Alternators toys) so they could still sell it at the US$20 price point.

Energon took a somewhat random approach to size-class naming. The second pack-in catalog introduced the size class range as:

• Energon, at US$7
• Combat, at US$10
• Mega Combat, at US$20. All Mega Combat (and the subsequently renamed Mega Class) figures featured sound effects.
• Commanders, at US$25. Commanders had lights and sounds depending on the figure.
• Leaders, at US$40. Leaders featured both lights and sounds.
• Unicron was given no size class - US$50.

The third catalog explicitly referred to the price points as

• Energon Class
• Combat Class
• Mega Class (a renamed US$20 Mega Combat class, not to be confused with the old Beast Wars / Beast Machines / Robots in Disguise -era US$15 Mega class)
• Command Class
• Leaders Class
• Omega Supreme was given no size class.

The fourth and final catalog continued using the terms originated by the third (although each of the combiner teams has its own double-page spread, and the individual members have no price points listed, even though the limb and torso bots shipped as part of the Energon and Combat Class assortments, respectively), but finally listed Omega Supreme as Supreme Class .

Cybertron changed the naming of some size classes, but retained others:

• Legends of Cybertron , at US$3, with tiny market six -aimed figures.
• Mini-Con Class, at US$5 was added for the Mini-Con two-packs.
• Scout Class, at US$7
• Deluxe Class, at US$10
• Voyager Class, at US$20. Sound effects were dropped from all but four figures in this size class. Vector Prime , Leobreaker , Crumplezone and his remold Dark Crumplezone retained their sound effects gimmick.
• Ultra Class, at US$25. Ultra class toys had lights and sounds.
• Leader Class, at US$40. Leader class figures featured lights and sounds, and (except for Metroplex ) featured several Cyber Key gimmicks.
• Supreme Class, at US$50. Supreme class figures had lights and sounds, with several different Cyber Planet Key gimmicks. Primus featured an Omega Lock accessory gimmick that was essential for his transformation.

Classics kept the Deluxe and Voyager classes, renamed as:

• Legends, at US$4 - Legends of Cybertron repaints, raised $1 in price.
• Mini-Con, at US$7, in three-packs again, replacing the Scout Class price point.
• Classic Deluxe, at US$10.
• Classic Voyager, at US$20.

Transformers , the toyline based on the 2007 live-action movie , retained many size classes from before:

• Legends Class, at US$4.
• Scout Class, at US$7.
• Cyber Slammers, at US$8. A cutesy subline aimed at younger children.
• Deluxe Class, at US$10.
• Fast Action Battlers, at US$10. A gimmick-based subline .
• Voyager Class, at US$20. Continuing on from the standards set in Cybertron and Classics , Movie Voyagers featured no electronics unless they were redecos of toys from previous lines.
• Ultra Class, at US$25. (Consisted of two Toys"R"Us exclusive Cybertron redecoes.)
• Leader Class, at US$40. The Leaders featured electronic lights and sounds, usually attached to a spring-loaded Automorphing gimmick.

The Supreme class was dropped. The Scout Class, which consisted entirely of redecos of toys from the Energon and Cybertron toylines, was exclusively available at Target stores in the US, but was sold at mass retail in Europe and Canada. A standalone US$90 Ultimate Bumblebee figure was released.

The Transformers Animated toyline has the following size classes:

• Activators, at US$8. Toys in this assortment feature an automatic transformation gimmick .
• Bumper Battlers, at US$10. Toys that transform upon colliding with something, like the previous Cyber Slammers , but with audio effects.
• Voyager Class, at US$20.
• Leader Class, at US$40. Features electronic lights and sounds, including speech samples voiced usually by the actors from the cartoon.
• Supreme Class, at US$50. Only Roll-out Command Optimus Prime was released in this price point. It features electronic lights and sounds, including speech samples voiced by David Kaye .

Legends Class toys of the Animated cast were released as part of the Universe toyline.

Universe (2008)

The 2008 Universe toyline had the following size classes:

• Voyager Class, at US$20. Most toys in this assortment were redecos and retools of Cybertron toys, which had their sound effects removed and the battery compartments riveted shut, owing to budget changes in this price point between their original manufacture and release in Universe.
• Ultra Class, at US$25. All-new Ultra class figures featured lights and sounds.
• Supreme Class, at US$50. This size class consisted solely of the Toys 'R' Us exclusive repackaged Armada Unicron .

Revenge of the Fallen

Revenge of the Fallen was fairly similar to the first movie's toyline, with the addition of the Human Alliance and Supreme Combiner classes, as well as the prices jumping up a few dollars. Due to competition between mass retailers, Deluxe and Voyager were often marked down to around $10 and $20 respectively to drive sales to those stores.

• Legends Class, at US$5.
• Scout Class, at US$8.
• Deluxe Class, at US$13.
• Voyager Class, at US$22.
• Human Alliance, at US$30.
• Leader Class, at US$45.
• Supreme Combiner, at US$100. Consisted solely of the dog-sized Devastator toy.

Transformers (2010)

The 2010 Transformers toyline is basically a broader extension of the movie toylines, and follows their (approximate) size classes. The toyline is split between the Reveal the Shield and Hunt for the Decepticons subline imprints. The two imprints sometimes used different prices for the same size class, so they've been abbreviated to RtS and HftD for simplicity.

• RtS Legends Class, at US$3.99
• HftD Legends Class, at US$4.99
• Activators, at US$7.99
• HftD Scout Class, at US$7.99
• RtS Scout Class, at US$9.99
• Deluxe Class, at US$12.99
• Voyager Class, at US$22.99
• Human Alliance, at US$29.99
• Leader Class, at US$44.99
• Ultra Class, at US$59.99

The toyline also featured a variety of VS Sets, containing figures of various size classes and exclusive to several stores. These ranged in price from US$14.99 to US$26.99, with one UK exclusive at £26.99.

Power Core Combiners

The Power Core Combiners toyline released concurrently with Generations and Transformers (2010) toylines. It contained only two size classes.

• Commander 2-Pack, at US$9.99
• 5-Pack, at US$19.99

After most stores had long gotten rid of Power Core Combiners , Walmart released Black Friday bonus packs of a 5-Pack combiner team with a Commander 2-pack taped to the side . Each pack was sold for US$10.

Dark of the Moon

Dark of the Moon divides the toys into two major categories. The Cyberverse line contains Legion (previously Legends) and Commander (replacing Scout, but slightly smaller and less complex) size classes and transforming playsets which come with either a Legion or Commander class figure. The MechTech line includes Deluxes class figures and above, with the new addition of Basic figures to the Human Alliance subset. Due to the inclusion of the large MechTech weapons with Deluxe, Voyager and Leader figures, they are slightly smaller than those of the same size class in previous lines.

• Legion Class, at US$5.
• Commander Class, at US$8.
• Human Alliance Basic, at US$10.
• Cyberverse Action Set, at US$15.
• Cyberverse Playset, at US$24, consisting solely of the Cyberverse Ark playset.
• Human Alliance, at US$35.
• Ultimate, at US$75, consisting solely of the Ultimate Optimus Prime toy.

The Prime toyline started with the 'First Edition' line released in November 2011, and continued into the 'Prime: Robots in Disguise' 2012 line. Continuing to use the Legion, Commander, Deluxe and Voyager size classes at their previous price points, it also adds a 'Vehicle Class' consisting of a Cyberverse transforming playset and Legion-class figure, a 'Weaponizer' class for larger-than-Voyager figures with pop-out weaponry in both modes, and a 'Maximus' class for figures that transform into Cyberverse-scaled battle stations / powered armor suits.

• Vehicle Class, at US$20.
• Weaponizer Class, at US$30.
• Maximus Class, at US$35.

Generations

Original line.

The original Generations toyline ran from 2010 to 2011 and contained only Deluxe class figures at US$12.99.

Fall of Cybertron

The Fall of Cybertron toyline added new Legends and Voyager classes. The new Legends class comprised solely of Deployer figures to accompany the line's Voyager class Soundwave .

• Legends Class, at US$10.99
• Deluxe Class, at US$14.99

Thrilling 30

The Thrilling 30 toyline was centered around a new toy in a class of its own: Titan class Metroplex . It also saw the incorporation of a new Leader class, solely inhabited by Jetfire .

• Legends Class, at US$9.99
• Voyager Class, at US$29.99
• Titan Class, at US$124.99

Prime Wars Trilogy

Combiner wars.

The Combiner Wars subline imprint featured a new gimmick: Deluxe, Voyager, and some Legends class figures could be assembled into a larger Combiner .

• Collection Packs, at US$99.99 (exclusive to online retailers)
• Titan Class, at US$149.99

Titans Return

Combiner Wars transitioned smoothly into the Titans Return toyline , which debuted with more gimmicks: all Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader class figures were packaged with a Headmaster -style Titan Master partner, all of which are completely interchangeable. Additionally, all Voyager and most Leader Class figures are Triple Changers .

• Titan Master Class, at US$4.99
• Deluxe Class, at US$16.99
• Voyager Class, at US$24.99

Power of the Primes

As the fifth subline imprint of Generations , the Power of the Primes toyline essentially combines the gimmicks of the last two subline imprints. Combination joints are reintegrated into figures, and Voyagers and Deluxes are packaged with a pair of feet or a hand, respectively. Additionally, the Titan Masters have been reworked into Prime Masters , small figures intended to represent the sparks of the Primes .

• Prime Master Class at US$6.99
• Studio Series

Like previous movie lines, Studio Series contains three main categories; Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader. Voyager-sized figures with additional accessories are sold under the Leader price-point due to the cost of the extra plastic.

• Deluxe Class, at US$19.99
• Leader Class, at US$49.99
• Deluxe Multi-Pack, at US$29.99, contains a Deluxe figure with mini accessories or figures.
• Deluxe Class 2-pack, at US$39.99, Consists solely of the Bumblebee Then & Now 2-Pack.
• Bumblebee Retro Multi-pack, at US$59.99
• Devastator Gift set, at US$259.99

Starting with its Wave 13 in 2021, Studio Series would be affected by brand-wide price increases. The line also saw the introduction of Core Class in 2022, effectively similar to the prior Legends Class.

• Core Class, at US$10.99
• Deluxe Class, at US$22.99
• Voyager Class, at US$31.49
• Leader Class, at US$52.99

Wave 16 in 2022 would see another widespread price increase.

• Core Class, at US$11.99
• Deluxe Class, at US$24.99
• Voyager Class, at US$33.99
• Leader Class, at US$55.99
• Transformers Movie 1 15th Anniversary Multi-pack, at US$141.99

War for Cybertron Trilogy

War for cybertron: siege.

The War for Cybertron: Siege toyline continues and expands the structure used by the Studio Series line.

• Battle Master Class, at US$4.99
• Micromaster Class, at US$9.99, consisting of two-packs of Micromasters.
• Weaponizer Pack, at US$29.99. The only release in this price point in Siege is the Centurion Drone Weaponizer Pack . ​
• Reconnaissance Team 3-Pack, at US$69.99, unique to the Refraktor Reconnaissance Team 3-Pack.
• Seekers 3-Pack , at US$79.99
• Commander Class, at US$79.99
• Titan Class, at US$159.99

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

War for Cybertron: Earthrise uses mostly the same setup as Siege .

• Micromaster Class, at US$9.99

War for Cybertron: Kingdom

Once again, War for Cybertron: Kingdom continues the structure of its predecessors, although it saw a line-wide price increase in later waves. The chart below displays the new prices. The line eschewed Micromasters and Battle Masters in favor of Core Class, which is functionally the same as the Legends Class.

• Core Class, at US$9.99
• Weaponizer Pack, at US$29.99, the second release in this class is Tricranius Beast Power .
• Voyager Class, at US$31.99
• Titan Class, at US$169.99

Store-exclusive "Battle Across Time" two-packs were released at US$47.99 and US$52.99.

Transformers: Legacy continues the structure set by Kingdom . Beginning with its Wave 2, the line saw price increases for every class. The chart below displays the new prices.

• Deluxe Class Weaponizer, at US$31.49, consisting of Red Cog .
• Commander Class, at US$89.99
• Titan Class, at US$199.99

The store-exclusive "Wreck 'N Rule Collection" included two two-packs of Deluxes, released at US$44.99.

Age of Extinction

The Age of Extinction toyline was split into two different series. One series was known as "Robots in Disguise" which featured gimmicky toys such as the "Power Battlers" which are successors to the "Fast Action Battlers", "One-Step Changers" which convert in one easy step, "Dino Sparkers" which are unarticulated and non-transforming figures of Autobots riding non-transforming Dinobots who can generate sparks by being pulled back, "Flip and Change" figures which transform by being flipped over themselves, a "Smash and Change" Optimus which converts when smashed into the ground, a "Mega One-Step Bumblebee" which transform in one step but is the size of a "Leader Class" figure, and a 22 inch tall electronic "Stomp & Chomp Grimlock" which also converts in one step. The second series was a Generations series specifically for Age of Extinction which included "Deluxe Class", "Voyager Class", and "Leader Class" figures. The line also included "Legion Class" figures and two packs with both "Legion Class" and "Scout Class" figures exclusive to Wal-Mart. One last class is "Evolution Two-Packs" containing Age of Extinction versions of figures and redecos of older figures made to represent the past version of a character. Evolution Two-Packs are exclusive to Toys'R'Us.

• Legion Class, at US$4.97 (Exclusive to Wal-Mart)
• One-Step Changers, at US$9.99
• Legion Class and Scout Class Two-Packs, at US$11.87 (Exclusive to Wal-Mart)
• Dino Sparkers, at US$12.99
• Deluxe Class, at US$14.39
• Power Battlers, at US$14.99
• Deluxe Evolution Two-Packs, at US$16.99 (Exclusive to Toys'R'Us)
• Flip and Change, at US$19.99
• Smash and Change, at US$26.09
• Mega One-Step, at US$29.99
• Voyager Evolution Two-Packs, at US$39.99 (Exclusive to Toys'R'Us)
• Leader Class, at US$46.99
• Stomp & Chomp, at US$79.99

Rescue Bots

Robots in disguise (2015).

The 2015 Robots in Disguise toyline steps the Legion class up a bit in price and adds a Mini-Con size class where it formerly was. It also adds a new Warrior class, the first to use that name. The toyline draws heavily on the Age of Extinction toyline, including the return of classes such as Stomp n' Chomp and One-Step Changers. The line also introduces a new Crash Combiner gimmick, where two figures in altmode can be plugged (or crashed, if you prefer) into one another, springing out a combined robot form.

• Mini-Con, at US$4.99
• Legion Class, at US$5.99
• VS Set, at US$11.99 (Exclusive to Toys'R'Us)
• Warrior Class, at US$14.99
• Crash Combiners, at US$14.99
• Mini-Con 4 Pack, at US$17.99
• Activator Combiners, at US$19.99
• Three-Step Changers, at US$19.99
• Mini-Con Deployer, at US$19.99
• Mega One-Step Changers, at $US29.99
• Decepticon Island Showdown, at US$39.99, consisting solely of the Decepticon Island Showdown set.
• Super Three-Step Changers, at US$49.99
• Robots in Disguise Collection, at US$49.99, consisting solely of Robots in Disguise Collection set. (Exclusive to Target)
• Stomp n' Chomp, at US$79.99

Transformers Authentics

The Transformers Authentics toyline comprises kid-oriented evergreen toys. It exists entirely outside the preexisting size class nomenclature.

• "Bravo" assortment, at US$5
• "Alpha" assortment, at US$10
• Titan Changers, at US$10

The 2018 Cyberverse toyline contains several new gimmicks, including "Action Attack" attacking mechanisms, "Spark Armor" accessory vehicles that partsform into armor, and "Battle Call" voice-activated commands. The toyline's three subline imprints ( Power of the Spark , Battle for Cybertron/Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures , and Battle Call ) liberally reuse previous size class names, although with little correlation to their previous incarnations.

• Scout Class, at US$7.99
• Battle Class, at US$14.99
• Ultra Class, at US$19.99
• Elite Class, at US$24.99
• Trooper Class, at US$24.99
• Ultimate Class, at US$29.99
• Battle Base, at CAD$39.99, consisting solely of the Optimus Prime Battle Base Trailer. (Exclusive to Toys'R'Us in Canada)
• Officer Class, at US$49.99
• Roll & Change, at US$49.99
• Roll & Combine, (not yet released, with no known retailer exclusivity or price point.)

Size class chart

Class names, organized by toyline and approximate United States Dollar (USD) price point:

At this point, many prices went up a dollar or two. We break the chart here for clarity.

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North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists

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Voyagers are Pathfinders in 9th grade. Voyagers recite the Adventist Youth (AY) aim, motto, and pledge, illustrate through words and actions the AY aim meaning, and earn the Voyager reading certificate. Some of the fun and exciting honors Voyagers can earn are Internet - Advanced, Scuba Diving, Advanced Communications, Advanced Genealogy, Paper Quilling - Advanced, Outdoor Leadership, and Wilderness Living. Additionally, Voyagers teach Camping Skills I and Camping Skills II to other Pathfinders.

The following resources pertain to the Voyager Level.

Voyager Instructor Helps

The official Instructor's Helps designed to creatively engage Pathfinders in the Investiture Achievement requirements.

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VOYAGER  Requirements

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VOYAGER  Record Chart

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VOYAGER  Record Card

A small, tri-fold card for keeping track of the achievements of one Pathfinder at their level.

VOYAGER  Record Journal

The official Record Journal designed to creatively engage Pathfinders in the Investiture Achievement requirements.

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The official Director's Guide, containing an overview of the tracks for all Pathfinder Levels.

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Investiture Achievement on Pathfinder Wiki

The following tracks for the Voyager Level can be accessed from the Pathfinder Wiki site. Click on each icon to access each track. Click here for complete Investiture Achievement info on the Pathfinder Wiki .

Personal Growth

The Personal Growth track encourages each Pathfinder to have a personal relationship with Jesus through a daily devotional life, Bible study, and prayer.

Spiritual Discovery

In the Spiritual Discovery track, Pathfinders grow spiritually through the study of real people in the Bible and Christian history.

Serving Others

In the Serving Others track, Pathfinders experience the joy of service through outreach, friendship evangelism, and other church or community activities.

Making Friends

In the Making Friends track, Pathfinders learn how to be a friend to others, to the community, and to the planet.

Health & Fitness

In the Health and Fitness track, Pathfinders apply health and fitness principles, share these principles with others, and practice basic first aid and safety procedures.

Nature Study

In the Nature Study track, Pathfinders learn about God through observation of nature, time spent outdoors, and environmental stewardship.

Outdoor Living

In the Outdoor Living track, Pathfinders perform outdoor skills, solve outdoor challenges, and participate in outdoor team activities.

Honor Enrichment

Honor enrichment promotes personal growth and allows Pathfinders to explore their interests by earning new honors, learning new skills, and studying new content areas.

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Different Types of Cruise Ships Explained

We are often left in awe looking at the magnificent engineering marvels called the cruise ships. In our previous article, we had a detailed discussion about the differences between cruise ships and their former counterparts called ocean liners, which were once the only reliable means of global passenger transportation before the revolutionizing advent of aviation.

The indispensability of passenger shipping as the monopoly in public intercontinental travel gradually waned away roughly coinciding with the same timeline as the concept of ocean liners saw a departure, thanks to the flourishing of the aviation sector, and cruise ships became increasingly synonymous with passenger vessels .

As contrary to ocean liners which were commercial vessels for passenger transportation and sometimes carriage of cargo, mail services and other utilities regularly, cruise vessels are mostly for pleasure purposes and tourism.

They are solely dedicated to the hospitality and amenities of the passengers while onboard for vacation, excursions or pleasure. While we have described the differences between ocean liners and cruisers, let us now look at the different types of cruise ships that commonly exist.

Different Sizes of Cruise Ships

Cruise ships can be of various types and sizes. Speaking of sizes, like other cargo or general-purpose ships, passenger ships can be categorized as being of multiple sizes depending on operations, service location, purpose, passenger preference, and overall business scenario.

Furthermore, the size of the vessel is a simple indicator of the number of passengers it can sustain onboard and the extent of the facilities and amenities it can cater to.

A particular cruise line providing passenger services can also have multiple sizes of ships in its fleet based on the requirements.

For the past decades, cruise ships have increased considerably in size and have evolved to accommodate a large number of passengers and at the same time provide a plethora of modern amenities which could not have been envisaged before.

Based on sizes and carrying capacity, cruise ships can be categorized into the following types:

Mega Cruise Ships

These are the largest of their kind and are known to accommodate more than 5000 passengers on board! When ocean liners were still predominant, cruise ships were seldom known to exceed 50000 GT in terms of their size. However, as said before, over the years with improved technology and innovation, cruise ship sizes have increased manifold.

In terms of their tonnage capacity, mega-cruise ships are very much above 135000 GT. Currently, there are more than 50 cruise ships in service having over 135000 Gt and are classified under Mega Cruise Ships. They are often distinguished by their large hull and towering superstructure sizes.

The largest designated cruise ship as of present-day is the very recent Wonder of the Seas, with a whopping gross tonnage of 236860, a length of over 360 meters, a width of 65 meters, and can accommodate nearly 7000 passengers on board!

Launched in January 2022, it is slated to create history by embarking on its maiden voyage in March. In concordance with their majestic sizes, Mega Cruise Ships house state-of-the-art facilities for passenger services, luxury, and recreation, drawing parallels to ultramodern five or seven-star rated hotels.

From swimming pools to movie theatres, indoor game infrastructures to world-class health centres, casinos to large restaurants and pubs, conference halls to banquets, shopping malls to pavilions, commodious suite rooms to wellness clubs, the litany can be enough to motivate holiday-seekers to amass more on their savings and plan a dream vacation.

Moreover, it is obvious that other than catering to passenger recreation and comfort, they also offer essential services like hospitals and dispensaries on a round-the-clock basis for any unwarranted needs that may arise.

Other biggest names following Wonder of the Seas are Symphony of the Seas, which held the top spot for being the largest cruise ship till last year, Harmony of the Seas, which had its realm from 2016 to 2018, Oasis of the Seas, which ruled the lot for 7 long years from 2009 to 2016, and Allure of the Seas, which became a joint claimer to the throne since its maiden voyage just a year after its predecessor (in 2010), with comparable size and capacity (very slightly less in GT).

All these are Oasis-class sister ships with GT over 200000 and operate under the parent organization, Royal Caribbean International line, an industry leader in cruise shipping tourism and hospitality headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States.

Large Cruise Ships

These are somewhat smaller than Mega Cruise Ships and can hold anywhere between 2500 to 3500 passengers for all normal purposes. In terms of tonnage capacity, they are 10000 GT or more but mostly less than 135000 GT.

Voyager of the Seas from the slightly old Voyager-class, also owned by Royal Caribbean, is an acclaimed ship of this category, but with a borderline capacity of around 3600 passengers and approximately 137000 GT, and an overall length of 310 meters, it is also often interchangeably deemed as pertaining to the category of Mega Cruise Ships.

Similar are the cases with MSC Divina, of the Fantasia-class, having 140000 GT and 3500-passenger capacity, and another recent vessel Costa Venezia, a Vista-class cruise ship, having a GT of exactly 135000 and a passenger capacity of over 4000, quite above the demarcating line for large cruisers.

Other notable names amongst many include Crown Princess (2006) belonging to the Crown-class, having 113500 GT, Celebrity Solstice from Solstice-class, rated over 120000 GT and 2850-passenger capacity, and MS Koningsdam which roughly has a capacity of just 10000 GT can hold up to 2650 passengers with doubled occupancy.

Large cruise ships can be considered as relatively smaller forms of their modern, mega variants, and started coming into being over two decades back at the turn of the century. However, like the examples cited, modern-day cruisers are commonly built in this size range with more advancements in terms of technology, design, luxury, and amenities.

Cruise ships, since mostly dedicated to tours and pleasure and seldom encounter adverse mid-sea weather conditions, can have some slack in terms of powering and structural requirements as compared to their predecessors, ocean liners.

But coming-of-age cruisers, mostly mega and large ones, have broken such conventions and have showcased significant developments.

Priorities for passenger safety and comfort have seen a sharp uptick increasingly over time.

Furthermore, with the global economy rapidly changing in a direction such that the several affluent sections of the society have continued to become richer, the predilection for cruise travel for leisure has garnered more popularity.

This has converted to more profits for cruise lines, who have also taken the opportunity to rework their business models to continue with this lucrative drive by not only providing more appealing facilities to their clientele but also stepping upon their services in terms of frequent tours and venturing into deeper territories and newer destinations across longer distances.

Hence, this has led to the modern bigger fleet having sturdier structures, escalated design efficiency, and of course, enhanced propulsive applications.

Midsized cruise ships

They are smaller than their larger counterparts, appear like their somewhat scaled-down versions, and can hold around 1500-2500 passengers. These ships have GTs of less than 100000 and more than 50000. Large global shipping lines do not go less than this category.

Likewise, they are also replete with most of the amenities and facilities sought for, though on a comparatively lesser scale. They may occasionally ply between continents and oceans but mostly travel on an intracontinental country to country basis or between different ports of call in a country.

In terms of powering and structure, they are also on the lower side of bigger vessels but aesthetically they are equally attractive. A large number of vessels under this category are in operation globally. Carnival Spirit, having a tonnage of 88500 GT and a complement of over 2100 passengers, and Pacific Explorer, of approximately over 77000 GT and 2000-passenger capacity, both owned by Carnival Plc., are popular vessels in this category.

Smaller Midsized Cruise Ships

These ships can also be considered on the lower spectrum of midsized cruisers. Mostly similar, they have tonnages more or less around 50000 GT or lower and can accommodate 800-1500 passengers. They are mostly intended for intracontinental or intranational travel and do not venture into very high seas. They are also capable to travel in shallow drafts like rivers, canals/channels or lakes apart from seas.

They also feature passenger pleasure and recreation attributes, but on a much-reduced scale, like small pools, indoor gaming rooms, dining and party halls, restaurants, bars, fitness centres, card rooms, conference lounges, kids’ game zones, etc.

There are numerous vessels of this type all around the world without any widely notable names. Viking Star-class Sister ships Viking Sea, Viking Star and Viking Sky, operated by Viking Ocean Cruises, and having slightly less than 50000 GT are some frontrunners in this category.

Small Cruise Ships

Any cruise vessel having a passenger-carrying capacity of less than 700-800 are coined as a small cruise ship. These ships ply in rivers, estuaries, channels, canals, confined water bodies like lakes, and sometimes in seas along or near to the coast within a specified limit.

As expected, these vessels are not structurally and functionally fit to venture into deep seas. Different kinds of bodies from liners to regional or national tourism providers operate these vessels on a time-to-time basis. The duration of a voyage in these cruisers range from a few hours to at most a day or two. As for small cruisers, the facilities onboard are limited and depends on the size of the vessel and operationality.

For larger vessels on the upper side of the capacity spectrum, for instance, 500-800, amenities for luxury and entertainment are present, though not on a scale similar to supreme level cruise ships. For even smaller cruisers with a passenger capacity of around 100-200 or lesser, most of the amenities are absent and mostly operate on an hourly basis to or from a destination or are rented out for some special occasions.

Often, they have a high demand and run on a rush booking order due to their small size and low, attractive fares. India has plenty of these vessels often in coastal areas like Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin or popular tourist destinations like Goa or the world’s largest riverine delta and mangrove reserve, Sundarbans in West Bengal. Ferries, which are exclusively referred to as small to moderate-sized vessels for carrying passengers, often along with cars and vehicles across a body of water, can be considered to belong to the last two categories.

Tonnages for ferries vary widely and can be anything as significant as over 50000 GT or as low as hardly 1000 GT. They may be intended for point-to-point or round trips with or without stops. Ferries comprise a significant part of the public transport system in several places.

As alluded to in the previous article, the concept of ferries was first conceived in Istanbul during the 19th century and can be rightfully considered as being precursors to the widespread popularization of modern-day cruise ships superseding the era of ocean liners.

Types of Cruise Ships Based on Purpose 

Though cruisers are primarily categorized based on sizes, they may also be divided based on purpose, operation, and utilities.

Mainstream Cruise Ships

These types of cruise ships are the vast majority of all cruise ships that carry passengers for leisure and tours. In a broad sense, these cruisers can be anything between mega to smaller midsized with differences as described above.

Some also tend to further categorize these vessels based on the degree of luxury and amenities from ultra-premium to semi-deluxe. They can be oceangoing, coastal or river-plying and can cater to a wide range of trips of varying durations as explained above.

Adventure Cruise Ships

These are customized and bespoke small vessels for adventure lovers. Most of these vessels are either privately owned or are lent by agencies or dealers at certain rates. Often people set out in groups in these 10-50 passenger-capacity vessels for a myriad kinds of activities from whale watching to exploring reefs and islands. Though strictly not permitted to venture beyond certain sea limits, concerned authorities may sometimes give extra relaxations looking at sea and weather conditions or the ‘fitness’ of the vessel.

River Cruises

They are shallow-draft and low-width vessels belonging to the small cruiser category and are capable of plying in rivers for passenger tours and pleasure. They are mostly for an hourly basis and operate daily.

Due to their small sizes, they do not pose a major obstruction to river traffic and can manoeuvre easily when required. Other than the iconic Venice in Italy, famous rivers around the world like Nile, Amazon, Hudson, Thames and Danube offer cruise services regularly.

Hotel Ships

They mainly remain afloat in water or travel small distances and are chiefly floating hotels for a luxury experience. Most hotel ships are on rivers or seasides hemming cities and popular tourist destinations. They are generally not very big but sometimes can be exceptions when converted from large vessels out-of-service.

For example, Queen Elizabeth 2, which was the last oil-and-steam fired ocean liner of its kind, has been converted to a massive luxury floating hotel in Dubai after her retirement in 2008 following 40 years of operation. When on a sea coast, they remain anchored to a particular place as they are not deemed to sail. But on rivers, because of the low depth and calmness of the water, they can travel as well.

Expedition Cruises

They are specially designed vessels for venturing into the most uncharted and inhospitable places on earth like the polar regions. They are built as per ice-class regulations and everything from powering to systems are incorporated in such a way that they can sustain in harsh conditions. Such cruises are limited and only specifically authorized people are permitted to travel to such extreme locations.

Yachts and private crafts: Such vessels are privately owned by affluent sections of the society who prefer to spend their leisure time in the water. Usually, they are quite small in size and are suited to accommodate around 20-30 people at most within the owner’s family or close circles.

You might also like to read:

• Top 10 Largest Cruise Ships in 2022
• Top 10 Most Expensive Cruise Ships in 2022
• How Are Cruise Ships Powered?
• How Do Cruise Ships Get Fresh Water?
• 8 Ways Cruise Ships Can Cause Marine Pollution

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About Author

Subhodeep is a Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering graduate. Interested in the intricacies of marine structures and goal-based design aspects, he is dedicated to sharing and propagation of common technical knowledge within this sector, which, at this very moment, requires a turnabout to flourish back to its old glory.

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NASA Watches Mars Light Up During Epic Solar Storm

The specks in this scene were caused by charged particles from a solar storm hitting a camera aboard NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. Curiosity uses its navigation cameras to try and capture images of dust devils and wind gusts, like the one seen here.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured black-and-white streaks and specks using one of its navigation cameras just as particles from a solar storm arrived on the Martian surface. These visual artifacts are caused by energetic particles hitting the camera’s image detector.

In addition to producing auroras, a recent extreme storm provided more detail on how much radiation future astronauts could encounter on the Red Planet.

Mars scientists have been anticipating epic solar storms ever since the Sun entered a period of peak activity earlier this year called solar maximum . Over the past month, NASA’s Mars rovers and orbiters have provided researchers with front-row seats to a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that have reached Mars — in some cases, even causing Martian auroras.

This science bonanza has offered an unprecedented opportunity to study how such events unfold in deep space, as well as how much radiation exposure the first astronauts on Mars could encounter.

The biggest event occurred on May 20 with a solar flare later estimated to be an X12 — X-class solar flares are the strongest of several type s — based on data from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft , a joint mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The flare sent out X-rays and gamma rays toward the Red Planet, while a subsequent coronal mass ejection launched charged particles. Moving at the speed of light, the X-rays and gamma rays from the flare arrived first, while the charged particles trailed slightly behind, reaching Mars in just tens of minutes.

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The purple color in this video shows auroras on Mars’ nightside as detected by the ultraviolet instrument aboard NASA’s MAVEN orbiter between May 14 and 20, 2024. The brighter the purple, the more auroras that were present.

The unfolding space weather was closely tracked by analysts at the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which flagged the possibility of incoming charged particles following the coronal mass ejection.

If astronauts had been standing next to NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at the time, they would have received a radiation dose of 8,100 micrograys — equivalent to 30 chest X-rays. While not deadly, it was the biggest surge measured by Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD , since the rover landed 12 years ago.

RAD’s data will help scientists plan for the highest level of radiation exposure that might be encountered by astronauts, who could use on the Martian landscape for protection.

“Cliffsides or lava tubes would provide additional shielding for an astronaut from such an event. In Mars orbit or deep space, the dose rate would be significantly more,” said RAD’s principal investigator, Don Hassler of Southwest Research Institute’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this active region on the Sun continues to erupt, meaning even more solar storms at both Earth and Mars over the coming weeks.”

During the May 20 event, so much energy from the storm struck the surface that black-and-white images from Curiosity’s navigation cameras danced with “snow” — white streaks and specks caused by charged particles hitting the cameras.

Similarly, the star camera NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter uses for orientation was inundated with energy from solar particles, momentarily going out. (Odyssey has other ways to orient itself, and recovered the camera within an hour.) Even with the brief lapse in its star camera, the orbiter collected vital data on X-rays, gamma rays, and charged particles using its High-Energy Neutron Detector.

Learn how NASA’s MAVEN and the agency’s Curiosity rover will study solar flares and radiation at Mars during solar maximum – a period when the Sun is at peak activity.

This wasn’t Odyssey’s first brush with a solar flare: In 2003, solar particles from a solar flare that was ultimately estimated to be an X45 fried Odyssey’s radiation detector, which was designed to measure such events.

Auroras Over Mars

High above Curiosity, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter captured another effect of the recent solar activity: glowing auroras over the planet. The way these auroras occur is different than those seen on Earth.

Our home planet is shielded from charged particles by a robust magnetic field, which normally limits auroras to regions near the poles. (Solar maximum is the reason behind the recent auroras seen as far south as Alabama.) Mars lost its internally generated magnetic field in the ancient past, so there’s no protection from the barrage of energetic particles. When charged particles hit the Martian atmosphere, it results in auroras that engulf the entire planet.

During solar events, the Sun releases a wide range of energetic particles. Only the most energetic can reach the surface to be measured by RAD. Slightly less energetic particles, those that cause auroras, are sensed by MAVEN’s Solar Energetic Particle instrument.

Scientists can use that instrument’s data to rebuild a timeline of each minute as the solar particles screamed past, meticulously teasing apart how the event evolved.

“This was the largest solar energetic particle event that MAVEN has ever seen,” said MAVEN Space Weather Lead, Christina Lee of the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. “There have been several solar events in past weeks, so we were seeing wave after wave of particles hitting Mars.”

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New Spacecraft to Mars

The data coming in from NASA’s spacecraft won’t only help future planetary missions to the Red Planet. It’s contributing to a wealth of information being gathered by the agency’s other heliophysics missions, including Voyager, Parker Solar Probe, and the forthcoming ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission.

Targeting a late-2024 launch, ESCAPADE’s twin small satellites will orbit Mars and observe space weather from a unique dual perspective that is more detailed than what MAVEN can currently measure alone.

More About the Missions

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. LASP is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support. The MAVEN team is preparing to celebrate the spacecraft’s 10th year at Mars in September 2024.

For more about these missions, visit:

http://mars.nasa.gov/msl

http://mars.nasa.gov/maven

News Media Contact

Andrew Good

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-393-2433

[email protected]

Karen Fox / Charles Blue

NASA Headquarters

202-385-1287 / 202-802-5345

[email protected] / [email protected]

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Auroras Over Mars

New spacecraft to mars, more about the missions, news media contacts.

In addition to producing auroras, a recent extreme storm provided more detail on how much radiation future astronauts could encounter on the Red Planet.

Mars scientists have been anticipating epic solar storms ever since the Sun entered a period of peak activity earlier this year called solar maximum . Over the past month, NASA’s Mars rovers and orbiters have provided researchers with front-row seats to a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that have reached Mars — in some cases, even causing Martian auroras.

This science bonanza has offered an unprecedented opportunity to study how such events unfold in deep space, as well as how much radiation exposure the first astronauts on Mars could encounter.

The biggest event occurred on May 20 with a solar flare later estimated to be an X12 — X-class solar flares are the strongest of several type s — based on data from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft , a joint mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The flare sent out X-rays and gamma rays toward the Red Planet, while a subsequent coronal mass ejection launched charged particles. Moving at the speed of light, the X-rays and gamma rays from the flare arrived first, while the charged particles trailed slightly behind, reaching Mars in just tens of minutes.

The unfolding space weather was closely tracked by analysts at the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which flagged the possibility of incoming charged particles following the coronal mass ejection.

If astronauts had been standing next to NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at the time, they would have received a radiation dose of 8,100 micrograys — equivalent to 30 chest X-rays. While not deadly, it was the biggest surge measured by Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD , since the rover landed 12 years ago.

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RAD’s data will help scientists plan for the highest level of radiation exposure that might be encountered by astronauts, who could use on the Martian landscape for protection.

“Cliffsides or lava tubes would provide additional shielding for an astronaut from such an event. In Mars orbit or deep space, the dose rate would be significantly more,” said RAD’s principal investigator, Don Hassler of Southwest Research Institute’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this active region on the Sun continues to erupt, meaning even more solar storms at both Earth and Mars over the coming weeks.”

During the May 20 event, so much energy from the storm struck the surface that black-and-white images from Curiosity’s navigation cameras danced with “snow” — white streaks and specks caused by charged particles hitting the cameras.

Similarly, the star camera NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter uses for orientation was inundated with energy from solar particles, momentarily going out. (Odyssey has other ways to orient itself, and recovered the camera within an hour.) Even with the brief lapse in its star camera, the orbiter collected vital data on X-rays, gamma rays, and charged particles using its High-Energy Neutron Detector.

This wasn’t Odyssey’s first brush with a solar flare: In 2003, solar particles from a solar flare that was ultimately estimated to be an X45 fried Odyssey’s radiation detector, which was designed to measure such events.

High above Curiosity, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter captured another effect of the recent solar activity: glowing auroras over the planet. The way these auroras occur is different than those seen on Earth.

Our home planet is shielded from charged particles by a robust magnetic field, which normally limits auroras to regions near the poles. (Solar maximum is the reason behind the recent auroras seen as far south as Alabama.) Mars lost its internally generated magnetic field in the ancient past, so there’s no protection from the barrage of energetic particles. When charged particles hit the Martian atmosphere, it results in auroras that engulf the entire planet.

During solar events, the Sun releases a wide range of energetic particles. Only the most energetic can reach the surface to be measured by RAD. Slightly less energetic particles, those that cause auroras, are sensed by MAVEN’s Solar Energetic Particle instrument.

Scientists can use that instrument’s data to rebuild a timeline of each minute as the solar particles screamed past, meticulously teasing apart how the event evolved.

“This was the largest solar energetic particle event that MAVEN has ever seen,” said MAVEN Space Weather Lead, Christina Lee of the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. “There have been several solar events in past weeks, so we were seeing wave after wave of particles hitting Mars.”

The data coming in from NASA’s spacecraft won’t only help future planetary missions to the Red Planet. It’s contributing to a wealth of information being gathered by the agency’s other heliophysics missions, including Voyager, Parker Solar Probe, and the forthcoming ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission.

Targeting a late-2024 launch, ESCAPADE’s twin small satellites will orbit Mars and observe space weather from a unique dual perspective that is more detailed than what MAVEN can currently measure alone.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. LASP is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support. The MAVEN team is preparing to celebrate the spacecraft’s 10th year at Mars in September 2024.

For more about these missions, visit:

http://mars.nasa.gov/msl

http://mars.nasa.gov/maven

Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-2433 [email protected]

Karen Fox / Charles Blue NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 / 202-802-5345 [email protected] / [email protected]

Related Terms

• Curiosity (Rover)
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN)

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