A true bang-for-your-buck option, Royal Caribbean is a great cruise line for those looking to save a bit of money and still get an excellent experience under their belts. With this said, a cruise line as prolific as Royal Caribbean can be a bit hard to take in all at once. That’s what we’re here for! Read on to find a breakdown of what Royal is all about to see if it’s for you.
Fleet
The Royal Caribbean fleet is nothing to scoff at. The cruise line is currently comprised of 26 ships, four of which are the four largest cruise ships in the world. To top this off, there are currently six more ships on order, meaning their fleet is only poised to get larger. Their ships are currently separated into eight different classes. The first is the Empress class, which has only one ship called the Empress of the Seas, operating out of Miami, with a capacity of 1840 passengers. The Sovereign class is only the Majesty of the Seas and holds 2767 passengers. The Vision class holds in the range of 2000-2500 passengers. The Voyager ships are bigger, holding over 3000. Radiance ships hold around 2500 and can fit through the Panama Canal, offering that as an itinerary option. The Freedom and Quantum classes hold over 4000 passengers, which may seem large, but the Oasis class has it beat. The Oasis ships are the biggest ships ever built, and includes the Symphony, the single largest passenger ship on Earth. These ships boast a capacity of 6296 passengers, so we hope you like company!
Price
Royal Caribbean is one of the most affordable cruise lines out there. When you load up their website, the first thing you’ll see is the offering of cruises starting at $160. Cheap jaunts to the Bahamas from Florida are made even cheaper by deals available to savvy shoppers, and prices increase the longer your trip becomes. The most expensive trip on their site currently is $6359 and spends 18 nights travelling across Alaska. Most of their upper-end cruises are around $2000 and are nearly 20 days long, meaning they are still relatively cheap for what they are offering. Short, Caribbean trips are going to be the cheapest, with the itineraries with calls in Alaska or Australia being more expensive.
Dining/activities
Because of the massive fleet, activities are hugely varied. Voyager and Freedom ships offer a “mall” running down the center of the ship alongside activities like mini-golf, rock climbing and other excellent vacation pastimes. The dining is varied and can satisfy almost everyone, though it is not largely the reason people sail with Royal Caribbean. In general, a lot of the activities that are offered are going to family and crowd pleasing, a necessity when you think of how many people are on these ships.
Reputation
Royal Caribbean isn’t known for the incredible luxury it offers, nor the high crew to passenger ratio. Despite this, Royal cruises are generally regarded quite well. You’re getting an amazing value for your dollar if you’re okay with somewhat crowded spaces and a family-fun atmosphere. Royal is an excellent choice for someone looking to get into cruises or just wanting to have a quick trip to relax.