Name Voyager of the Seas Cost US$650 million Length 311 m Draft 9.1 m Builder Meyer Turku | Port of registry Nassau, Bahamas Yard number 1344 Launched 27 November 1998 Beam 39 m | |
Operator Royal Caribbean International Route Asia, Australia and New Zealand | ||
MS Voyager of the Seas is the lead ship of the Voyager-class of cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Constructed by Kværner Masa-Yards at its Turku New Shipyard in Turku, Finland, she was serviced on November 27, 1998, and christened by Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Katarina Witt on November 20, 1999.
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Upon her departure on her maiden voyage the following day, November 21, 1999, Voyager of the Seas was the largest cruise ship in the world, although she was overtaken the following year by her sister ship Explorer of the Seas. She measured 137,276 GT at launch with a displacement of 58,000 t (57,000 long tons; 64,000 short tons), and a 2015 refurbishment increased her tonnage to 138,194 GT. She is 311 m (1,020 ft) long overall, has a waterline beam (width) of 47.4 m (156 ft) and a height of 63 m (207 ft).
Design
Voyager of the Seas contains the first rock climbing wall at sea (mounted on funnel) and the first ice-skating rink at sea, as well as a horizontal atrium concept known as the Royal Promenade.
During Voyager of the Seas' first weeks at sea, there were doubts about how effective the ice rink would be due to the ice occasionally cracking in places due to the instability of the ship and hot ventilation pipes on the deck below, although these merely turned out to be teething troubles. Today the ice is used throughout the cruise as a public ice-skating venue and for professional ice shows.
The Royal Promenade is a marble floored street stretching just over 3/4 the length of the ship including shops and light dining venues. This area is the heart of the ship of evening activity, along with the 3 story high La Scala theatre in which some of the latest production technology is used to produce Broadway standard production shows at night.
All cabins on Voyager of the Seas feature en-suite bathrooms and an interactive television service, and most outward facing cabins on the upper decks feature balconies.
In October and November 2014, Voyager of the Seas underwent dry dock refurbishment to receive "Royal Advantage" upgrades. These upgrades included the installation of an outdoor movie screen near the pool, replacing the inline skating track with a flowrider surf simulator, changing the Italian restaurant from Portofino to Giovanni's Table, and adding the Izumi asian fusion restaurant, Chops steakhouse, Diamond Club, digital signage, and ship-wide Wifi.
Itineraries
As of 2016 Voyager of the Seas alternates between Australia and New Zealand itineraries out of Sydney in Southern Hemisphere summer and Asia itineraries out of Singapore and Hong Kong in the Northern Hemisphere summer.