PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – Royal Caribbean International is bringing one of the cruise industry's newest megaships to Port Canaveral in May 2019.
According to News 6 partner Florida Today, the cruise line announced that the Harmony of the Seas will be offering seven-night cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.
Recommended Videos
The Harmony of the Seas — which has a double-occupancy capacity of 5,479 and a maximum capacity of 6,687 — will replace the similarly sized Oasis of the Seas at Port Canaveral. But the Harmony is a newer ship, entering service in 2016, compared with the Oasis, which entered service in 2009.
In announcing Harmony's move from Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades to Port Canaveral, Royal Caribbean said: "This move to Central Florida brings first-of-its-kind innovations like the Ultimate Abyss — the tallest slide at sea — within driving distance for markets throughout Florida, Georgia and the Southeast region."
Harmony also features the Perfect Storm water slides and Splashaway Bay, a children’s water park.
The 2019-20 Harmony cruises from Port Canaveral will be available for booking starting the week of Nov. 13.
The Oasis will be based in Barcelona, Spain, in the summer of 2019, offering Mediterranean cruises.
Oasis and Harmony are the first and third ships of Royal Caribbean's "Oasis Class" series, which also includes the Allure of the Seas, which debuted in 2010, and the Symphony of the Seas, which is scheduled to debut in March 2018.
Additionally, Royal Caribbean said the Mariner of the Seas will be based at Port Canaveral during the 2019-20 season, offering three- and four-night itineraries to the Bahamas.
The Mariner, a "Voyager Class" ship which debuted in 2003, will return to Port Canaveral following a $100 million upgrade. It has a capacity of nearly 4,200 passengers.
The Mariner will replace Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, currently sailing from Port Canaveral with a passenger capacity of 2,744. The Majesty is an older ship, debuting in 1992.
Mariner sailed its inaugural cruise from Port Canaveral on Nov. 14, 2003.
The 2019-20 Mariner cruises from Port Canaveral will be available for booking starting the week of Nov. 20.
“This is great news for Port Canaveral," the port's chief executive officer, John Murray, said in a statement following the Royal Caribbean announcements. "We are excited to be part of Royal Caribbean’s new deployment plans and proud of their confidence in us to support their brand. With record numbers of cruise passengers coming through our port year after year, this is yet another demonstration that Port Canaveral can effectively handle some of the largest and most sophisticated cruise ships in the industry."
Port Canaveral described the Harmony and the Mariner as ships that "represent some of the best products in the cruise industry offering vacations to the Caribbean.”
All four ships in Royal Caribbean Oasis Class will be based in Florida for the 2019-20 season, the cruise line said. Oasis and Symphony will be in the Port of Miami. The Allure will be in Port Everglades, moving there from Miami.
The four Oasis Class ships will sail seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries when based in Florida.
The Oasis Class ships have made waves in the cruise industry since they began rolling out in 2009. Boasting all the trappings of mega-resorts on land, they are chock full of restaurants, bars, lounges and entertainment zones, and they feature a wide range of deck-top amusements, including multiple pool areas, FlowRider surf simulators, mini-golf courses and nine-deck-high zip lines.
Royal Caribbean also said the Oasis of the Seas would receive a bow-to-stern refurbishment before moving to Miami in 2019.