Newest to Oldest – Royal Caribbean Ships by Year Built & Dry Dock Schedule
Below you’ll find an infographic of Royal Caribbean Ships by Age. We hope that this helps you to decide which ship is right for you.
Before you choose which ship to sail, check out Royal Caribbean’s newest cruise ship, its oldest, and the most recently dry docked in that fleet.
According to our Ship Mate community, “newest” does not always equal “best.” Some of you prefer a ship with a little extra character. And some are very loyal to a specific ship. You like to know every inch of her and will trade familiarity for all of the new bells and whistles.
In addition to cruise ship age, there’s also the dry dock schedule to consider. A full renovation can make a ship look brand new. While newer ships are often more expensive to sail, you can likely find deals on recently renovated cruise ship sailings.
We’ll let you decide on the Royal Caribbean Ship Age that’s right for you. In the following infographic, we’ve made it as easy as possible to visualize your ships age versus the rest of the RCCL Fleet. We’ve also included a schedule of when each ship was dry docked (on the right-hand side). If you have a strong preference of New vs. Old, please use this chart to make sure you’re picking the Royal Caribbean Ship that’s right for you!
For those that don’t like pretty pictures, you can find the hard data below in boring, black-and-white.
Royal Caribbean Ships by Age
- 1992: Majesty of the Seas
- 1995: Legend of the Seas
- 1996: Splendour of the Seas
- 1996: Grandeur of the Seas
- 1997: Rhapsody of the Seas
- 1997: Enchantment of the Seas
- 1998: Vision of the Seas
- 1999: Voyager of the Seas
- 2000: Explorer of the Seas
- 2001: Radiance of the Seas
- 2001: Adventure of the Seas
- 2002: Navigator of the Seas
- 2002: Brilliance of the Seas
- 2003: Serenade of the Seas
- 2003: Mariner of the Seas
- 2004: Jewel of the Seas
- 2006: Freedom of the Seas
- 2007: Liberty of the Seas
- 2008: Independence of the Seas
- 2009: Oasis of the Seas
- 2010: Allure of the Seas
- 2014: Quantum of the Seas
- 2014: Anthem of the Seas
- 2015: Harmony of the Seas
- 2016: Ovation of the Seas
Royal Caribbean Dry Dock Schedule
- 2007: Navigator of the Seas
- 2009: Voyager of the Seas
- 2009: Adventure of the Seas
- 2010: Vision of the Seas
- 2010: Explorer of the Seas
- 2011: Freedom of the Seas
- 2011: Jewel of the Seas
- 2011: Liberty of the Seas
- 2011: Radiance of the Seas
- 2011: Splendour of the Seas
- 2012: Enchantment of the Seas
- 2012: Grandeur of the Seas
- 2012: Majesty of the Seas
- 2012: Serenade of the Seas
- 2012: Mariner of the Seas
- 2012: Rhapsody of the Seas
- 2013: Brilliance of the Seas
- 2013: Independence of the Seas
- 2013: Vision of the Seas
- 2013: Legend of the Seas
- 2014: Oasis of the Seas
- 2014: Mariner of the Seas
- 2014: Navigator of the Seas
- 2014: Adventure of the Seas
- 2014: Voyager of the Seas
- 2015: Majesty of the Seas
- 2015: Explorer of the Seas
- 2016: Liberty of the Seas
- 2016: Freedom of the Seas
- 2016: Jewel of the Seas
- 2016: Radiance of the Seas
- 2016: Splendour of the Seas
- 2017: Serenade of the Seas
- 2017: Enchantment of the Seas
- 2017: Rhapsody of the Seas
- 2017: Grandeur of the Seas
If you’re wondering, what’s the difference in cost between cruising on the newest and oldest ship, you can check out the following pricing options. Toggle through the dates and compare the difference between different Royal Caribbean Ships by Age.
Oldest Ship
The cruise line’s oldest cruise ship, the Monarch of the Seas, was launched in 1991. That’s 25 years old! A ship can go through a LOT in two-and-a-half decades. By our quick math, that’s MILLIONS of passengers that have sailed her over that time period!
Newest Royal Caribbean Ship
The Harmony of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. It set sail in May 2016 and is was built in France. When launched, it become the world’s largest passenger ship, overtaking her sister ships, the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas. You can check out all Royal Caribbean Ships by Size here.
If you’d like to sail this brand new vessel, check out your options below along with pricing!
Use the toggle on the left to switch between itineraries. The Harmony of the Seas offers a few different sailings. Use the drop-down menu on the right to filter between dates.
Once you have those two options set, you’ll see pricing info from various providers. Click the one that interests you most!
Newest Cruise Ship (Harmony of the Seas) Pricing
Most Recently Dry Docked Ship
The Majesty of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s oldest ship. There was one ship that came before her in the fleet, the Monarch of the Seas, but it was sold off years ago and is no longer included in the ship rotation. The Majesty recently underwent a complete dry dock. Improvements include a new pool deck, bigger spa, and completely upgraded cabins. For a look at pricing, check out the pricing widget above!
Now that you know the Royal Caribbean ships by age and dry dock date, which are you most likely to sail?
Also see how this compares to Carnival Cruise Ships by Age.
Press “share” below to help share the cruise knowledge with your fellow RCCL friends and family!
What about the M/S Sovereign of the Seas it was the first of the RCCL mega ships , was it sold or retired, didn’t see it mention any were in the blog.
Hi Marion – the chart includes all Royal Caribbean active ships. Thanks for the comment!
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You forgot Empress of the Seas, that one was built in the late 80’s and is still active.
Yup the Empress is missing from this list!
Royal Caribbean didn’t order the build for Empress of the Seas. Admiral Cruise Lines order the build, however after construction started Royal Caribbean acquired Admiral Cruise Lines and dissolved the brand and incorporated it’s assets into the Royal Caribbean brand.
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What about the SUN VIKING ?
When we sailed on it in 1991 it was callrf the Nordic Empress
Nordic Prince, song of Norway in the 80’s
Nordic Empress was our first ship and we then got hooked. Took 3 cruises on that ship in 5 weeks.
Renamed the Empress of the Seas and now going to Cuba.
The Sun Viking was sold off long ago.
The Nordic Empress has not just been sold, but it’s been scrapped.
Nordic Empress was NOT scrapped. It was renamed Empress of the Seas. Then is was sold; renamed Empress, then brought back into the fleet and renamed Empress of the Seas.