Royal Caribbean Group has announced an agreement for a fourth Icon Class ship, with delivery scheduled for 2027. The announcement, published on 27 August 2024, says the agreement is with Meyer Turku shipyard and includes options to build a fifth and sixth vessel in the class. This article is independently written from the factual information cited in Royal Caribbean Group’s announcement. It does not add unreported specifications, commercial terms or quotations.
The order places the Icon Class within a continuing programme rather than treating the next ship as a standalone decision. Royal Caribbean Group links the announcement to the market response to Icon of the Seas, which first sailed on 27 January 2024. The same announcement says Star of the Seas was scheduled to launch in 2025, while a previously unnamed third Icon Class ship was scheduled for 2026.
A sequence of ships
The announcement’s sequence is clear. Icon of the Seas had already first sailed by the time of the 2024 statement. Star of the Seas was identified as a 2025 launch, and a third ship was associated with 2026. The newly announced fourth ship was scheduled for delivery in 2027. Options for a fifth and sixth ship extend the potential programme beyond the confirmed order, but an option is not the same as a delivered vessel.
The source also describes the relationship with the shipyard. Meyer Turku had a 28-year relationship with Royal Caribbean Group and, with this order, would have built 21 ships for the group. Those details place the agreement in a long-running industrial partnership. They do not, on their own, establish the future timing of the optional ships or any further construction decisions.
Because the announcement comes from Royal Caribbean Group, the account is a company statement. Its description of the market response to Icon of the Seas should therefore be attributed to the group, rather than presented as an independently measured market assessment. The source confirms the announced order, the delivery schedule and the options, but the packet supplies no passenger figures, route plans, ship specifications or financial value.
The decision illustrates how cruise fleet expansion can be organised through a staged series. A confirmed ship has a target delivery year, while options preserve the possibility of further growth. For the operator, that structure connects the current order with future capacity. For the shipyard, it reflects the continuation of a relationship that the company says spans nearly three decades.
The fourth Icon Class order is consequently a record of planned capacity, not proof that all six ships will enter service. The confirmed element is the next ship, scheduled for delivery in 2027. The fifth and sixth vessels remain options in the announcement. Keeping that distinction intact is essential when describing the scale of the programme.
Source attribution: this report is independently written from the cited factual information in Royal Caribbean Group’s announcement of the fourth Icon Class ship, published on 27 August 2024.
References: [1] [Fourth Icon Class ship](https://www.royalcaribbeangroup.com/fourth-icon-class-ship)
Reported by Luke Smout.
Written by Luke Smout from verifiable facts published by Royal Caribbean Group on 27 Aug 2024, 00:00. The Gazette does not reproduce source copy, and publication follows editorial review.