Royal Caribbean's fourth Oasis-class ship will be called
Symphony of the Seas and begin service in late 2018 from its new Crown of Miami
terminal.
The 5,400-passenger ship will be joined at the new terminal
by another Oasis-class ship, Allure of the Seas.
Since the debut of the Allure in 2010, Port Everglades in
Fort Lauderdale has been the home of two Oasis-class ships and Miami none. The
new 170,000-square-foot terminal in Miami is being built to accommodate the
giant ships and to create an iconic presence at PortMiami, where Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has its global headquarters.
The Harmony of the Seas, now sailing from Port Everglades,
presumably will remain there while the Oasis of the Seas continues at Port
Canaveral, Fla. The Harmony entered service last spring.
The four Oasis-class ships would give Royal Caribbean the
capacity to carry 21,600 passengers or more per week from the three Florida
ports.
On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean also will announce an
agreement with the government of the Bahamas allowing RCCL to build a pier at
its Coco Cay private island in the Bahamas and make other upgrades.
In return, RCCL will expand a program for local vendors at
Coco Cay, make a commitment to hire more Bahamians to work on ships and start a
training program in the Bahamas for hospitality workers.