Royal Caribbean Just Ordered Two More of the World’s Biggest Cruise Ships
The world’s biggest cruise ships are about to get a lot more company. Royal Caribbean Group has just confirmed orders for the sixth and seventh vessels in its record-breaking Icon Class — and the implications for the future of cruising are enormous.
Announced on April 27, 2026, the order places two additional Icon-Class giants with Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku, with deliveries scheduled for 2029 and 2030 respectively.
The move cements what is already one of the most consequential partnerships in modern maritime history — and signals that Royal Caribbean has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
Seven Ships. One Class. A Decade of Dominance.
To understand the scale of what’s happening here, it helps to look at where the Icon Class currently stands.
The first ship in the series, Icon of the Seas, made her debut in January 2024 and immediately rewrote every conversation about what a cruise ship could be. Her sister, Star of the Seas, followed in August 2025.
The third vessel, Legend of the Seas, is set to debut in July 2026 in the Western Mediterranean, bringing with it eight neighborhoods, 28 dining options, and an entirely new entertainment lineup. Hero of the Seas will arrive in 2027. Construction on Icon 5 is already underway at Meyer Turku, with delivery expected in 2028.
And now, with the stroke of a pen, Icon 6 and Icon 7 have been added to the timeline — pushing Royal Caribbean’s Icon-Class commitment all the way through the end of the decade and locking in shipbuilding capacity with Meyer Turku through 2036.
A Partnership Thirty Years in the Making
The relationship between Royal Caribbean Group and Meyer Turku is not a recent one. The two companies have worked together for more than three decades, during which the Finnish shipyard has delivered 25 ships for the cruise line. Meyer Turku and its vast supplier network support approximately 13,000 jobs across Finland and contribute well over a billion euros to the Finnish economy each year.
That context makes this latest order about far more than just two more ships. It is a decade-long industrial commitment — a signal to Finland, to the maritime industry, and to the cruise world at large that Royal Caribbean is building not just ships but an entire generational vision for what vacation travel can look like.
Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO Jason Liberty framed it in exactly those terms. The Icon Class, he said, reflects the company’s creative ambition and engineering excellence, and through this partnership with Meyer Turku and the broader Finnish maritime ecosystem, Royal Caribbean is looking to reshape the industry for decades to come.
Meyer Turku CEO Casimir Lindholm called the order a significant recognition of Finnish shipbuilding expertise, describing it as a major step forward in a partnership built to develop the sector well into the next decade.
What This Means for Cruisers
For the millions of people who cruise with Royal Caribbean — or who have been watching Icon of the Seas dominate social media and travel headlines since her debut — this announcement means one thing above all else: the era of the Icon Class is just getting started.
By 2030, Royal Caribbean will have seven of these behemoths either in service or on the water. Each one represents a different evolution of the concept — new features, new neighborhoods, new experiences built on everything the cruise line has learned from the ships that came before. If Icon of the Seas redefined the category in 2024, it is genuinely exciting to imagine what Icon 6 and Icon 7 will look like by the time they arrive at the end of the decade.
It’s worth noting that while the sixth ship is fully confirmed, the seventh remains subject to standard financing conditions — meaning the ink isn’t entirely dry on Icon 7 just yet. But given the trajectory of this partnership and the commercial success of the Icon Class, few in the industry are expecting any surprises.
The Bigger Picture
Royal Caribbean’s commitment here is not just a fleet expansion announcement — it is a statement of confidence in the future of cruising itself. At a time when the industry is navigating economic uncertainty, changing travel habits, and evolving guest expectations, doubling down on the world’s most ambitious ship class sends an unambiguous message.
The cruise industry is growing. Royal Caribbean intends to lead that growth. And Finland is going to help build it.
Seven ships. One vision. A partnership that now stretches across more than sixty years of combined history and well into the 2030s.
The Icon Class is just getting warmed up.
