The luxury cruise ship Legend of the Seas, built by Meyer Turku shipyard, began its journey from southwest Finland towards the Mediterranean Sea around 3am Thursday.
The first Mediterranean cruise aboard the vessel – billed as the world's largest cruise ship – begins next month. After the summer cruise season, Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas will move to the Caribbean, like its sister ships, returning to the Med for summer 2027 season.
According to the MarineTraffic website, the ship is scheduled to arrive in Cádiz, Spain, next Wednesday.
A few millimetres bigger…
Legend of the Seas is 365 meters long and 65 meters wide. It has a normal passenger capacity of approximately 5,600, but can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers if need be.
While the Legend of the Seas is officially the same size as the three previous Icon-class ships, the manufacturer insists that it is slightly longer than its predecessors.
"Laser measurements have confirmed that this is a few millimetres longer than the previous Icon," according to Meyer Turku Project Manager Sami Kouvonen.
The ship features seven swimming pools, ten Jacuzzis, a surf simulator, an AquaDome water theatre, and a Broadway-style theatre with shows.
The ship went on a successful test run in April.
The first ship in the series, Icon of the Seas, was handed over to the cruise line in late 2023. The second, Star of the Seas, was handed over to Royal Caribbean last July.
Work is now underway in Turku on the fourth ship in the series, Hero of the Seas, which is to be completed next summer. Also in progress is the fifth, as-yet-unnamed, ship, to be completed in 2028. The shipyard has promised to deliver the sixth and seventh Icon-class vessels in 2029 and 2030.
In recent months, some of its subcontractors have been linked to exploitation of Ukrainian and Estonian workers.
