The largest cruise ship on this planet, Royal Caribbean International’s Wonder of the Seas, has lastly been formally christened in a ceremony at her new homeport, Port Canaveral in Florida.
The ceremony, held the night of Friday, December 9, 2022, included a mix of conventional moments in addition to high-tech, energizing snippets showcasing the ship’s improvements and celebrating her in fashion.
Wonder of the Seas Named
Royal Caribbean International has lastly named the road’s latest ship, Wonder of the Seas, in a “Caribbean Chic” ceremony at Port Canaveral, with cruise line executives, VIPs, and media in attendance for the momentous event that has formally christened the brand new ship.
Festivities onboard the vessel included previews of the brand new, high-energy, tech-infused manufacturing reveals, spectacular excessive dives within the AquaTheater, aerialists, and dwell music for the assembled company.
Traditional parts, in the meantime, included the bagpipe efficiency at all times seen at Royal Caribbean’s ceremonial christenings. For Wonder of the Seas, the Mount Dora Pipe Band did the honors for the godmother procession.
The ship’s godmother, Marie McCrea, was chosen through a TikTook problem, #SearchForWonderMother, that was launched on Mother’s Day to search out the ship’s “WonderMom.” More than 16,000 nominations had been submitted.
Nominated by her daughter, Allie, for being a loyal mother, spouse, and most cancers survivor, McCrea was chosen for her resilience, her steerage, and brave spirit for her household.
“I was in awe of all the incredible stories of the everyday heroes who are motivating those around them to discover, wonder and make memories,” stated Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International. “Marie and her family have a heartening and encouraging story that made us cry and rejoice and hopeful, and throughout it all, she inspired wonder and adventure in those around her.”
Also readily available for the naming ceremony had been quite a lot of finalists for the #SearchForWonderMother contest. The occasion continued with a singular choral rendition of the United States nationwide anthem, conventional spiritual blessings for the ship, crew, and everybody who will sail on her, and remarks from completely different cruise line executives.
Many of the remarks thanked the shipbuilding group, cruise line management, and most of all, the ship’s crew. “Wonder of the Seas brings together the very best that Royal Caribbean can give,” stated Bayley. “This truly is the very best family vacation today.”
Yet Bayley’s feedback didn’t simply take into account that what the ship affords is great, however that it’s really the ship’s crew that makes the vessel great.
“What really brings Wonder of the Seas to life is its crew members,” stated Bayley, noting that there are 2,300 worldwide crew members onboard, and that greater than 50,000 crew members work throughout the Royal Caribbean fleet and within the line’s personal locations.
To conclude the ceremony, McCrea launched the most important champagne bottle on this planet – equal to 12 common champagne bottles – to interrupt on the ship’s bow in a time-honored second each Royal Caribbean cruise ship has loved in its historical past.
A Late Naming Ceremony
Since Wonder of the Seas set sail on her maiden voyage in March 2022, greater than 180,000 company have already sailed on the vessel – all with out an “official” christening.
It isn’t uncommon for cruise ships to have a number of preliminary shakedown cruises, together with media sailings or repositioning cruises, previous to being named, to make sure small issues are corrected previous to the ship really coming into visitor service.
Yet Wonder of the Seas has already been crusing for 9 months, an unusually lengthy interval for a ship to welcome company earlier than its official naming ceremony, which extra historically takes place inside only a few weeks of a ship starting service.
The delay doubtless associated to bringing the ship to her official Florida homeport, Port Canaveral, in addition to to making sure journey restrictions have been lifted so as to host a shocking ceremony that might welcome all company.
Prior to arriving at Port Canaveral, the ship first sailed a brief sequence of voyages from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, then spent the summer time season crusing within the Mediterranean.
Now, the world’s largest cruise ship will supply Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings, the vast majority of that are 7-night sailings, and all of which is able to embrace calls on CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s personal island in The Bahamas.
Depending on the crusing date, Eastern Caribbean itineraries will go to ports equivalent to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee, whereas Western Caribbean sailings will go to ports equivalent to Nassau, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Falmouth.
The ship will stay at Port Canaveral year-round no less than via spring 2024.