Royal Caribbean orders new Icon Class of 5,000 pax LNG fueled ships

[VASOXFANN]

Ahhhh! Too big!

 

Please order a smaller ship or 2 for those who don't like cruising on shopping malls!

Edited October 11, 2016 by VASOXFANN

[Ocean Dancer]

Doesn't Majesty hold more passengers than Radiance?

 

Yes a few. Majesty holds 2774 and Radiance holds 2501

 

info from v to go

 

sorry , my copy and paste skills are out of whack today.:)

[FalklandIslander]

I can't see this happening. The Radiance class ships are still in good shape. They seem pretty. Popular to me.

 

Because new ships involve very long lead times to order, capacity is matched to market conditions by selling or not selling older ships as new ships are acquired. Plans to sell or not sell older ships are probably made only about one or two years into the future.

[Clarea]

Doesn't Majesty hold more passengers than Radiance?

They will probably never again build a ship with as low passenger capacity as Radiance class - at least sailing under the Royal Caribbean brand.

[FalklandIslander]

Could they be planning another (potentially smaller) ship at the same time?

 

It is certainly possible that the next ship class after the Icon class might be smaller, but my expectation is that it will probably be larger than the Oasis class. Economics favors larger ships both because of propulsion efficiency and because only one of each of the most expensive crew members are needed: captain, chief engineer, hotel director, cruise director, finance director, chief medical officer, etc. There have been reports in the shipbuilding press of talks with shipyards to build something 15% larger than Oasis.

[JAMESCC]

First I must say RCI never ceases to amaze me. They really are risk takers. Second no offense to anyone but in my humble opinion cruise ships should be 100% smoke free because fire at sea is too dangerous and I see a lot of unsafe people smoking. We just got off NCL Breakaway and I saw cigarette butts on top of the lifeboats. It scared me just a bit. People are too irresponsible, again no offense. The bad ones ruin it for the rest.

One question, did it say a size in that release? I must have missed the size of the new vessels?

[Ourusualbeach]

First I must say RCI never ceases to amaze me. They really are risk takers. Second no offense to anyone but in my humble opinion cruise ships should be 100% smoke free because fire at sea is too dangerous and I see a lot of unsafe people smoking. We just got off NCL Breakaway and I saw cigarette butts on top of the lifeboats. It scared me just a bit. People are too irresponsible, again no offense. The bad ones ruin it for the rest.

One question, did it say a size in that release? I must have missed the size of the new vessels?

 

It only gave a passenger count of around 5000.

[John&LaLa]

It only gave a passenger count of around 5000.

 

Isn't Carnival or NCL building a ship close to Oasis capacity but more in line with Quantum tonnage?

[Ourusualbeach]

Isn't Carnival or NCL building a ship close to Oasis capacity but more in line with Quantum tonnage?

 

There may be a few lines going that route. MSC also comes to mind.

 

I'm also not sure with the LNG whether the storage tanks/ engine areas take up more or less room than conventional ships.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Ourusualbeach

[JAMESCC]

It only gave a passenger count of around 5000.

Oh ok. Lets just hope they don't try and put 5,000 passenger plus crew on a 90,000 ton ship since they gave no tonnage numbers! :eek:

[71Corvette]

I'm also not sure with the LNG whether the storage tanks/ engine areas take up more or less room than conventional ships.

 

A quick online search found one gallon of #6 fuel oil yields about 153,000 BTU. By comparison, a gallon of LNG yields about 82,000 BTU.

 

Even if we account for the increased efficiency of LNG compared to fuel oil it appears an LNG-fueled ship will require a larger fuel storage area than a comparable oil burning ship.

 

I suspect the engine size would be relatively similar but that's speculation on my part.

Edited October 11, 2016 by 71Corvette

[FalklandIslander]

A quick online search found one gallon of #6 fuel oil yields about 153,000 BTU. By comparison, a gallon of LNG yields about 82,000 BTU.

 

Even if we account for the increased efficiency of LNG compared to fuel oil it appears an LNG-fueled ship will require a larger fuel storage area than a comparable oil burning ship.

 

I suspect the engine size would be relatively similar but that's speculation on my part.

 

The press release indicates that the Icon class will be able to service the hotel loads using fuel cells. It also says that they will be able to use distillate fuels when LNG is not available. Commercially viable fuel cells can run on LNG, but not on distillate fuels such as diesel or Marine Fuel Oil. Reciprocating diesel engines which can burn diesel or Marine Fuel Oil power all RCCL ships except the Radiance class, which use gas turbines. Reciprocating diesel engines don't run on LNG, though they can run on a mix of LNG and distillates (feeding in some natural gas with the air reduces distillate fuel consumption). I'm confident, reading between the lines, that the Icon class will use gas turbines for propulsion loads. The disadvantage of gas turbines is that they have poor efficiency below about 70% of maximum load. Using a larger number of smaller gas turbines is not a good option because gas turbine efficiency increases with fan diameter. Combining fuel cells with (probably two) gas turbines (probably GE LM2500+ or RR MT30) should work really well because the fuel cells can be brought online as needed for the marginal loads when the ship's speed requires more power than one gas turbine can provide but less than two gas turbines can provide efficiently.

 

Gas turbines are physically much smaller and lighter than reciprocating diesels of the same power capacity, so I would not assume that the space needed for engines would be similar.

 

BTW, the press release doesn't indicate whether 5000 passengers would be at double occupancy or at maximum occupancy. The average cabin size on Quantum class is 9% larger than on Oasis class. If Icon class will have cabin sizes similar to Quantum class and if 5000 passengers will be at double occupancy, then Icon class will be roughly similar in size to Oasis class. Anyway, Icon class will certainly be substantially larger than Quantum class.

[fletch1027]

A quick online search found one gallon of #6 fuel oil yields about 153,000 BTU. By comparison, a gallon of LNG yields about 82,000 BTU.

 

Even if we account for the increased efficiency of LNG compared to fuel oil it appears an LNG-fueled ship will require a larger fuel storage area than a comparable oil burning ship.

 

I suspect the engine size would be relatively similar but that's speculation on my part.

 

 

 

So LNG is actually all stored on the ship? I thought it was harvested whale farts... :-)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Garavar]

Now lets start the speculation. Name, home port, slides?

Easy,

 

Icon of the Seas, some other names...

 

Buffet of the Seas

Specialty Dinning of the Seas

2022 Nothing is included anymore of the Seas

No More Diamond Lounge of the Seas.

 

 

Sent from my STV100-1 using Forums mobile app

[FalklandIslander]

So LNG is actually all stored on the ship? I thought it was harvested whale farts... :-)

 

There are not enough whales remaining (less than 10% of historic populations).

[J_Busworth]

Personally I would like a ship named Icon of the Seas, but don't know if they'll actually name one that. If think they might homeport both of these ships in Europe for the inaugural season.

[Miryam1234]

This is so happy news for us in Turku!

It secures more work for the region, and more Turku built ships for us to cruise on.

 

You see; at the beginning of our cruising life, Dear Husband insisted on only traveling with a ship built in Turku. Since Freedom-Navigator-Oasis-Adventure-Allure I have managed to lure him to few other, too (Splendour, Enchantment, Jewel and in two weeks time next: Rhapsody). Cruising is addictive, as we all know.

:p

Edited October 11, 2016 by Miryam1234

[chengkp75]

Agreed. By 2022, it is almost certain that the UK, Canada, and most US (coastal) states will prohibit any and all smoking onboard (by passengers or crew) for cruises visiting their ports.

 

While the port states may be able to ban smoking on open deck areas while in port, they would have no jurisdiction to ban all smoking on foreign flag ships inside the ships, or while at sea.

[FalklandIslander]

While the port states may be able to ban smoking on open deck areas while in port, they would have no jurisdiction to ban all smoking on foreign flag ships inside the ships, or while at sea.

 

The port states have full authority and jurisdiction to ban cruise ships that allow smoking anywhere onboard from visiting their ports. This is exactly how the UK bans smoking in the casinos of all cruise ships operating to/from UK ports, for example, Independence now up through the TA departing Southampton later this month. It is also how the FAA banned smoking on international flights to/from US airports.

[deliver42]

Why does EVERY forum disintegrate into a smoking theme?

[bogofman]

Why does EVERY forum disintegrate into a smoking theme?

 

Royal Caribbean is already known for making steady progress on energy efficiency and reduced emissions through such technologies as air lubrication, which sends billions of microscopic bubbles along the hull of a ship to reduce friction, and AEP scrubbers, which clean exhaust gases before they leave the ship. Use of the new technologies will result in much cleaner emissions, as they produce no sulfur and significantly reduce the production of nitrogen oxides and particulates.

 

 

if its good for the ship :rolleyes:

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Quite interesting from an engineering standpoint, but not much information (yet) in terms of the ship from a passenger viewpoint (features, cabins, etc.).

 

The size puts it just below Oasis class.

 

With the inventory of Oasis class and Quantum class by the time Icon class shows up...RCI will have a major fleet of very large ships. Interesting that there has not been much news for some time now about mid-to-smaller size ships.

[alfaeric]

Royal Caribbean is already known for making steady progress on energy efficiency and reduced emissions through such technologies as air lubrication, which sends billions of microscopic bubbles along the hull of a ship to reduce friction, and AEP scrubbers, which clean exhaust gases before they leave the ship. Use of the new technologies will result in much cleaner emissions, as they produce no sulfur and significantly reduce the production of nitrogen oxides and particulates.

 

 

if its good for the ship :rolleyes:

 

And that is particularly important if the ships want to continue to sail in environmentally sensitive areas. It's hard to not complain about ships putting out sizable pieces of particulates onto glacier areas. Even if one does not buy into global warming- the physics of dark things absorbing energy- which melts ice- is impossible to argue against.

 

SOx and NOx both turn into chemicals in the greater envoironment that are not good for water, too.

 

So, locally, ships can do harm.

 

Changes like this minimize the harm to a point that ships can still go into those areas.

 

Now, for this announcement- the size may have issues.

[DISFANS3]

Awesome...

[chengkp75]

The port states have full authority and jurisdiction to ban cruise ships that allow smoking anywhere onboard from visiting their ports. This is exactly how the UK bans smoking in the casinos of all cruise ships operating to/from UK ports, for example, Independence now up through the TA departing Southampton later this month. It is also how the FAA banned smoking on international flights to/from US airports.

 

The law banning smoking on international flights to/from US airports was only passed after 98% of foreign air carriers had already banned smoking either voluntarily or because their flag state had banned it. 14CFR252.5 does allow that other countries may apply for a waiver of this law if they feel that this is an "extraterritorial" application of US laws.

 

I've not been able to find a UK law regarding smoking on foreign flag ships when outside the 12 miles limit, the only thing I saw was reference to a conference about implementing the UK's smoking ban on ships, and it was discussed that it would be problematic to enforce this on foreign ships outside the 12 mile limit.