Vantage class (Radiance class)
On this page, the ships of the Vantage class are shown. They are also known as the Radiance class, named after the first ship that entered service in 2001. The order was placed just when Celebrity Cruises was taken over by Royal Caribbean, although the name of the ships class at that moment was Voyager-class. When Voyager Of The Seas was named in 1999, the name of this original Voyager-class was changed to Vantage class. The Voyager Of The Seas was part of the Eagle class, you still understand? Also, the newbuilding teams were joined together. When RCI ordered four new panamax ships for Celebrity (the later Millennium-class), the Celebrity newbuilding team was delighted, but RCI did not order these ships from the Meyer-werft in Germany, where all previous Celebrity ships were built. The Celebrity newbuilding team was dismayed because of their good relations with Meyer and especially annoyed when RCI did order four ships for their own line based on the new design and had them built at Meyer-werft. Meyer changed the hull-design in comparissement with the French ships and also the machinery was changed. The propulsors used in the German built ships are of the Azipod design, manufactured by ABB. Unlike the French Mermaid units fitted in the Celebrity vessels, the Azipods have been trouble free in service.
Originally, it was intended to build six of these Vantage-class ships, but with the still bigger Freedom-class already ordered, this was reduced to four. These ships are not the biggest ones in the fleet of Royal Caribbean, not even when they were build. But these ships are fairly handsome for modern cruiseliners with their rounded lines.
The ships interiors can be called classic but modern, giving the ships an relaxing atmosphere. For the tropical effect, waterfalls and plants are added onboard. Royal Caribbean is well known for a lot of glass on their fleets exteriors and with these ships that's no different. At least half of the ships exterior is glass, giving the passengers enough feeling of space and a lot of seaviews.
The namegiver of the class, Radiance of the Seas, floated out at the12th of october 2000 as the biggest ship built in Germany at the time. She was named at Fort Lauderdale in april 2001 and sails mostly Caribbean cruises.
The Radiance of the Seas was followed by Brilliance of the Seas in 2002. This ship was named at Harwich, England at the 13th of july 2002 and she started sailing northern European cruises. In august 2003, the thirth sister Serenade of the Seas sailed her first cruise from Amsterdam to Boston. She is pictured above just after she started this voyage at the North Sea Channel close to Amsterdam. She was named at the 22nd of august in New York.
Jewel Of The Seas floated out in the beginning of april 2004 as the last ship of the class, before she went to the Dutch Eemshaven in Groningen to be fitted out. In fact all Vantage-class ships went to Eemshaven and they were the biggest ships ever to be fitted out in Holland.
On the 22th of april Jewel Of The Seas was handed over to Royal Caribbean after her succesfull seatrials on the North Sea. A few weeks later, on the 7th of may she was named by Kathy Mellor, the American Teacher Of The Year 2004, in Southampton before the ship set sail on het first European cruise. She spends most of her time in Europe in summer and in the Caribbean in winter and is a familiar sight in the big European cruiseports all over the continent.
