Today, March 4, the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas, is scheduled to embark on her maiden voyage following 3 years of construction.
The cruise liner weighs 236,857 GT and measures 1,188 feet (362 metres) long and 210 feet (64 metres) wide.
Wonder OTS has 18 decks with the capacity of accommodating 6,988 guests and 2,300 crew.
The ship is setting sail from Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades, Florida), taking her first passengers on a 7-day journey across the Caribbean. The 7-night voyage includes calls at Labadee Haiti (Royal Caribbean private island), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Nassau (Bahamas, New Providence Island), and Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas.
The new cruise ship has surpassed the 6,680-guest sistership Symphony of the Seas as the world's largest cruise ship.
Following her maiden voyage, Wonder OTS will be carrying out sailings along the Mediterranean departing from Barcelona (Spain) and Civitavecchia-Rome (Italy) in May.
Wonder OTS was originally scheduled to debut in China last year as the largest cruise ship ever to sail in Asia. However, Royal Caribbean canceled her inaugural season of China sailings and redirected the ship to the U.S. market in the wake of the COVID crisis.