TRIESTE – Royal Caribbean has taken delivery of the new cruise ship Legend of the Seas, the third Icon-class unit built by Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku and the company’s fourth vessel powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The delivery took place after almost two years of construction at the Turku shipyard in Finland, during a ceremony attended by more than 1,200 crew members, industrial partners and senior executives from Royal Caribbean Group and Meyer Turku. The event marked the official handover of the ship from the builder to the shipowner.
Legend of the Seas will enter service in July 2026 in the Mediterranean, with seven-night cruises departing from Barcelona and Civitavecchia. In November, it will move to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to operate itineraries in the western and southern Caribbean, with calls also at Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas.
With a length of around 365 metres, a beam of almost 50 metres and a gross tonnage of 250,000 tonnes, the ship has 20 decks and more than 2,800 cabins. It can accommodate 5,610 passengers at double occupancy, rising to around 7,600 at full capacity, as well as a crew of 2,350.
From a technical standpoint, the ship is equipped with six dual-fuel engines powered mainly by LNG, three 20 MW azimuth thrusters, five bow thrusters and fuel cells used as a low-emission alternative energy source for the production of electricity and fresh water. Environmental solutions also include waste heat recovery systems and readiness for shore power connection during port calls. Legend of the Seas follows the deliveries of Icon of the Seas in 2024 and Star of the Seas in 2025. The unit is part of the Icon-class development programme under the strategic agreement between Royal Caribbean Group and Meyer Turku, which secures construction capacity through 2036. The plan also includes the construction of additional ships in the series, with deliveries scheduled between 2028 and 2030, consolidating one of the most important cruise shipbuilding programmes currently under way worldwide.
