GTS ''Radiance of the Seas'' is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

owned and operated by

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the l ...

. She is the lead ship of the , which includes , and . All of the ''Radiance''-class ships have a

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

powertrain, which produces higher efficient speeds than other cruise ships, and emissions to the air are much lower than cruise ships powered by

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

Construction and career

Built in 2001, the ship cost Royal Caribbean International about 338 million dollars to build. The ship is considered to be one of the more environmentally-friendly but less fuel-efficient. As one of the ''Radiance''-class ships it contained more glass than any other Royal Caribbean ship when it was launched. It has over 700 balcony staterooms, a two-level main dining room and a retractable glass roof over the

solarium Solarium may refer to: * A sunroom, a room built largely of glass to afford exposure to the sun * A terrace (building) or flat housetop * The '' Solarium Augusti'', a monumental meridian line (or perhaps a sundial) erected in Rome by Emperor Aug ...

(adults-only) pool. ''Radiance of the Seas'' was designed in Germany by

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft (; ) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. It was founded in 1795, as a builder of small wooden vessels. It has been owned and managed by the Meyer family for seven generations. Since ...

to cruise varied climates. The ship is faster than most cruise ships and has the ability to maneuver with the combination of the

Azipod Azipod is a trademarked azimuth thruster pod design, a marine propulsion unit consisting of a fixed pitch propeller mounted on a steerable gondola ("pod") containing the electric motor driving the propeller, allowing ships to be more maneuverab ...

propulsion system, the

bow thruster Manoeuvering thrusters (bow thrusters and stern thrusters) are transversal propulsion devices built into or mounted to either the Bow (watercraft), bow or stern (front or back, respectively) of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow th ...

s, and the dynamic positioning system. The ship is economically efficient through the design of the power plant consisting of two

s and one

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

. The waste heat from each gas turbine is fed through a heat recovery steam generator, thus using the steam to power the steam turbine. Once electricity is generated from this power plant it then powers the external propulsion pods and thrusters. The ship departed from the shipyard in January 2001 After the ship was drydocked at

Blohm+Voss Blohm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Hans Blohm C.M. (born 1927), photographer and author *Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), German businessman and co-founder of German company Blohm+Voss *Irma Blohm (1909–1997), German politi ...

, Hamburg, the ship was delivered to Royal Caribbean on 9 March 2001. She was the biggest cruise ship built in Germany. The ship's features include a $6 million art collection and gyroscopically-stabilized pool tables. Royal Caribbean ships all include art in passenger areas; ''Radiance of the Seas'' has displayed art from over 100 artists around the world. ''Radiance of the Seas'' is the first cruise ship to feature pool tables that are stabilized by a computer-controlled

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining Orientation (geometry), orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in ...

. They adjust with the motion of the ship to keep the table-top level with the horizon. The vessel has the most glass of any Royal Caribbean ship. She has 10 dining choices, a rock-climbing wall, a mini-golf course, pools, and a water slide.

Itinerary

During the northern summer season, ''Radiance of the Seas'' operates in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. When the ship is cruising in Alaska, guests are able to stand on the helipad to view the glaciers passed by the ship. In spring and fall, she visits the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an Islands, and in the winter season, the southern summer, she visits Australia and New Zealand. The inaugural Australian cruise of the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

on the ''Radiance of the Seas'' in November 2014 included, among others,

Cheryl Barker Cheryl Ruth Barker (born 22 April 1960, Sydney) is an Australian operatic soprano who has had an active international career since the late 1980s. She has sung on several complete opera recordings with Chandos Records, including the title rol ...

, David Hobson, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Simon Tedeschi,

Elaine Paige Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...

Marina Prior Marina Prior (born 18 October 1963) is an Australian soprano and actress with a career mainly in musical theatre. From 1990 to 1993, she starred as the original Christine Daaé in the Australian premiere of ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 mus ...

, and

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

COVID-19 pandemic

The ship was ordered to leave Sydney by the

New South Wales police The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

under "Operation Nemesis" due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was provisioned in Sydney on 3 April and left port without passengers on 4 April towards Singapore. She proceeded to Cyprus and was in hot lay-up in the Bay of

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

from early 2020.

Accidents and incidents

On 1 September 2023, ''Radiance of the Seas'' experienced a propulsion problem in

Seward, Alaska Seward (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ; Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Tl'ubugh'') is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated ...

, resulting in the cancellation of two consecutive 7-day cruises. It returned to service on 15 September 2023. On 23 April 2024, ''Radiance of the Seas'' experienced a propulsion problem while cruising to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, resulting in the cancellation of multiple cruises, including one that occurred two days after boarding and not leaving port. Guests were compensated but left upset over the lack of communication about the cruise to nowhere.

References

External links

*
Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radiance Of The Seas Ships of Royal Caribbean International Ships built in Papenburg Panamax cruise ships 2000 ships