This Week in Cruise: Royal Caribbean Orders Fourth Oasis-Class Ship, Costa Diadema to be Christened in November

Royal Caribbean Cruises agreed with STX France to move forward on the order of a fourth Oasis-class ship for delivery in 2018. Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain and president and COO Adam Goldstein, along with STX France CEO Laurent Castaing, announced the planned ship order at the keel-laying ceremony for the third Oasis-class ship at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

The third and fourth Oasis-class ships will join Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas – which launchd in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and share the title of the largest ships in the world. Oasis III is also purported to be approximately 20 percent more energy efficient than Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Costa Diadema, the new flagship of Costa Cruises, will be christened at Genoa, Italy, Nov. 7, 2014, and Genoa and Costa are hosting an event for locals and Costa Diadema guests. Costa Diadema is set to depart from Trieste, Italy, for Genoa on its preview cruise Nov. 1, followed by the ship's inaugural cruise departing Savona, Italy, Nov. 8. 

Costa Diadema is under construction at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard near Venice. The cruise line is slated to take delivery of the ship Oct. 30. The flagship's inaugural activities are scheduled to last all month, including the preview cruise Nov. 1, the christening event Nov. 7 and three inaugural cruises departing Nov. 8, 15 and 22. 

Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Liberty launched from Port Canaveral, marking the third Carnival ship to sail from the Space Coast. The ship will sail year-round. With the arrival of Carnival Liberty, Carnival will increase its annual passenger count from Port Canaveral to 600,000.

Carnival Liberty joins the recently renovated Carnival Sunshine, which launched year-round five- to eight-day Caribbean departures from Port Canaveral last month, and Carnival Sensation, offering year-round three- and four-day Bahamas cruises from the Space Coast.