RCI-Royal Caribbean officially welcomed Wonder of the Seas into its fleet of award-winning ships.
The newbuild was christened by her Godmother Marie McCrea of Pennsylvania during a ceremony in Port Canaveral/Orlando (Florida USA) on Friday night, December 9th.
Royal Caribbean executives and staff, along with travel agents, partners, VIPs and media, gathered onboard the world's largest cruise ship to celebrate in the AquaTheater.
Guests included Allie, McCrea's daughter, who nominated her mother for the special role as part of a nationwide search launched on TikTok on Mother’s Day. The campaign saw ~16,000 videos posted/10.6 billion hashtag views. McCrea was described as "a devoted mother, wife and cancer survivor whose spirit inspired her family and those around her to set out on adventures and enjoy every moment together despite the hardships they faced."
Michael Bayley (RCI's President and CEO) said in a statement it had been an honor to officially welcome Marie and Wonder OTS to the Royal Caribbean family.
"Marie’s story is one of incredible strength and family memories to last a lifetime, and those are the types of memories we’ve committed to creating with our guests and crew on every Royal Caribbean ship for more than 53 years. Wonder is the adventure of all adventures that combines what families know and love on our revolutionary Oasis Class ships with brand-new experiences, and it’s already delivered memorable vacations to more than 180,500 guests since first setting sail in March."
Wonder OTS is now sailing 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean roundtrip itineraries from Port Canaveral, all visiting Royal Caribbean's private Bahamian island CocoCay.
The mege-liner features 17 decks, 2874 passenger staterooms, 40+ venues (restaurants, bars, lounges), two FlowRiders/surfing simulators, two Rock-Climbing Walls, an Ice-Skating Rink, the world's largest theatre at sea and the tallest waterslide at sea (The Ultimate Abyss), The Perfect Storm (racing waterslides), areas for kids and teens, original live entertainment spread across 4 "stages" in air, ice, theater and water.