Splendour of the Seas
Encyclopedia
MS
Motor ship
A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The name of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.- See also :...
Splendour of the Seas is a Vision-class
Vision Class
The Vision class is a term Royal Caribbean International uses to refer to six of its cruise ships. Although called a "class" by Royal Caribbean, actually it consists of two pairs of sister ships and another pair of sister ships that was later split up into two different ships by a lengthening of...
cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
operated by Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International is a Norwegian and American cruise line brand based in Miami, Florida and owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.. With 42 ships in service under 5 different brands and one more under construction, it controls a 25.6% share of the world cruise market...
. Her itineraries include European cruising in the Mediterranean and Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
along with South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and other more "exotic" locations in Royal Caribbean's worldwide destinations. Dedicated towards an international clientele, official languages on the Splendour of the Seas include English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
. The second in the line of the Vision class ships, she features a seven-story lobby, rock-climbing wall, and a 12-hole miniature golf course. Her sister ship is Legend of the Seas
Legend of the Seas
MS Legend of the Seas was the first of the Vision Class cruise ships owned by the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. With a gross tonnage of , the ship can carry 2,074 passengers. Its maiden voyage was May 16, 1995...
.
Design and construction
Splendour was built for Royal Caribbean International by Chantiers de l'AtlantiqueChantiers de l'Atlantique
Chantiers de l'Atlantique is part of the South Korean STX Shipbuilding Group and one of the world's largest shipyards, based in Saint-Nazaire, France...
at their shipyard in Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She was assigned the yard number "B31". The cruise ship was launched on June 17, 1995 by Lisa Wilhelmsen. The ship is registered to the port of Nassau
Nassau
- Placenames :Germany*Nassau, Germany, a town in Rhineland-Palatinate founded in AD 915, after which all the following are named, directly or indirectly*Nassau Castle, ancestral seat of the House of Nassau...
, in the Bahamas. Her maiden voyage commenced on March 31, 1996.
Splendour has and a displacement of 35396 tonnes (34,836.9 LT). The cruise ship is 264 metres (866.1 ft) in length overall, with a beam of 32 metres (105 ft), a draft of 7.9 metres (25.9 ft) in summer conditions, and an air draft
Air draft
Air draft is the distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel, similar to the "deep draft" of a vessel which is measured from the surface of the water to the deepest part of the hull below the surface, but "air draft" is expressed as a height, not a depth.The vessel's...
of 50 metres (164 ft). The propulsion system consists of five Wasa Wartsilla 12V46B V12 engines, which supply 11700 kW each to the ship's two, 5.8 metres (19 ft) diameter, fixed pitch propellers. Maximum speed is 24 knots (13.1 m/s), with the ship taking 1892 metres (6,207.3 ft) and 6 minutes, 45 seconds to come to a full stop. Main propulsion is supplemented by two 1500 kW bow thrusters and a 1728 kW stern thruster. Two 10.8 sqm, 6.1 metres (20 ft) stabilizers are also fitted.
On 31 October 2011, Royal Caribbean and Spanish shipyard Navantia
Navantia
Navantia, formerly Bazán or IZAR, is a Spanish shipbuilding firm, which offers its services to both military and civil sector. It is the fifth largest shipbuilder in Europe, and the ninth largest in the world with shipyards all over Spain....
signed a contract for Splendour to receive structural modifications, maintenance to the propellers, propeller shafts and rudder, and interior upgrades, including new dining and public areas, 124 new balconies, and improvements to staterooms. The work was expected to take about five weeks to complete.
Facilities and layout
The ship has eleven decks, with with passenger accommodation located on decks 2 to 7. Up to 2,074 passengers can be carried, with 902 staterooms aboard (including 20 suites and 67 junior suites). Decks 9 and 10 make up the 'outdoor' portion of the ship, with the main pool, rock climbing wall, miniature golf course, and solarium. Deck 11, the uppermost deck, hosts the ship's Viking Crown LoungeViking Crown Lounge
The Viking Crown Lounge is a signature design element of every Royal Caribbean International cruise ship. The lounge, originally built around a stack of the ship, is the highest guest-accessible area on-board...
.
The standard crew complement is 720, with accommodation for another 30 if required; all crew accommodation is located near the bottom of the ship, on deck 1. The bridge is located forward on deck 8. Onboard equipment can generate 1100000 litres (2,324,716.4 US pt) of fresh water every day, 600000 litres (1,268,027.1 US pt) of which will be used aboard during the same period.