| Grandeur of the Seas was built in Finland for Royal Caribbean in 1996. She was the third in the line of 6 Vision ships. Unlike her predecessors Legend and Splendour, Grandeur was designed with compromise in mind. Management sought to increase passenger capacity without significantly affecting the layout and design of the ship. To do this, speed received a reduced priority, the engine room being moved to the rear of the ship rather than the more balanced central location or her predecessors. An additional 50 feet of length was grafted into her central area resulting in a Capacity increase of about 75 passenger cabins, 150 double occupancy passengers. Grandeur, along with her sisters ships, still remains one of the best designed vessels in existence! She provides speed, comfort, and all the traditional design elements of classic cruise liners. A wide promenade completely circles the ship. Huge windows or glass walls, everywhere, provide passengers with an affinity with the sea unmatched on any other class of ship! Grandeur was also the first ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet, and the first passenger vessel anywhere, to introduce the world to "Dynamic Positioning". This revolutionary system, allows the Grandeur of the Seas to anchor without the need for actually dropping an environmentally unfriendly, damaging, anchor. Instead, on board computers use readings from received from the Global Positioning systems to control the forward and stern thrusters, maintaining the ship within inches of the set position. Although, currently, rarely used because of it's added fuel costs and noise, the system will come into play as Royal Caribbean expands its destinations into areas which are particularly sensitive to damage to undersea reefs and delicate coral formations. The system is also operational on Enchantment, Rhapsody, and Vision of the Seas. Grandeur of the seas is 917.3 feet long. 105.6 feet wide with a 25.5 foot draft. She measures 74,137 tons. She is registered in Liberia with International officers and crew. Power is supplied through diesel generators. Njal Eide again worked their magic on interior designs. Grandeur has one identical twin, Enchantment of the Seas. Two other ships are close enough in design to be considered sisters: Rhapsody and Vision of the Seas. Legend and Splendour of the Seas, while very similar in design, are more properly classified as prototypes. |
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| Splendour of the Seas |
| Rhapsody of the Seas |
| Copyright 1998 Mel Litzenberger. All Rights Reserved |