By
Rebecca Gibson |
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is to sell Legend of the Seas to Thomson Cruises in spring 2017.
Legend of the Seas joined the Royal Caribbean International fleet in 1995, and was built by Chantier's de L'Atlantique, now STX France, in St. Nazaire, France. The 69,130gt ship carries 1,832 guests at double occupancy and 726 crew.
The vessel’s sailing with the Royal Caribbean International brand will take place between 13 and 26 March 2017. She will then be immediately transferred to Thomson Cruises.All officers and crew will remain with Royal Caribbean and will be transferred to other vessels worldwide.
Since its inaugural sailing, Legend of the Seas has created many wonderful memories for hundreds of thousands of guests, and we expect this successful history to continue as she transitions to Thomson Cruises," said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean. “While she will be missed, her transition supports Double-Double and our objective of moderate capacity growth.”
To be renamed TUI Discovery 2, the vessel will be the sister to the soon-to-be launched TUI Discovery and will increase Thomson's fleet to six ships. Thomson is also set to acquire TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 in 2018 and 2019 respectively.