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Royal Caribbean Sets Transatlantic Crossing Record

Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas has set a transatlantic crossing record. 

Symphony of the Seas crossed the Atlantic Ocean with 5,350 paying passengers and 2,224 crew members for a total of 7,604 individuals. This is the largest number of passengers to cross the Atlantic in peacetime. 

Symphony of the Seas was sailing at almost 100 percent when she began her record-breaking voyage on March 9. She is sailing a 12-night repositioning cruise from the United States to Spain making her ready for summer in Europe. 

The Oasis-class ship, which also held the record for largest cruise ship until 2022, departed PortMiami on March 12, stopped in Málaga on March 19, Valencia on March 20 and will complete her voyage by arriving in Barcelona, Spain today. 

Once in Spain, she will dry dock at the Navantia shipyard in Cádiz for routine maintenance and class work. The 2018 built cruise ship will also receive hotel upkeep and minor upgrades. 

She will return to service on April 16 when she begins a series of seven night cruises in the Western Mediterranean. Symphony of the Seas is returning to Europe after five years and will offer an itinerary that includes ports of call in Italy, Spain and France. 

While Symphony of the Seas has set the record for most paying passengers and crew having crossed the Atlantic, another ship still holds the record for crossing the most individuals. 

During World War II, Queen Mary set the record while carrying 16,683 crew members and troops. Cunard owned Queen Mary and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth were lauded by Sir Winston Churchill as having helped to “shorten the war by a year.”

“Built for the arts of peace and to link the old world with the new, the queens challenged the fury of Hitlerism in the battle of the Atlantic. Without their aid, the day of final victory must unquestionably have been postponed.” -Sir Winston Churchill 

Symphony of the Seas is set to return to Fort Lauderdale in late October and it is possible she could break her own record at that time.