page_title: Symphony of the Seas
section_title: Construction and career
hierarchical_section_title: Symphony of the Seas / Construction and career
caption_attribution_description: English: Symphony of the Seas in Naples during her first cruise.
context_page_description: Symphony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was built in 2018 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, the fourth in Royal Caribbean's Oasis class of cruise ships. At 228,081 GT, she is the largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage, surpassing her sister ship Harmony of the Seas, also owned by Royal Caribbean International.
context_section_description: On 29 October 2015 the vessel's keel was laid by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. Symphony of the Seas floated out on 9 June 2017. Actors Alexa Vega, Carlos Pena Jr. and their 23-month-old son Ocean were chosen as the "Godfamily" of the ship, marking the first time in the industry that a family was a ship sponsor. The christening ceremony took place in Miami in November 2018.
  From 15 to 18 February 2018 the cruise ship underwent sea trials and was formally turned over to Royal Caribbean International on 23 March. On 24 March the ship left Saint-Nazaire for Málaga under the command of Rob Hempstead, arriving on 27 March, and arrived at the vessel's first homeport of Barcelona, Spain on 29 March.
  On 31 March 2018 Symphony of the Seas offered her first passenger cruise and began her maiden voyage on 7 April for a week-long trip through the Mediterranean.
  During her first season Symphony of the Seas continued to sail on seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona. She repositioned on 28 October and arrived on 9 November at her new home port at the Royal Caribbean terminal at PortMiami in Florida, United States to provide cruises of the Caribbean.
  On 11 January 2019, while Symphony of the Seas was docked in Nassau, Bahamas, a passenger jumped overboard from the 11th deck and survived.  The passenger and his friends were turned over to Nassau law enforcement. They were not charged, but were required to return home at their own expense.
  In August 2019, an Australian passenger died after going overboard during a seven-day cruise of the Caribbean. His body was recovered shortly afterwards by the ship's officials.
  During the COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships, Royal Caribbean has suspended all service across most of its fleet, including Symphony of the Seas, until 15 September 2020. A 27-year old crew member from the housekeeping department was medically evacuated on 30 March 2020, and subsequently died from COVID-19 on 12 April 2020 in South Florida. The family later sued Royal Caribbean for wrongful death.
caption: Symphony of the Seas in Naples, Italy
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 6 Plus", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "11.4", "Image DateTime": "2018:04:12 09:13:10", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "208", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[40, 50, 94/5]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[14, 15, 1474/25]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "5741/246", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[7, 13, 503/50]", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "307/100", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "43677/160", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "43677/160", "GPS GPSDate": "2018:04:12", "GPS Tag 0x001F": "5", "Image GPSInfo": "1706", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2110", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7635", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2639", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "32", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:04:12 09:13:10", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:04:12 09:13:10", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "28607/2517", "EXIF ApertureValue": "7983/3509", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "9054/803", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "83/20", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1631, 1223, 1795, 1077]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "478", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "478", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "29", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[83/20, 83/20, 11/5, 11/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2"}