Oasis of the Seas, the class leader of Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis class, has arrived at the  Navantia shipyard in Cádiz for her scheduled drydocking.

The 2009-built ship arrived at the Spanish facility at the beginning of October, following her summer programme in the Western Mediterranean.

Oasis of the Seas marks 15 years of service this month, but the drydock in Spain is primarily for routine maintenance, in addition to class inspections and technical overhauls, rather than a major refurbishment.

Although some freshening up and updates are expected to be made to the vessel’s public areas, it was only in 2019 that she underwent an extensive US $165-million transformation that saw all public areas and cabins refreshed, along with the installation of new features.

These included the Ultimate Abyss dry slide, The Perfect Storm trio of waterslides and a dedicated karaoke venue, Spotlight, while the pool deck was reimagined under a Caribbean theme and new staterooms were added, including a set of panoramic-view suites above the bridge.

The major update, carried out as part of Royal Caribbean’s fleetwide Amplification programme, was also performed at the Navantia shipyard. The company, which dates back to 1717, specialises in the construction of naval vessels, but also does extensive refit work for Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines and Disney Cruise Line.

Oasis of the Seas will welcome guests back onboard following this smaller refit on October 24th, 2024, for a 14-night repositioning voyage from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale, offering port calls in Spain and the Bahamas.

During the 2024/25 winter cruise season, the ship will sail a series of 3- to 8-night cruises departing from Port Everglades, visiting Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Bahamas, Perfect Day at CocoCay, as well as other ports of call in the Southern, Eastern and Western Caribbean.

The drydock for Oasis of the Seas comes amid a busy shoulder season of refits for the cruise industry as it prepares for the winter boom months in the Northern Hemisphere, and the peak summer season in the south.

Hapag-Lloyd has sent its oldest vessel Europa into drydock for a major refurbishment this month, while MSC Cruises is undertaking routine maintenance and class work on MSC Grandiosa, and Princess Cruises is conducting a drydock for Coral Princess.