Huge Oasis of the Seas to base at Port Canaveral

Royal Caribbean is basing its huge cruise ship Oasis of the Seas at Port Canaveral next year, representing a major coup for Brevard County's seaport.

The Oasis will offer seven-night Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean itineraries from Port Canaveral in the winter of 2016-17, Royal Caribbean announced Thursday.

The Oasis will be the biggest ship ever to be based at Port Canaveral, and is tied for the title of the biggest ship in the world, along with sister ship Allure of the Seas. It has a double-occupancy capacity of 5,400 and a full capacity of 6,360. It carries a crew of 2,394.

In addition, Royal Caribbean said Rhapsody of the Seas will take over three- and four-night Bahamas cruises from Enchantment of the Seas at Port Canaveral.

Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Walsh said he is "thrilled" by the announcements.

"We enjoy a fantastic relationship with Royal Caribbean, and the announcement of these two wonderful ships shows commitment that our partnership will continue to grow‎," Walsh said Thursday. "This definitely is the payoff to hard work, longtime partnership, and providing excellent customer service and facilities that reflect Royal Caribbean's commitment to innovation."

Walsh said getting a larger ship from Royal Caribbean "was anticipated when Royal Caribbean agreed to partner with Port Canaveral on the construction of new Cruise Terminal 1 that opened in December 2014. Cruise Terminal 1 was built to handle Oasis-class ships."

He said the strong performance of Freedom of the Seas at Port Canaveral helped persuade Royal Caribbean to bring the Oasis here.

Royal Caribbean said Freedom of the Seas will continue alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries during the summer 2016 from Port Canaveral. It then will move to Port Everglades near Fort Lauderdale the following winter, as the much-larger Oasis takes its place at Port Canaveral. The Freedom of the Seas has a double-occupancy of 3,782 and a full capacity of 4,515.

The Oasis' move from Port Everglades to Port Canaveral coincides with the third Oasis-sized ship, Harmony of the Seas, being deployed at Port Everglades that winter.

In addition, Royal Caribbean will use Port Canaveral as port of call for several of its New York- and Baltimore-based ships.

Stewart Chiron, the chief executive officer and founder of CruiseGuy.com, said Royal Caribbean's decision means Port Canaveral's planning and investment paid off.

"This is nothing Port Canaveral is being given," he said. "This is something that Port Canaveral earned."

Chiron said Royal Caribbean's expansion will boost Port Canaveral's passenger figures because it's a larger-capacity ship.