Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, its second largest trip has set a new record for trans-Atlantic voyages, but it’s not the Blue Riband speed record, still held by SS United States since 1952. Instead it’s a record for most people carried in a single voyage.
In a feat that might remind some of college fads for seeing how many could fit in a phone booth (remember them?), the cruise ship carried 7,604 people on board — including 5,350 passengers and 2,224 crew on a voyage from Miami to Malaga in nine days. The United States made it from Southampton, England to New York in 3 days and 12 hours.
The Symphony is headed for a shipyard for upgrades and repairs, and will sail Caribbean cruises for several months before returning to Fort Lauderdale
