The Names That Never Made It to Sea

Royal Caribbean’s Has a Slew of Unused Trademarks

Royal Caribbean has a naming habit that is almost as recognizable as its ships themselves: take a bold word, add “of the Seas,” and you have a potential new cruise ship. But behind the names passengers know today is a much stranger list of trademarks, including names that sound perfectly plausible, names that feel like marketing experiments and a few that are, frankly, pretty wild.

A new look at Royal Caribbean’s unused ship-name trademarks reveals just how many possibilities the cruise line has considered over the years. The list includes Endeavor of the Seas, Passion of the Seas, and even Fun of the Seas. But none of those trademarks has become the name of a Royal Caribbean ship… so far.

The Royal Caribbean Names That Could Have Been

The trademark trail is particularly interesting because a trademark does not necessarily mean Royal Caribbean has a ship under construction with that name.

Companies can register names to protect potential branding, keep competitors from using an attractive idea or simply preserve options for the future. In other words, seeing “Nova of the Seas” or “Journey of the Seas” in a trademark database does not mean a ship with that name is secretly waiting in a shipyard.

Some of the unused names date back decades. Journey of the Seas, for example, was originally filed in 2001. Other names have appeared through later filings or refilings. Royal Caribbean filed four particularly playful names in January 2023: Fun of the Seas, Happy of the Seas, Idol of the Seas and Love of the Seas.  The list of unused trademarks gives us a fascinating glimpse into the cruise industry’s branding machine.

Every Unused Royal Caribbean Ship Name

Royal Caribbean has apparently been hoarding ship names like some people hoard cruise souvenirs. According to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records reviewed by Royal Caribbean Blog, the cruise line has trademarked dozens of potential “of the Seas” names over the years without ever putting them on a ship. Some sound like obvious candidates for a future Royal Caribbean ship, while others make you wonder what the naming meeting was like. “Nova of the Seas”? Totally believable. “Sanctuary of the Seas”? Sounds like it could be announced tomorrow. “Happy of the Seas”? Well… that one certainly has some personality.

Here is the full list of unused names identified in the report:

“Hero of the Seas” is More Than Another Trademark Oddity

The biggest lesson from Royal Caribbean’s naming history is that the real story is not necessarily which names have been trademarked. It is which names actually survive the company’s development process.

That is especially relevant now because Royal Caribbean is in the middle of one of the most ambitious periods of fleet expansion in its history. After the launch of Legend of the Seas this summer, Royal Caribbean lists 31 ships in its fleet. Hero of the Seas is already positioned as the next major Icon Class addition.

Hero is not merely a hypothetical name from a trademark database. Royal Caribbean has announced that the ship will arrive in Miami in August 2027, offering seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries that include Perfect Day at CocoCay. The name continues the theme formed by the existing Icon-class ships: Icon, Star, and Legend of the Seas.

And the ship is shaping up to be a serious evolution of the Icon Class rather than a simple copy-and-paste sister ship. Royal Caribbean says Hero of the Seas will feature nine pools, new waterslides, the first funnel raft slide at sea and 28 dining venues. The ship is listed at 20 decks, with an approximate gross tonnage of 250,800 and double-occupancy capacity of about 5,654 passengers.

For cruise fans watching the next generation of Royal Caribbean ships, that is the part worth paying attention to.

How to Follow Future Royal Caribbean Ship Announcements

The smartest way to track Royal Caribbean’s next ships is to watch three things: official fleet announcements, itinerary releases and trademark activity. The cruise line currently has 2026, 2027 and 2028 cruises available, including sailings on Icon Class ships such as Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas, Legend of the Seas and Hero of the Seas. For travelers eager to experience the newest ships, 2027 is already shaping up to be particularly interesting. Hero of the Seas is scheduled to enter service from Miami in August 2027, with seven-night Caribbean itineraries and Perfect Day CocoCay included.

Meanwhile, the unused-name list offers something else entirely: a fun reminder that even the biggest cruise ships begin, at least in part, as ideas on a list.

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