The Radiance of the Seas recently completed 25 years of service for Royal Caribbean International after embarking on its maiden voyage on April 7, 2001.

As the prototype ship in the company’s Radiance class, the 90,000-ton ship was built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

After being delivered in late March, the vessel crossed the Atlantic with no guests onboard, heading to Fort Lauderdale for its christening.

Philanthropist Margot L. Pritzker served as the ship’s godmother for the ceremony, which was followed by an inaugural season that included itineraries to Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest.

The Radiance later returned to Florida to spend its maiden winter season sailing to the Caribbean and Central America.

The vessel has since operated seasons in a range of deployment regions, including Europe, South America and Australia.

After completing a winter season sailing from Fort Lauderdale in 2025-26, the Radiance kicked off a year-round schedule in Tampa in April.

Sailing from its Gulf coast homeport, the vessel is now offering a series of four- and five-night itineraries to the Western Caribbean.

In addition to days at sea, the short cruises feature visits to destinations in two destinations in Mexico: Cozumel and Costa Maya.

Starting in November, the 2,142-passenger ship is scheduled to offer weeklong itineraries, adding visits to destinations like Belize City, Roatán and Grand Cayman.

A special itinerary in December is also scheduled to visit the private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas.

According to Royal Caribbean’s published deployment, the vessel is set to continue to sail from Tampa through late April 2028.

Extensively refurbished over the years, the Radiance of the Seas was more recently in drydock earlier this year.

As previously reported by Cruise Industry News, the vessel spent over two weeks at the facility undergoing maintenance and technical updates.