She’ll be named Wonder of the Seas and be based in China.
The Wonder of the Seas was all but confirmed to be originally named Melody of the Seas. However today they just announced that she will in fact be called Wonder of the Seas. A name more befitting of her intended market which will be Asia. More specifically she’ll be homeported in Shanghai.
Debuting in 2021, she’ll be the world’s largest passenger ship at just over 230,000gt. They also just marked a milestone in her construction by laying the first block in the drydock in France at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard.
Todays news also featured a render of the Wonder. There are two distinct areas of change that I can see. I’ve cropped the photos accordingly.
There’s a redesign of the funnel, by putting the surrounding structure around the complete exhaust stacks. (previously they had a port and starboard one). They may seem stubbier due to air draft restrictions. There is an elongation towards the forward end of the loft suites. No doubt for this market there will be a larger selection of high end accommodations onboard. There also is a new archway structure in front if the funnel that contains the logo.
The aft section is a bit more puzzling. Around the Aquatheater there’s a new structure enclosing it a bit more. While the Ultimate Abyss slide is still there, there appears to be a change on the aft of deck 16. The starboard Flowrider is replaced with a new area. Also there may or may not be a change to deck 15 aft, where the sports area currently is.