Royal Caribbean Plans Largest Ship Ever for West Coast

Big news, West Coasters: You're about to get one of the most popular ships at sea.

Royal Caribbean announced plans this week to send the 137,000-ton Mariner of the Seas -- one of the line's much-ballyhooed Voyager class vessels -- to Los Angeles in 2009.

The 3,114-passenger ship, which will sail seven-night cruises to the Mexican Riviera through at least 2010, is more than 50% larger than the largest vessels currently based on the West Coast.

The announcement, which is sure to get West Coast cruisers excited, marks the first time one of the next-generation Voyager class ships has been based west of Texas. The deployment brings such Voyager class innovations as an ice skating rink and an interior Royal Promenade to the West for the first time.

Royal Caribbean also announced that the 90,000-ton Radiance of the Seas will sail four- and five-night Mexican Riviera voyages from the West Coast in the fall of 2009, becoming the newest and largest ship to sail short cruises from the region.

Mariner's itinerary includes stops in Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. Radiance will call at Cabo and (on five-night itineraries) Ensenada.