Odyssey of the Seas Cruise Ship Arrives into Fort Lauderdale for the First Time

(1:15 p.m EST) -- Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship has finally sailed into its North American homeport.

Odyssey of the Seas arrived into Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida early Thursday morning, becoming the first Quantum-class ship to homeport in a North American port of call since the class of ship was introduced back in 2014.

While Royal Caribbean had initially planned to redeploy Odyssey of the Seas on innovative voyages out of Israel for vaccinated Israeli passengers, those plans had to be cancelled due to ongoing conflict in the region. Odyssey of the Seas instead sailed across the Atlantic Ocean bound for the United States.

While Odyssey of the Seas technically arrived stateside last week, turning up in Port Canaveral on Friday, its arrival into Port Everglades marks a major milestone for the Quantum Ultra-class vessel.

Odyssey of the Seas is just one of 12 vessels Royal Caribbean plans to restart operations this summer. The brand-new ship will begin sailing six-to-eight-night Caribbean cruises on July 3, 2021.

Passengers from select cancelled Royal Caribbean sailings have been allowed to move over to Odyssey of the Seas at no charge, making the ship one of the hottest-ticket vessels to set sail this year, with a number of voyages already sold out.

Royal Caribbean's online booking site currently shows the first bookable Odyssey of the Seas sailings departing in August.