Jumping Cruiser

St Maarten, Caribbean - Port Schedule (Correct as of 01/07/24) Your first look at summer Caribbean ships for 2026! Lots of bookings over the summer for Oasis, Star, Serenade, Icon and Independence. Serenade looks to be on shorter cruises, Icon/Star deployment remains the same, Oasis/Independence have mainly a 4-week calling pattern. May 26: 3rd - Jewel OTS 5th - Adventure OTS & Icon OTS 6th - Oasis OTS & Serenade OTS 7th - Star OTS 11th - Serenade OTS 14th - Star OTS 19th - Serenade OTS & Icon OTS 25th - Serenade OTS June 26: 2nd - Icon OTS & Serenade OTS 3rd - Oasis OTS 4th - Star OTS 8th - Independence OTS & Serenade OTS 16th - Serenade OTS 22nd - Serenade OTS 25th - Star OTS 30th - Icon OTS & Serenade OTS July 26: 1st - Oasis OTS 6th - Serenade OTS & Independence OTS 14th - Icon OTS & Serenade OTS 16th - Star OTS 20th - Serenade OTS 28th - Serenade OTS 29th - Oasis OTS August 26: 3rd - Independence OTS & Serenade OTS 4th - Icon OTS 6th - Star OTS 11th - Serenade OTS 17th - Serenade OTS 25th - Icon OTS & Serenade OTS 26th - Oasis OTS 27th - Star OTS 31st - Serenade OTS September 26: 8th - Serenade OTS 14th - Serenade OTS 15th - Icon OTS 17th - Star OTS 22nd - Serenade OTS 23rd - Oasis OTS 28th - Serenade OTS October 26: 6th - Icon OTS & Serenade OTS 8th - Star OTS 12th - Serenade OTS 20th - Serenade OTS 26th - Serenade OTS 27th - Icon OTS 29th - Star OTS

I don’t expect them to send a replacement early. Likely just be an Oasis Class from Late April/Early May. It would just disrupt other schedules for the sake of 7 weeks. I’m sure similar things have happened in the past?

Los Angeles, California - Port Bookings (Correct as of 01/07/24) Lots of bookings for Navigator for 2026. The deployment looks to remain the same as in 25/26 with lots of short sailings and a few longer cruises over the summer months. Quantum then joins after her Summer season in Alaska. May 26: 1st - Navigator OTS 4th - Quantum OTS & Navigator OTS 8th - Navigator OTS 11th - Navigator OTS 15th - Navigator OTS 18th - Navigator OTS 22nd - Navigator OTS 29th - Navigator OTS June 26: 1st - Navigator OTS 5th - Navigator OTS 12th - Navigator OTS 15th - Navigator OTS 19th - Navigator OTS 26th - Navigator OTS 29th - Navigator OTS July 26: 3rd - Navigator OTS 10th - Navigator OTS 13th - Navigator OTS 17th - Navigator OTS 24th - Navigator OTS 27th - Navigator OTS 31st - Navigator OTS August 26: 3rd - Navigator OTS 7th - Navigator OTS 14th - Navigator OTS 17th - Navigator OTS 21st - Navigator OTS 28th - Navigator OTS 31st - Navigator OTS September 26: 4th - Navigator OTS 11th - Navigator OTS 14th - Navigator OTS 18th - Navigator OTS 21st - Navigator OTS 25th - Navigator OTS 28th - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 30th - Quantum OTS October 26: 2nd - Navigator OTS 6th - Quantum OTS 9th - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 12th - Navigator OTS 14th - Quantum OTS 16th - Navigator OTS 20th - Quantum OTS 23rd - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 26th - Navigator OTS 28th - Quantum OTS 30th - Navigator OTS November 26: 2nd - Navigator OTS 3rd - Quantum OTS 6th - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 11th - Quantum OTS 13th - Navigator OTS 16th - Navigator OTS 17th - Quantum OTS 20th - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 25th - Quantum OTS 27th - Navigator OTS 30th - Navigator OTS December 26: 1st - Quantum OTS 4th - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 9th - Quantum OTS 11th - Navigator OTS 14th - Navigator OTS 15th - Quantum OTS 18th - Navigator OTS & Quantum OTS 21st - Navigator OTS 23rd - Quantum OTS 28th - Navigator OTS 29th - Quantum OTS

Le Havre, France - Port Bookings (Correct as of 01/07/24) A couple of calls currently scheduled for Liberty, likely part of round-trip Southampton itineraries. The later booking looks to be just a 2-night cruise Southampton to Le Have and back, while the first appears to be in line with the usual 7-night France & Spain itinerary. 22nd September 2026 - Liberty OTS 26th September 2026 - Liberty OTS

Ponta Delgada, Azore Islands - Port Bookings (Correct as of 01/07/24) A couple of early bookings for Odyssey and Harmony, likely stops on EB TAs. These ships are both heading to dry-dock before their European season by the looks of things, so it’s unknown if these will be passenger sailings or non-rev. 7th March 2026 - Odyssey OTS 27th March 2026 - Harmony OTS

Funchal (Madeira), Portugal - Port Bookings (Correct as of 01/07/24) Currently 2 bookings for Liberty OTS. The 1st call will likely be round-trip canaries, while the later will likely be WB TA. This indicates she will be based in Southampton, replacing Independence for 2026. 22nd June 2026 - Liberty OTS 21st October 2026 - Liberty OTS

It’s that time again… where we can hope for everything, expect the opposite and receive the worst! 😅 Anyhow, let the guessing begin!

There’s one answer… 💵💵💵 3/4 nights are far more profitable and carry a higher pppd price tag than longer cruises. Lately, Royal have become all about the money, so this is the most important thing for them and is why they have chosen this deployment.

However, the majority of these ships are designed for longer cruises. Oasis class has only recently switched to short sailings and Utopia was the first designed fully for these types of sailings. I wouldn’t be surprised if they added an additional show if her itineraries ever become 5 days+, but it doesn’t make sense at this stage.

Liberty OTS.

Just to confirm this, Katie has now taken over as CD on Anthem. Michelle has moved to Quantum, I’m not sure if she has taken over as CD yet though, can anyone confirm this?

Me too! This is why I always leave a NextCruise deposit while onboard if I can, even if I have no intention of sailing on the booked cruise. A great perk for UK guests is that these are fully flexible until final payment, meaning you can move to a different sailing or take advantage of price drops. Always nice to have the option to do so.

Guessing the Aqua show will be a 2nd version of Aqua 80, known as ‘Aqua 80 Too’. Nick Weir teased this today.

Posted by @runner5924 in the roll call thread. Revised Itinerary: Vigo, Spain Lisbon, Portugal Bilbao, Spain La Coruna, Spain Cancellation Options: Option 1 - Remain on Sailing, Receive Partial Refund + OBC. Option 2 - Move to 12-Night Canaries on 8th/20th September (Price Protection + OBC) Option 3 - Book Any Sailing (+ OBC) Option 4 - Full Refund

Three cruises have been affected in total. October 2nd - 12 Night Canaries (Revised Itinerary - Shortened to 8 Days) October 14th - Southampton to Rome (CANCELLED) October 23rd - Rome to Dubai (CANCELLED)

Meyer Group recently unveiled some new ‘concept’ ship designs. One of them caught my attention in particular though, Avatar, a climate-neutral ship that they aim to build from 2030. Is it just me, or does this kind of look like a smaller Icon Class? Could Discovery be constructed on this proposed platform? I have linked the article below for anyone interested in reading. https://www.cruiseandferry.net/articles/meyer-group-presents-ship-concepts-at-seatrade-cruise-global

Australia 25/26 - Deployment Flyers Voyager from Brisbane and Anthem from Sydney. The images below are hyperlinked, so click to view. Voyager: Anthem:

I thought edge class were fully flexible across all four dining rooms? Have they gone back to set-time dining in addition to my-time?

Anthem is having a drydock in Singapore during this timeframe.

Here are the PDF’s, sometimes are a bit easier to read. https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/China/SC_2025-2026_China_Deployment.pdf https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/China/OV_2025-2026_China_Deployment.pdf

As I say… suitable for the niche market. That’s the likely source of the awards, especially in the Caribbean. Their global approach doesn’t have the same effect though.

No info on Wonder just yet. I suspect that her deployment may be held back a little though due to the Star delay announced today. She will likely have to remain on 7-Night’s in PC a bit longer than initially expected, before Star takes over at the end of August.

In Royal’s eyes… at least you got clothes, not just socks! 😂

Don’t forget they’ve still got Brilliance too… well, if she ever makes it into service that is. If Aus was making a profit, they would make it work. Whether that would be keeping a ship there and brining Brilliant into service in the Med or just going round Africa like they’re doing now, there would be a solution. I’ve lost count of the amount of excuses used by VV over the years. From the problems with the initial brand identity, to the constant chopping and changing of itineraries, nothing really shocks me anymore. It’s evident they’re lacking experience in managing a cruise line, and this has been the case since day 1. They went for a niche market, tried to launch too many ships at once, and didn’t actually research what people were looking for. But they thought they could do it the Virgin way! And let’s just say… it’s definitely backfired!

We are also disappointed with the lack of longer cruises, newer ships and unusual destinations in Europe. Couldn’t find anything of any value over the next couple of years, so have booked a couple with Celebrity instead. It’s like Royal are completely giving up and abandoning the European market, especially ex-UK and Northern Europe. Even when they have the opportunity to do something good, such as longer cruises on Quantum out of LA, they do the opposite and offer virtually the same short itineraries but just on two different ships. I see 2 ships being a ‘one season wonder’ to be honest.