Deployment 2026-27 Booking Season Begins

[cublet]

On 7/24/2024 at 9:08 PM, jjtt said:

Hi all! Does anyone know if Iceland/Greenland will be offered? Yes, I know this is all speculation. Just curious as we were not able to go before. Thanks

Hello,

 

Out of the UK, Iceland *IS* offered by: Princess; P&O; Cunard; NCL & MSC, based on 2025 it *MAY* be offered by Ambassador.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[little britain]

11 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

A free cruise!

 

Milestone Cruise Certificate valued at the prevailing rate of a 7N Balcony Stateroom for 700 and 1,050 cruise points

Not really. Outside of the Caribbean we only get $2400 off the cost of a cruise, excluding any WOW promos, your balcony discount… my “free” cruise is actually costing $300.

 

@cublet I will buy you a drink 🥃 next September! 

Edited August 27 by little britain

[cublet]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

Not really. Outside of the Caribbean we only get $2400 off the cost of a cruise, excluding any WOW promos, your balcony discount… my “free” cruise is actually costing $300.

 

@cublet I will buy you a drink 🥃 next September! 

Hello,

 

The Nobel prizewinning economist Milton Freidman said "The only place you find free cheese is in a mousetrap".

 

Not only do you lose the benefits and 'promotions' you listed (including OBC), you still have to pay port fees and taxes and gratuities. Many (very many) years ago free parking at Southampton was offered - what would now happen with that I wonder.

 

And you're supposed to use the voucher within a year of issue and not for a cruise sailing in certain 'black-out' dates (based on US holidays). Given the length of the UK 'season', that's only seven months' sailings from which to make a selection.

 

RCI's largesse  isn't particularly large.

 

But all of this is irrelevant if there's nowhere you would like to go (see my previous post).

 

I would love to enjoy a glass or two with you next September. 🍾

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Ken at the beach]

On 8/25/2024 at 11:13 AM, cublet said:

Hello,

 

If booked on board, a UK cruiser can make any number of changes (FOC) up to final payment date. So whilst this isn't a price reduction, you can change it to something/anything and then change it back to your original booking but at the lower price.

 

I'm now of the age where something that happened a couple of months ago turns out to be about 2 years ago. But I do remember a discussion (here?) about shopping around for the best country's T&Cs. The word from on high, or Miami, was that regardless of which country's system you used to booked, the T&Cs covering your booking would be those of where you are normally resident. Though how they would know provoked much argument.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

That change was not about the terms and conditions it was about your ability to sue and what country you would be governed under.  Those from the UK that book through a North American outlet will still have their booking under US Terms and Conditions and the only way that policy change would go into effect is if they had to sue Royal.

Edited August 27 by Ourusualbeach

[Ken at the beach]

14 hours ago, CountryStyleMe said:

I've had it confirmed that Royal Caribbean's Liberty Of The Sea's is in the Caribbean between January and 30th March 2026

Those sailings are listed on the website

[sherrjo]

On 8/25/2024 at 10:45 PM, FamilyCruiserUK said:

As we will have a 11 year old who is part fish she loves water slides and pools with more then standing room only. Hence why we enjoy ampd ships rather then as we call them retro ships ( just pools and hot tubs). 

I totally understand with 32 nights on any ship. I dont think i could do that without plenty of different ships inbetween. We reach diamond post Allure in 2025 however as with you there is nothing exciting out there for us and our dau. When shes much older will look at further a field, such as Japan and the far east. But with another cruise line. 

Well that's a good reason to go on Allure but a hot weather ship to Norway might not be too much fun. That said I've been there the last two years and the weather once we it Norway was pleasant in the summer. An indoor pool keeps lots of bored kids away from hogging seats at bars. lol

[FamilyCruiserUK]

1 hour ago, sherrjo said:

Well that's a good reason to go on Allure but a hot weather ship to Norway might not be too much fun. That said I've been there the last two years and the weather once we it Norway was pleasant in the summer. An indoor pool keeps lots of bored kids away from hogging seats at bars. lol

Having been to Norway on P&O its gorgeous. I totally agree with you any ship going norway would IMO need an indoor pool. Tbh i dont think Royal are intrested in Norway or 7 day cruises from southampton. More shorter cruises next summer on Indy, a few longer but not many. But then its a short 4-5 month season for them here as the Caribbean, well private island is their bread and butter. Taking nothing away from Royal its a model that works for them.

[Ethanol95]

On 7/14/2024 at 7:05 AM, Chiliburn said:

That might bring an Oasis or Icon into the Pacific equation.

A L.N.G powered ship split between Sydney ,Singapore and Shanghai.

FYI there's a lot of speculation that Icon 3 will be called Legend (i've seen the evidence and I think it's likely). This will lead to icon 3 going to China/APAC. Sounds like the right timing in that case.

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

FYI there's a lot of speculation that Icon 3 will be called Legend (i've seen the evidence and I think it's likely). This will lead to icon 3 going to China/APAC. Sounds like the right timing in that case.

I think wires got crossed. The next Oasis ship is more likely to be Legend since that's the ship code assigned to it ("LE"). Icon 3 has a ship code of TR and Icon 4 has a ship code of HE.

[Ethanol95]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I think wires got crossed. The next Oasis ship is more likely to be Legend since that's the ship code assigned to it ("LE"). Icon 3 has a ship code of TR and Icon 4 has a ship code of HE.

Oh yes, my bad! 

[Chiliburn]

3 hours ago, Ethanol95 said:

Oh yes, my bad! 

If it was called Legend,why would that make it be going to the Pacific? 
But anyway they must be running out of room in the Caribbean.

[twangster]

12 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

If it was called Legend,why would that make it be going to the Pacific? 
But anyway they must be running out of room in the Caribbean.

 

I think they are and it's seriously impacting their revenue potential.  I'm sure Mr. Liberty has sleepless nights over it.  All that money being left on the table.  

 

For the moment the Caribbean is Royal's Field of Dreams.  "If you build it, they will come."

[Jumping Cruiser]

20 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

If it was called Legend,why would that make it be going to the Pacific? 
But anyway they must be running out of room in the Caribbean.

I think they will see how Disney Adventure (Ex-Global Dream) plays out in Asia. She is a similar size to Oasis/Icon, so will be a good thing for Royal to watch before making any firm decisions. However, if she performs well, I expect to see some fierce Royal competition within a few years.

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

 

I think they are and it's seriously impacting their revenue potential.  I'm sure Mr. Liberty has sleepless nights over it.  All that money being left on the table.  

 

For the moment the Caribbean is Royal's Field of Dreams.  "If you build it, they will come."

I think they are putting all their eggs in one basket with to many big ships .
Things never stay the same and they aren’t as flexible as a mid size ship . There’s only limited places to put them.

[Ethanol95]

7 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

If it was called Legend,why would that make it be going to the Pacific? 
But anyway they must be running out of room in the Caribbean.

The association with having the previous Legend having sailed Asia for quite some many years as well. It would have been a good marketing campaign to have the newer Legend pay homage to the previous one in serving the same market. 

[little britain]

17 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I think wires got crossed. The next Oasis ship is more likely to be Legend since that's the ship code assigned to it ("LE"). Icon 3 has a ship code of TR and Icon 4 has a ship code of HE.

LE Legacy

TR Treasure or Triumph

HE Heroine

 

🤷‍♀️

[little britain]

12 hours ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

I think they will see how Disney Adventure (Ex-Global Dream) plays out in Asia. She is a similar size to Oasis/Icon, so will be a good thing for Royal to watch before making any firm decisions. However, if she performs well, I expect to see some fierce Royal competition within a few years.

Not forgetting Adora Magic City out of Shanghai too!

[Ethanol95]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

LE Legacy

TR Treasure or Triumph

HE Heroine

 

🤷‍♀️

what about TR being Trinity of the Seas, it just came to me. Trinity will be the third icon class, makes sense?

[cublet]

7 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

what about TR being Trinity of the Seas, it just came to me. Trinity will be the third icon class, makes sense?

Hello,

 

Hmm. Trinity was the code name for the first atomic bomb detonation, part of the Manhattan Project in 1945. Perhaps not the most auspicious choice, but you never know.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[twangster]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

LE Legacy

TR Treasure or Triumph

HE Heroine

 

🤷‍♀️

 

Let's do some Heroin this weekend!

[Tree_skier]

On 8/26/2024 at 5:43 PM, CountryStyleMe said:

Norway are not stopping cruise ships entering the NorwegianFjords now until 2037 

 

I'm shocked this post has been glossed over.  This is kind of big news I would think and great for us as that is what I would love to do in 2026.  

 

Just as a follow up I have found a little evidence for this as well.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2024/08/28/norway-allows-cruise-ships-in-world-heritage-fjords-until-2032/

 

EDIT: Oops... I just saw @Ourusualbeach posted a thread on this...

Edited August 29 by Tree_skier

[Biker19]

If RCI is counting on this project to be completed on time, it may affect the deployment as bigger ships (including O and I class) no longer need to go to Europe:

Grand Bahama Shipyard to become world's largest cruise repair facility (seatrade-cruise.com)

[PH2]

Someone posted port bookings out of Piraeus about a month ago. Does anyone know when these sailings are going to be released for booking? In the run-up to Black Friday maybe? We're looking to book a mediterranean cruise for our daughter's college graduation celebration and I think she'd enjoy NCL or RCI the most (wife and I mainly cruise on Celebrity). NCL has already released its summer 2026 mediterranean schedule and I booked one as a placeholder, but I'd also like to see what RCI has to offer. Any advanced info on release dates?

Edited August 31 by PH2

[Southern Dan]

4 minutes ago, PH2 said:

Someone posted port bookings out of Piraeus about a month ago. Does anyone know when these sailings are going to be released for booking? In the run-up to Black Friday maybe? We're looking to book a mediterranean cruise for our daughter's college graduation celebration and I think she'd enjoy NCL or RCI the most (wife and I mainly cruise on Celebrity). NCL has already released its summer 2026 mediterranean schedule and I booked one as a placeholder, but I'd also like to see what RCI has to offer. Any advanced info on release dates?

Nov/Dec this year the itineraries will be released for booking.

[PH2]

Thank you!