Southern Dan

I feel like I'm going to be spoiled after sailing on Symphony this November and Odyssey next July. I just switched from Voyager to Odyssey next July because I really wanted to sail on her and have no desire to fly up to NYC to do so during the winter when I used to live on Long Island and currently live in Georgia which is much closer to Florida. Out of all the Freedom Class ships though it looks like they did the best job on Freedom with her amplification and I hope to sail her one day. Was looking for Jan/Feb 2026 but she seems to be doing short itineraries which don't interest me.

Don’t forget Snickers Bars!!!

Yeah the Pesky Parrot bar is replacing the Bionic Bar on Utopia and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same when Allure is finally Amped next spring.

They just wish they could sail from Phoenix I’m guessing…

I'm a Long Islander who now lives in Georgia and I don't think it's odd at all. They are playing up to their customer base which is probably a bunch of folks from TX.

https://www.instagram.com/ssship_cruisenews/p/C6cH2jiuTo_/?img_index=1

Everything I’ve been seeing on various message boards is that the captains on ships have been saying they will be sized in between Radiance and Voyager Class. We’ll find out eventually I suppose…

Quick note Gitana, Allure has not been amplified yet despite what the above photo says but will be in spring 2025.

I personally would love a 12 night cruise leaving from Tampa on a brand new small ship. Would be on her every January during the NFL playoffs enjoying the games in Playmakers!

I'm on the Symphony Thanksgiving week...assuming Labadee is still a no-go I hope we go to Grand Turk as I've never been. I've been to the DR 6 or 7 times...

I agree that Royal's main focus is currently on families and larger ships and let's be honest, they have a formula that is wildly successful. There are only so many Oasis/Icon size ships you can have running though before the market is oversaturated as the potential customer base isn't infinite... When Star of the Seas makes her debut in 2026 you are going to have 3 Icon/Oasis ships out of Miami, 2 Oasis out of FLL, 1 of each out of Port Canaveral and 1 in Galveston. These are ships that are going to all the same destinations which by my count is 15 different Caribbean ports during the winter that can support them. Two years later you are going to have Icon 3 and Oasis 7 in the mix and it gets more complicated. One might go to Asia year round, who knows? Let's look at the other side with the rumored new "smaller" ships taking bridge heights and environmental regulations that are coming into play. You need one for Northern Europe in the summer, you would need one or two for Alaska at the same time, if you want to keep Baltimore and Tampa running year round you would need two there. Isn't Australia cracking down on environmental regulations too? That makes me think 6 is the magic number with all those things considered. Or they could completely abandon the Baltimore and Tampa markets but that seems unlikely as there is money to be made. The "just cruise Celebrity" line doesn't make sense from a business standpoint as they want to keep the parent brand as profitable as possible and both lines offer different things and can coexist. All speculation and we can debate here and elsewhere until something is announced but I like wasting time on the internet and am excited to get some official word on the whole thing.

Royal is going to have a lot of ships to replace if they stick to their "30 years of service" format before selling the old ships off. Grandeur will hit the 30 year mark in December 2026, Rhapsody in May 2027, Enchantment in July 2027 and Vision in May 2028. Voyager and Radiance Class aren't that far behind those but I can see them keeping the former in the fleet longer due to the fact they have invested in them with amplifications and other upgrades. I think we'll be seeing a good number of Discovery Class ships entering the fleet, perhaps two a year beginning late 2028.

If I remember correctly I read somewhere that after the 2025 season Norway is cracking down on ship emissions so a more "green" ship will be required to sail to certain regions up around there. Someone else here probably has better details....

I am looking forward to this announcement and any information pertaining to the long rumored Discovery Class ships.

Treasure? Triumph? Hmmm…

We are not unfortunately although I really pushed for us to stay a couple of days. My wife doesn’t want to be gone longer than the 9 days bc of our sweet 11 year old dog that has separation anxiety when she’s gone. I cruised on Jade which is Jewel’s sister ship back in 2019 on Jam Cruise 17 so I already know my way around the ship which is convenient!

I'm excited for my JS on Symphony in November. Hope to try CK for dinner at least one night if they allow us...

Looking forward to following your reports from the Jewel, I will be on her 8/12 Seaward to Vancouver.

I hope they are able to get the work done and get y'all out without much delay!!!

It was a Vision Class. Sovereign was 3 ships, its namesake along with Monarch and Majesty.

I’m not a fan of reusing names…kinda lazy lol

I believe all four Vision Class ships have itineraries booked through April of 2026 as of right now. Vision out of BAL and the other three out of TPA. I’m sure that could change if they choose to sell one of them…