Southern Dan

I could see them axing the Bionic Bar in favor of the Pesky Parrot perhaps because the former isn't really popular and anything would be better than a prime spot that is wasted.

I saw that thread on reddit, unfortunately they flew to FL and took a week off of work for the vacation. I'd be very upset if that happened to me.

I read in another thread that Liberty is getting her much needed amplification beginning in April 2026 so you nice folks over in Europe will have a very nice updated Freedom Class ship to enjoy for the summer 2026 cruising season. That leaves Adventure of the Seas as the last ship on the OG list that we don't know if/when it will be amplified as Allure is getting hers in March/April of 2025.

I really hope we visit Grand Turk in November on Symphony instead of Cabo Rojo DR. I suppose we’ll make the best of it regardless…

It would be cool if they built a new port terminal south of the Bay Bridge to accommodate larger ships.

So happy you and the family were finally able to get off the ship and enjoy the day!

I hope they let y'all off the ship soon, waiting sucks!

Majesty was my first Royal Caribbean Cruise back in January of 95 way back Junior year of High School. I had the absolute best time and I still remember it fondly to this day.

I was scheduled to go on Voyager for my Italy/Greek Isles cruise in July 2025 but I really wanted to go on Odyssey so I switched last week. I am very happy with my decision. I'd probably be annoyed on a winter cruise out of NYC with the lack of an indoor pool and it would be nice to have the aft outdoor dining area of Windjammer in the Mediterranean but Playmakers/ELF/Lime & Coconut will make up for it for me on the Odyssey.

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…