Jumping Cruiser

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.

Los Angeles Deployment 2025/26 As expected, Quantum and Navigator in LA. Navigator OTS - 3 to 8 Night Mexico, Ensenada & Catalina Quantum OTS - 2 to 6 Night Ensenada and Cabo (inc Overnight)

They look fine my end, but should be embedded links anyway. When the image is displayed in large screen, click again and it should take you to the pdf, or at least it does for me.

Short Caribbean Deployment 2025/26 Some itineraries ahead of tomorrow’s release. Galveston, Texas Mariner OTS - 4/5 Night Western Caribbean Miami, Florida Freedom OTS - 3/4/5/6 Night Caribbean Fort Lauderdale, Florida Liberty OTS - 3/4 Night Bahamas & PDCC Jewel OTS - 3/4 Night Key West & Bahamas Port Canaveral, Florida Utopia OTS - 3/4 Night Bahamas & PDCC

She is due for dry dock in March/April 25. Unless there is a severe maintenance or safety issue, then this will not be moved forward.

Not just Norway, also for all Scandinavia cruises this year. Not a massive issue though, still plenty of time in each port.

In my opinion, it will be the following for Winter 25/26: Asia - Ovation Australia - Anthem & Voyager LA - Quantum and Navigator A few months back, Anthem’s Captain said it had been planned for a while that she would do: Asia, then Alaska, then Australia. Ovation has no TP or Aus bookings yet, so fair to assume that she will remain in Asia, after taking over from Anthem (April/May 2025). Quantum and Navigator have bookings in LA, and Voyager has bookings in Brisbane.

This is usually a direct bus from ship to station, then station to ship on return. No need to board a free shuttle.

Caribbean

Apparently, the website hasn’t been updated for Edge Class ships. Any reservations made pre-cruise, whether set-time or anytime, are disregarded. You can just show up anytime during opening hours, regardless of what option you selected during booking.

I believe that these port bookings are old. Originally, it looked as though Royal were going to offer an Eastern Mediterranean season over the Winter 25/26 period, similar to what Celebrity are offering on Infinity. This looked to be a homeport in Athens (Piraeus), with a focus on Greece, Egypt and Israel for around 7-day itineraries. Some of the bookings have been removed in other ports, like Limassol, Cyprus and Haifa, Israel. So it looks like due to the regional conflict, these plans have been scrapped. The Aus bookings are much more recent and highly likely to be what is actually released in my opinion. However, how they would get Voyager over there, potentially without without a Suez Canal repo, will be interesting. This makes me question whether they will replace Navigator with a QC, then send Navi down under, thus keeping Voyager on the Atlantic side. Or… will they still send Voyager to Aus and chance it with a repositioning?

Fixed! Thanks for the heads up! 😊

I agree. Plus, there are other cruises that visit the ports on option 2, but not option 1. This would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and no need for all those sea days either. Option 1 all the way!

It’s possible that a couple of Jewel itineraries will call here, specifically in May and August.

Odyssey has a call in Ponta Delgada, Azores for March 2026, with the destination set as Malaga. This will likely be a TA to Barcelona, after which she will go to dry-dock.

Quantum and Anthem are the 2 QC ships in Alaska in 2025, while it was Ovation that had a TP for sale, so this has led to the cancellation. I presume that Ovation will be going to Asia?

Apologies if I missed it, but has there still not been any update regarding the Red Sea & Suez Canal transit? MSC have cancelled 3 repositioning cruises today, all of which were scheduled for March/April time. These 3 ships will now sail to Europe around the west coast of Africa, with no passengers or ports of call on the way, as there was apparently ‘no viable alternate itinerary’. It’s definitely looking like Royal are going to have to make some challenging decisions on how to best manage this with the WC.

I’m going with the fact that Royal haven’t updated their website. We all know how there IT department work! 🙄 It was a Cruise Critic news article that quoted RCI’s Chief Innovation Officer, Jay Schneider, during a press trip yesterday. I would think that this is pretty reliable.

A key point made in a news article today, Cloud 17 and The Hideaway have switched purposes. The Hideaway is now adults only, while Cloud 17 is open to everyone. RCI say that some of the reasons were: - The naming of ‘Hideaway Beach’ at PDCC - keeping ‘Hideaway’ branding consistent. - It no longer made sense to have prime real estate closed off to families, especially as Icon offers the ‘Ultimate Family Vacation’. (This confuses me, as it sure made sense over the past few years 🤔). In my eyes, they can better promote ‘The Hideaway’ as a beach club vibe, if it’s adults-only. Also, paid-for loungers and daybeds may appeal more towards those that would usually buy a cabana, but looking for adults only. As always though, many will be disappointed with the change. Just to add, it wouldn’t surprise me if ‘The Hideaway’ as a whole became an added-cost eventually, you know…. To keep it consistent. 😂

The leadership conference is underway! I would love to know all about them ‘secret, super cool’ plans!

We have chosen select 6pm on Apex for our cruise in June. Is this now disregarded and all freedom dining?

I imagine that this will be to reclaim the title of ‘Longest Slide at Sea’ from MSC. Their Venom Drop slide on World Europa beat the ‘old’ abyss for this title.

Oops… I might have missed one! 🙊 Yes, it should be red. Port bookings in Key West indicate she will be based in Port Everglades up to now.

Here is the current schedule for Summer 2025. Anything in red is based on speculation and port bookings but still to be confirmed by Royal. Summer 2025: Adventure - 6/8 Night Caribbean (Port Canaveral, Florida) Allure - 7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona, Spain & Civitavecchia, Italy) Anthem - 7 Night Alaska (Seattle, Washington) Brilliance - 7 Night Greece, Cyprus & Turkey (Athens, Greece) Enchantment - TBD Explorer - 7 Night Greece & Adriatic (Ravenna, Italy) Freedom - Short Caribbean (TBD) Grandeur - 7 Night Caribbean & Bahamas (Tampa, Florida) Harmony - 6/7/8 Night Caribbean (Galveston, Texas) Icon - 7 Night Caribbean (Miami, Florida) Independence - Northern & Western Europe (Southampton, England) Jewel - Caribbean (TBD) Liberty - Bermuda, Canada & Caribbean (Cape Liberty, NJ) Mariner - Short Caribbean (TBD) Navigator - Catalina, Ensenada & Mexico (Los Angeles, California) Oasis - 5/6/7/8 Night Caribbean (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) Odyssey - 7/9/10/12 Night Greece, Italy & Turkey (Civitavecchia, Italy) Ovation - Asia (TBD) Quantum - 7 Night Alaska (Seattle, Washington) Radiance - 7 Night Alaska (Seward, Alaska & Vancouver, Canada) Rhapsody - 7/8 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan, Puerto Rico) Serenade - 7 Night Alaska Inside Passage (Vancouver, Canada) Spectrum - Asia (TBD) Star - 7 Night Caribbean (Port Canaveral, Florida) Symphony - 7 Night Bahamas (Cape Liberty, NJ) Utopia - Short Caribbean (TBD) Vision - Bahamas, Canada & Bermuda (Baltimore, Maryland) Voyager - Western & Eastern Mediterranean (Barcelona, Spain & Ravenna, Italy & Rome, Italy & Athens, Greece) Wonder - Short Caribbean (TBD)