Deployment 2026-27 Booking Season Begins

[Saab4444]

On 9/26/2024 at 1:12 AM, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Well, she doesn’t usually call there. Can anyone check Civi, Naples, Santorini, Kusadasi, or Mykonos?

Only few ports report such future data to the public.

[pyrateslife4me84]

13 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

So simply copy / paste from 2024 and 2025...

Don’t be absurd. It’s not a simple copy/paste. They also need to raise fares by 15%. They’ll need a whole team of interns working on this around the clock. 

[blt23]

48 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

So simply copy / paste from 2024 and 2025...

More like copied from the 2025-26 thread, which is where summer 2025 discussion belongs.

 

Voyager doesn't have any 2026 calls in Athens because she's going to be in the Pacific. I think she might actually be going to Alaska.

[pyrateslife4me84]

34 minutes ago, blt23 said:

More like copied from the 2025-26 thread, which is where summer 2025 discussion belongs.

 

Voyager doesn't have any 2026 calls in Athens because she's going to be in the Pacific. I think she might actually be going to Alaska.

Yeah...thus far, it's Odyssey, Brilliance, and Explorer showing up in Athens in Summer 2026 (and Harmony in the Western Med).

 

I believe Liberty is "confirmed" from Southhampton, too.

[PH2]

3 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Yeah...thus far, it's Odyssey, Brilliance, and Explorer showing up in Athens in Summer 2026 (and Harmony in the Western Med).

 

I believe Liberty is "confirmed" from Southhampton, too.

Itinerary aside, of those 3 ships, which would you recommend for a 50-something couple and their 22 year old daughter celebrating a college graduation? Seems like Odyssey is much newer than the other two - do Brilliance or Explorer show their age too much?

[pyrateslife4me84]

45 minutes ago, PH2 said:

Itinerary aside, of those 3 ships, which would you recommend for a 50-something couple and their 22 year old daughter celebrating a college graduation? Seems like Odyssey is much newer than the other two - do Brilliance or Explorer show their age too much?

Well, Explorer seems to be getting a dry dock with the rest of its amplification next year, so it should be in good shape. Do you want to sail from Rome (Civi) or Venice (Ravenna)? We had been leaning toward Odyssey, but our kids want water slides and we want to go to Venice, so Explorer it is! I also like that Explorer goes to Athens. Can’t imagine going to Greece without Athens. 

[mets123]

47 minutes ago, PH2 said:

Itinerary aside, of those 3 ships, which would you recommend for a 50-something couple and their 22 year old daughter celebrating a college graduation? Seems like Odyssey is much newer than the other two - do Brilliance or Explorer show their age too much?

The bigger/ newer the ship is , the more venues    bars and restaurants there are.

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, PH2 said:

Itinerary aside, of those 3 ships, which would you recommend for a 50-something couple and their 22 year old daughter celebrating a college graduation? Seems like Odyssey is much newer than the other two - do Brilliance or Explorer show their age too much?

This 50-somthing couple and our 22 (at the time) daughter did Odyssey for her college graduation (Spring '22). 🙂 As she's our one hit wonder, that makes it the official college graduation celebration ship in this house.🤣

It was an 8 night Southern Caribbean.

We (no daughter this time) are doing Odyssey again here in just over 3 weeks for the Greece & Turkey (previously Holy Land) itinerary.

[PH2]

Sounds great! We definitely want to hit Athens - I have Greek heritage (and some relatives in the Athens area) and my daughter definitely wants to go there, so Athens will need to be on the itinerary. I'm also hoping to use points/miles for airfare, so I need to figure out which is the better/cheaper city to fly in/out of from here between Rome and Venice. But I have time for that. First up is figuring out the cruise. I'll be on the look-out for some of these to come available near the end of October. 

[Another_Critic]

13 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

We (no daughter this time) are doing Odyssey again here in just over 3 weeks for the Greece & Turkey (previously Holy Land) itinerary.

 

Make sure you wash the dishes and empty the trash before departing.  I don't want to deal with your mess when I arrive for the TA.  🙃

[David Dawson]

On 9/25/2024 at 6:43 PM, blt23 said:

Allure's presumed 7-night sailings for summer 2026 should definitely be November. If she were continuing that itinerary through the winter we would expect it to be released at the same time, but if the rumored switch to Icon is true it's also possible they hold all those sailings until the winter seasonal release.

 

I would be really surprised by a second week-long Galveston ship because it's not clear there's a terminal spot available for it, and there's no reason for Royal to bring in another ship just to compete with Icon.

 

Any source for this or just a very specific piece of inside knowledge?

RCL gives special cruise groups, autism at sea, nude cruises, dairy free etc. dates for cruises, so they things can be planned ahead, special locations, crew members etc. I found this on bliss cruises page  https://registration.blisscruise.com/Book/Reservation/Start?tripID=3163&travelAgentId=55687 

 

[elaine5]

PH2. We have young 20s. We've been on Anthem (similar to Odyssey) and Explorer (to similar ports last summer). Both will have plenty for a 20 something (putt-putt, comedy, DJ, flowrider, ice show, skating. O will have a bit more stuff and be newer. Either will be fine. Explorer had a bit of rust on parts of balcony (and the balconies are set back (look at photos). We had and excellent cruise. 

Ravenna is 2.5 hours from Venice-RCCL has a shuttle to the ship ($60 one way). We flew to Venice and returned to Florence/Rome and flew back from Rome.

[springaussie]

On 9/27/2024 at 7:20 AM, CountryStyleMe said:

Explorer Of The Seas, Brilliance Of The Seas, Voyager Of The Seas and Odyssey Of The Seas are all in Athens on and off from May - Thursday 16th October 2025

For Athens

Where is the Voyager booking 2026?

Where is Odyssey in the May to 16 October 2025. I can only find 9 April 2026?

[Southern Dan]

2 minutes ago, springaussie said:

For Athens

Where is the Voyager booking 2026?

Where is Odyssey in the May to 16 October 2025. I can only find 9 April 2026?

Odyssey will be going back to the Med in May-Oct 2025 we believe.

 

For Summer 2026 Voyager might do Alaska since she’ll be in Brisbane Winter 2025…

[PH2]

7 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

PH2. We have young 20s. We've been on Anthem (similar to Odyssey) and Explorer (to similar ports last summer). Both will have plenty for a 20 something (putt-putt, comedy, DJ, flowrider, ice show, skating. O will have a bit more stuff and be newer. Either will be fine. Explorer had a bit of rust on parts of balcony (and the balconies are set back (look at photos). We had and excellent cruise. 

Ravenna is 2.5 hours from Venice-RCCL has a shuttle to the ship ($60 one way). We flew to Venice and returned to Florence/Rome and flew back from Rome.

Thanks! We might do a suite - any difference in amenities between O and the older ships?

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, PH2 said:

Thanks! We might do a suite - any difference in amenities between O and the older ships?

 

Quantum/Oasis/Icon classes have MUCH better suite (GS and above) benefits.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-rooms/royal-suite-class

 

 

[elaine5]

Here is a overview: https://thepointsguy.com/cruise/royal-caribbean-ship-class-guide/

Keep in mind that Voyager will have more "stuff" after getting amped. I have heard that O feels more crowded than Anthem. Europe cruises tend to be port intensive. So, what's on the ship isn't as important as on a Carib. cruise with 3 ports in a week. We just got back from a summer Oasis Med cruise, specially picked for lots of fun stuff on a cool ship with 4 20s--we only had 1 sea day and they didn't have time for a lot of stuff. 

Edited Friday at 11:57 PM by elaine5

[RobInMN]

17 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Quantum/Oasis/Icon classes have MUCH better suite (GS and above) benefits.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-rooms/royal-suite-class

 

 

In list form, from the FAQ:

Royal Suite Class (Oasis, Quantum, Icon):

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-royal-suite-class

 

For comparison:

Suites Program (Vision, Radiance, Voyager, Freedom):

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-suites-program

 

[springaussie]

28 minutes ago, Southern Dan said:

Odyssey will be going back to the Med in May-Oct 2025 we believe.

 

For Summer 2026 Voyager might do Alaska since she’ll be in Brisbane Winter 2025…

Just going by port bookings.

Odyssey has a booking in Gibraltar 26 March 2026.

Another booking in Piraeus 9 April 2026.

Then disappears.

So is Royal bringing Odyssey to Europe earlier to start the 2026 season after the Trans Atlantic and dry dock ?

The last cruise on sale for Odyssey returns to Cape Liberty 01 March 2026.

Technically Odyssey has no port bookings anywhere in the Europe Summer 2026 season.

 

 

 

[Southern Dan]

Odyssey I think is due for her first technical dry dock after 5 years in service so she’ll be heading over to Europe early to get that done and then do the Mediterranean summer season I’m guessing.  We’ll find out in the next couple of months for sure…

[pyrateslife4me84]

51 minutes ago, springaussie said:

Just going by port bookings.

Odyssey has a booking in Gibraltar 26 March 2026.

Another booking in Piraeus 9 April 2026.

Then disappears.

So is Royal bringing Odyssey to Europe earlier to start the 2026 season after the Trans Atlantic and dry dock ?

The last cruise on sale for Odyssey returns to Cape Liberty 01 March 2026.

Technically Odyssey has no port bookings anywhere in the Europe Summer 2026 season.

 

 

 

Odyssey doesn’t typically stop in Athens. It’s usually Santorini, Kusadasi, Mykonos, and Naples (none of which have shared Summer 2026 schedules). 

 

As for the discussion of Odyssey vs. Explorer, Odyssey doesn’t have mini golf or the ice rink. It has the Sea Plex with bumper cars and roller skating. It also has the Esplanade instead of the Promenade.  Preference will vary from person to person. I find the Quantum-class better suited to cold climates but at least both pools are outdoors on Odyssey. 
 

If Athens is a must for summer 2026, Odyssey won’t be calling there. 

Edited Saturday at 01:14 AM by pyrateslife4me84

[PH2]

Good to know. Thanks! I'll be ready for October when sailings are available to book. I'm sure they'll all be great, whichever we choose.

[RobInMN]

33 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Odyssey doesn’t typically stop in Athens. It’s usually Santorini, Kusadasi, Mykonos, and Naples (none of which have shared Summer 2026 schedules). 

 

If Athens is a must for summer 2026, Odyssey won’t be calling there. 

Umm... I'll be boarding Odyssey in a few weeks, and we are going to Athens. There were at least 4 dates in 2024.

There are 3 dates in 2025 where Odyssey will go to Athens, no reason to believe that we won't see the same for 2026.

 

2 of the 3 dates in 2025, as well as 2024 dates are "Greece, Turkey & Italy Cruise". The 2024 ones were originally "The Holy Land Cruise", but that obviously wasn't going to happen anymore.

And Athens was on the original itinerary, not swapped in as a replacement. The replacement ports added were Turkey and Mykonos

 

While the first statement of "typically" may be accurate, I don't think the second statement is a guaranteed fact.

 

[cruiseboy89130]

9 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Well, Explorer seems to be getting a dry dock with the rest of its amplification next year,

She will not get any amplification! Just maintenance!

[little britain]

9 hours ago, elaine5 said:

PH2. We have young 20s. We've been on Anthem (similar to Odyssey) and Explorer (to similar ports last summer). Both will have plenty for a 20 something (putt-putt, comedy, DJ, flowrider, ice show, skating. O will have a bit more stuff and be newer. Either will be fine. Explorer had a bit of rust on parts of balcony (and the balconies are set back (look at photos). We had and excellent cruise. 

Ravenna is 2.5 hours from Venice-RCCL has a shuttle to the ship ($60 one way). We flew to Venice and returned to Florence/Rome and flew back from Rome.

 odyssey does not have ice skating ⛸️ or mini golf ⛳️ 

Edited Saturday at 08:27 AM by little britain