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Is a Royal Caribbean cruise in your bucket checklist? You'll discover no scarcity of choices when it comes time to decide on an itinerary.
The world's largest cruise line by passenger capability provides voyages to almost each nook of the globe, from its dwelling base in North America to the distant waters of Australia and New Zealand.
Royal Caribbean operates extra cruise ships than another main line – 27 in whole. This permits it to deploy ships on all of the traditional cruise itineraries in locations just like the Caribbean, Europe and Alaska, whereas nonetheless having ships left for extra unique itineraries.
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That stated, Royal Caribbean has a robust concentrate on the Caribbean and Europe – the preferred locations for its common prospects. In a typical summer season, the road would deploy about half its ships to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda whereas sending the opposite seven or eight ships to Europe. The road sometimes sends 4 ships to Alaska every summer season.
Through the winter, the road will take much more of its ships to the Caribbean, and ship some to Asia and Australia.
In whole, Royal Caribbean's ships go to greater than 300 totally different ports all over the world. Listed here are 5 high locations you possibly can attain on a Royal Caribbean ship.
Caribbean and Bahamas
There's a cause Royal Caribbean has the phrase “Caribbean” in its title. The road started cruise operations to the Caribbean in 1968, and the area nonetheless accounts for a big a part of its enterprise.
In reality, the road sometimes deploys greater than half its fleet within the Caribbean and Bahamas for at the least a part of the yr. Through the winter, many of the line's ships might be on this space. For instance, for the approaching winter of 2024-2025, 23 of its 27 ships are crusing within the Caribbean and Bahamas, together with the entire line's largest ships. These embrace the road's extremely anticipated new ship Icon of the Seas – the world's largest cruise ship.
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Royal Caribbean provides a variety of Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries from greater than half a dozen dwelling ports. For those who're searching for one thing shorter, the road has you lined with a number of fast, three- and four-night cruises from Florida ports to the Bahamas. It additionally provides an abundance of seven-night sailings to Caribbean and Bahamas ports and a few longer voyages starting from 9 to 14 nights within the area.
The core of the road's Caribbean and Bahamas program are its seven-night sailings, divided into three broad classes:
- Japanese Caribbean Excursions
- Western Caribbean Excursions
- Southern Caribbean Journeys
A typical seven-night Royal Caribbean crusing within the Japanese Caribbean will embrace stops on St. Martin, St. Thomas and an ideal day at CocoCay, the road's personal island within the Bahamas. However the line often stops at different islands corresponding to Puerto Rico or St. Kitts. There are often three and typically 4 calls on an Japanese Caribbean cruise.
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Royal Caribbean's seven-night Western Caribbean voyages sometimes embrace three or 4 stops at a mixture of the next locations: Mexico (Cozumel or Costa Maya), Honduras, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Belize. Some embrace a keep at Good Day at Cocohé and Labadie, Royal Caribbean's personal seaside vacation spot in Haiti.
The road's seven-night Southern Caribbean itineraries are extra destination-heavy, with 5 – 6 totally different calls. They generally embrace some stops on comparatively northward islands corresponding to St. Thomas and St. Martin, however focus extra on southern islands corresponding to Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Lucia, Bonaire, Aruba, and Curaçao. We do.
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When crusing to the Caribbean, Royal Caribbean ships sometimes sail from PortMiami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades of Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa in Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; new Orleans; Galveston, Texas; Bayonne, New Jersey (one of many ports of New York Metropolis); And baltimore.
The road not too long ago supplied its first Caribbean sailings from Barbados, though no different voyages from the island are at the moment on the road's schedule.
Australia and New Zealand
Royal Caribbean has been sending at the least one ship – and typically a number of – to Australia each winter for a number of years. It provides a variety of itineraries out of Sydney and Brisbane that decision not solely round Australia but in addition in New Zealand.
Whereas the itineraries supplied by traces within the area fluctuate in size – from simply two nights to as many as 15 nights – the shorter journeys primarily cater to the native Australian crowd searching for a fast vacation. Amongst North People, the preferred itineraries are longer, typically closely skewed in the direction of stops in New Zealand.
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Many New Zealand itineraries embrace 12-night voyages from Sydney that embrace an all-New Zealand lineup of calls: Bay of Islands, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Picton.
This 15-night New Zealand itinerary out of Sydney features a go to to New Zealand's well-known Milford Sound in addition to Uncertain Sound and Dusky Sound. The ship additionally stops in Dunedin, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga, Auckland and the Bay of Islands.
alaska
Royal Caribbean is just not the most important participant in Alaska cruises. The giants of Alaska journey are Princess Cruises and Holland America, sisters to one another that management a big share of the market. However, Royal Caribbean has a big presence in Alaska, and its massive, activity-packed ships are widespread amongst households trying to go to this vacation spot.
The Alaska cruise season is brief, lasting from roughly Could by way of September. For the upcoming 2024 season, Royal Caribbean plans to have 4 ships within the area – all working seven-night sailings.
- greetings of the ocean And Sea Quantity: These 4,180-passenger sister ships are Royal Caribbean's latest and largest ships scheduled to go to Alaska. They are going to depart from Seattle to Alaska round-trip with calls at Alaska ports corresponding to Sitka, Juneau and Skagway; and Victoria, British Columbia. On many departures, they will even go to Endicott Arm to see the glacier.
- Brilliance of the Sea: The two,142-passenger ship will sail round-trip from Vancouver to Alaska with a go to to Tracy Arm Fjord and name at three or 4 of the next Alaska locations: Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Icy Strait Level and Sitka.
- Sea Shine: The two,143-passenger Radiance of the Seas will journey largely one-way to Alaska between Vancouver and Seward, Alaska. Calls will embrace Hubbard Glacier and 4 of the next Alaska locations: Ketchikan, Icy Strait Level, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka.
The attraction of one-way sailings on Radiance of the Seas is that you would be able to mix them with a land journey to Alaska organized by Royal Caribbean; Land journeys can final two to 5 days, along with seven nights onboard. So, general, you should have created a 9 to 12 evening “cruise tour” as such excursions are known as within the cruise world.
The land tour portion of such excursions visits well-known Inside Alaska places corresponding to Denali Nationwide Park and town of Fairbanks.
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Europe
Royal Caribbean is a serious participant in Europe, with a variety of itineraries all through the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
A few of the line's signature Mediterranean itineraries provide the possibility to go to iconic locations corresponding to Barcelona, Spain and the Italian cities Florence, Rome and Naples in a single cruise. Or, you possibly can join a Mediterranean cruise targeted on the Greek islands.
In Northern Europe, Royal Caribbean will take you to well-known Baltic cities like Stockholm; Tallin,Estonia; Helsinki; and St. Petersburg, Russia, on the identical crusing (though, for now, St. Petersburg has been faraway from the Royal Caribbean itinerary as a result of warfare between Russia and Ukraine). Itineraries specializing in the Norwegian Fjords are additionally out there.
Till not too long ago, the road deployed greater than 10 ships to the area every year on a seasonal foundation, with ships working from spring to fall. However Royal Caribbean is chopping again sailings to Europe barely within the wake of the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and it plans to ship solely six ships to Europe for the 2025 season.
Royal Caribbean's Europe voyages vary from three to 16 nights.
Among the many longest voyages supplied by Royal Caribbean in Europe is a 16-night voyage from Barcelona to Southampton, England, with stops in Valencia, Cartagena and Málaga, Spain; Casablanca and Agadir, Morocco; Lisbon and Porto, Portugal; Cork, Eire; and Cherbourg and Le Havre, France.
In Northern Europe, Royal Caribbean ships largely sail from Southampton, England; Amsterdam; and Copenhagen, Denmark.
Within the Mediterranean, the road's hubs are Piraeus, Greece (port to Athens); Istanbul, Türkiye; Barcelona; and Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) and Ravenna in Italy. The latter port has not too long ago changed Venice as the house port.
Asia
In recent times, Royal Caribbean has constructed an enormous enterprise promoting cruises from China's ports corresponding to Shanghai and Tianjin (ports to Beijing), aimed squarely on the Chinese language market. They provide Chinese language-language programming and Chinese language-focused meals and actions. Nevertheless, Royal Caribbean additionally markets some Asia voyages to North People.
Itineraries catered to the Western crowd embrace a nine-night Thailand and Vietnam tour from Singapore that features a cease on Indonesia's Bintan Island; Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Vietnam; And Bangkok.
There are additionally 10-night Japan Explorer sailings that absorb Aomori, Hakodate, Akita, Kanazawa, Sakaminato and Kagoshima, Japan; and Busan, South Korea.
For 2024, 4 of Royal Caribbean's 27 ships are scheduled to sail to Asia for at the least a part of the yr: Anthem of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas, Spectrum of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas. Stop.
The road's foremost home ports in Asia for North American passengers are Singapore; Yokohama, Japan (port to Tokyo); And Hong Kong.
floor stage
Royal Caribbean has one of many largest fleets of cruise ships on the earth, permitting it to supply a variety of itineraries. For those who're fascinated about a Royal Caribbean cruise, you'll be spoiled for alternative. The road is probably greatest identified for its Caribbean sailings – at sure occasions of the yr, it deploys nearly all of its ships to the area. You'll additionally discover wonderful Royal Caribbean itineraries in every single place from Alaska and Australia to Europe and Asia.
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