[
It's official: brief cruises on big ships appear to be the fad of the month within the cruise world.
Royal Caribbean introduced Wednesday that it’s going to reassign its large, 18-deck-high Marvel of the Seas — the world's second-largest cruise ship — to shorter three- and four-night sailings out of Miami beginning in August 2025.
The 2-year-old ship, which might maintain 7,084 passengers, at present sails seven-night voyages from Port Canaveral in Florida.
For extra cruise information, guides and ideas, join TPG's Cruise e-newsletter.
The announcement comes simply 4 months earlier than the debut of Royal Caribbean's large new Utopia of the Seas, a sister ship to Marvel of the Seas, which will even provide shorter three- and four-night sailings from Port Canaveral.
Collectively, the 2 deployments will imply that two of the world's 4 largest and latest cruise ships will make early voyages from Florida – one thing that’s unprecedented within the historical past of cruising.
Historically, main cruise strains like Royal Caribbean have devoted their latest and largest ships to longer seven-night voyages from Florida – a extra profitable market – and saved older and smaller ships on shorter distances.
Royal Caribbean's transfer with Marvel of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas is a daring guess that putting two of its newest and biggest ships within the short-cruise market will drive a surge of latest prospects.
In an interview with TPG earlier than the announcement of Utopia of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's chief advertising officer, Cara Wallace, recommended that Royal Caribbean was particularly searching for a “new in cruise” market with such sailings. . This time period refers to individuals who have by no means traveled earlier than.
each day newspaper
Reward your inbox with the TPG Every day e-newsletter
Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG's consultants
It is a section of holidaymakers who are sometimes cautious of reserving a cruise longer than three or 4 days if they don’t prefer it.
He mentioned on the time that by putting one in all Royal Caribbean's latest and most amenity-rich ships on shorter voyages, the road would make a “first impression, one of the best impression” on first-time cruisers.
Quickie Cruises to the Bahamas
The brand new brief cruises, to be operated by Marvel of the Seas out of Miami, may have all-Bahamas itineraries stopping in two areas: Nassau on New Windfall Island and Good Day in CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's non-public island within the Bahamas.
Fares for the crusing, which can start August 25, 2025, will begin at $321 per particular person, based mostly on double occupancy, for a three-night crusing. 4-night sailings begin at $341 per particular person, based mostly on double occupancy.
Marvel of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas are each a part of Royal Caribbean's extremely well-liked Oasis class of ships.
Launched in 2009 with the introduction of Oasis of the Seas, the Oasis Class ships have dominated the world of mega-sized cruise ships since that yr and nonetheless account for 5 of the six largest cruise ships on the planet. Are. Solely Royal Caribbean's not too long ago unveiled Icon of the Seas is bigger.
RELATED: Our Likes, Dislikes about Marvel of the Seas
When the Oasis Class debuted, the ships within the collection had been roughly 40% bigger than the subsequent largest cruise ships. The Oasis Class ships and the brand new Icon of the Seas have since remained the world's largest and most luxurious ships.
Till this yr, the Oasis-class ships have targeted on seven-night sailings, principally within the Caribbean however sometimes in Europe. 4 of the six ships within the class – Symphony of the Seas, Concord of the Seas, Attract of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas – proceed to deal with seven-night sailings.
Planning a cruise? Begin with these tales: