Royal Caribbean’s transfer to deploy extra of its ships to sail shorter 3- and 4-night itineraries has sparked heated debate amongst its loyal cruisers.
Royal Caribbean launched new brief Caribbean cruises this week, however some cruise followers do not love a notable shift within the cruise line’s technique.
Utopia of the Seas and Marvel of the Seas can have already made this change in 2025, however Oasis and Concord of the Seas will be a part of the development once they begin crusing brief cruises within the fall of 2026.
“It is so unhappy that Royal Caribbean is ruining a lot of the Oasis class ships with the brief cruises,” stated Søren Hemmingsen on Fb, and it echoes what lots of of different die laborious Royal Caribbean followers expressed concerning the new releases.
The large change is in winter 2026-2027, Royal Caribbean can have all however certainly one of its Oasis Class ships crusing brief cruises within the Caribbean they usually’re all lower than 7 nights.
The rationale so many cruisers are upset is the shortage of itinerary selection and excessive price for a brief journey.
Some long-time cruisers really feel every week is important to have the ability to totally get pleasure from these mega ship’s facilities, leisure, and eating experiences. With extra ships being allotted to brief sailings, seasoned cruisers are feeling neglected.
“I can’t appear to search out it value my time to drive 8+ hours or price useful to fly for a 3 or 4 night time cruise. This hurts these of us who’re simply far sufficient away which have to come back within the day earlier than,” stated Barry Akins.
The one Oasis Class ship that may stay providing week lengthy cruises is Symphony of the Seas out of Galveston, Texas. It isn’t clear what Attract of the Seas will likely be doing but.
A shift towards attracting new cruisers
Why is Royal Caribbean transferring extra of its ships to sail brief cruises? The reply is on the coronary heart of its enterprise.
“Brief cruises is de facto the onramp for brand new to cruise,” Vicki Freed, Senior Vice President of Gross sales, Commerce Help and Service for Royal Caribbean, defined to journey brokers throughout a webinar yesterday.
“It is type of the check drive, folks do not have to take a position numerous time, they do not have to take a position some huge cash… to see if cruising is the precise expertise for them.”
Historically, older cruise ships sailed these brief cruises however Royal Caribbean wished to flip the script and appeal to new cruisers with the very best ships.
The thought is provide the easiest new cruise ship within the brief cruise market to present new cruisers an apparent selection of which ship is greatest for them to strive. Shorter cruises enable passengers to get a style of the most effective that Royal Caribbean has to supply with out committing to a weeklong cruise.
From a enterprise standpoint, Royal Caribbean is doubling down on what works.
The cruise line is focusing on a youthful demographic and people who need a fast escape with out taking a full week off work. Shorter cruises typically promote out quicker and at greater per-night charges, making them a worthwhile possibility.
One touch upon the brand new deployment acknowledged the enterprise actuality, “A really brief lesson in Cruising 101—Brief cruises you’ll be able to flip that ship twice and flip it and earn more money—that solely is smart for the cruise traces! Contemporary passengers shopping for extra drinks and playing extra. That is nothing new.”
Frustration over lack of selection
The shift away from longer cruises on Oasis Class ships means there aren’t many choices for a standard 7-night Caribbean cruise on an Oasis Class ship. There are sailings on Icon Class vessels, however proper now Icon Class ships command the very best common cruise fares within the fleet.
One workaround is to e-book a again to again crusing, the place you sail the identical ship twice in a row to get every week on the ship. Nevertheless, there is not so much distinction in the place your ship visits.
“I hate this!,” wrote Susan Cliatt. “We’ve to fly and it’s not well worth the 3,4 or 5 days!
Royal Caribbean executives have repeatedly stated the highest two causes folks e-book a cruise ship trip are for the locations and the meals.
Brief cruises, particularly 3-night sailings, often solely go to The Bahamas.
Cruise followers complained, “This caters to those who stay near the ports.”
“They’re solely value it when you stay close to the port.”
One other frustration is many vacationers really feel that giant, feature-packed ships like these within the Oasis Class are wasted on brief itineraries, the place there merely isn’t sufficient time to expertise all the things onboard.
Matt Anderson wrote, “Simply don’t perceive why all of the Oasis Class ships are transferring to brief cruises. You must take simply as many days off work to go on the 4-day cruise because it’s Mon-Fri as a 7-day Sunday-Sunday cruise. Additionally, there may be simply approach an excessive amount of occurring on these ships to solely be on for 3 or 4 days.”
One other individual echoed this concern:
“Hmmmm can’t say I like this transfer. We don’t like Icon as a result of it’s crawling with out-of-control children and was completely completely satisfied going again to Oasis Class for our 7-night Japanese Caribbean.”
