Royal Caribbean announced they’re building even bigger ships. The Icon 5 and Icon 6 will join the fleet in 2027 and 2028. These floating cities will pack 7,600 guests each when fully loaded.
What this means for you depends on your cruise style. Love packed pools and dinner reservations that book faster than Taylor Swift tickets? You’ll fit right in. Prefer ships where you can actually find a quiet deck chair? Maybe stick with smaller vessels.
Norwegian Cruise Line pulled out of two Caribbean ports for 2024. Tortola and St. Maarten got the boot due to ongoing infrastructure issues. Ships will hit Barbados and St. Lucia instead.
Port swaps happen more than cruise lines admit. Your itinerary is really more of a suggestion than a promise. The good news is Caribbean islands tend to blur together after your third rum punch anyway.
Carnival updated their beverage package rules. You can now share packages between cabin mates on voyages longer than six days. Previously everyone in the cabin had to buy their own package or nobody could get one.
This fixes one of cruising’s dumbest policies. Nothing says vacation like forcing the non-drinker to pay $60 a day for sparkling water. The change only applies to longer cruises though. Short cruise drinkers still get the full policy treatment.
If you want help sorting through which ships actually match your vacation style, that is literally what we do.
Fair winds and following seas,
Captain Steve
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