Royal Caribbean shuffles Caribbean sailings

Royal Caribbean cancelled more than 20 Freedom of the Seas sailings scheduled between May and September 2027 and will redeploy the vessel from PortMiami to Southampton for the 2027 summer season. (cruiseindustrynews.com)) The cancelled itineraries ranged from four- to nine-night Caribbean and Bahamas cruises that included calls at Perfect Day at CocoCay, ports in the Dominican Republic, Aruba and Curaçao. (cruiseindustrynews.com)) Freedom of the Seas is a Freedom‑class ship typically described as carrying roughly 3,900 guests, so the removal of “more than 20” summer sailings represents on the order of 78,000–80,000 passenger‑berths from the Caribbean schedule if those voyages had sailed at full capacity. (cruisecritic.com)) Affected passengers are being offered alternative sailings or full refunds, with Royal Caribbean presenting automatic rebooking to a four‑night Wonder of the Seas option and choices that include Adventure of the Seas or Jewel of the Seas, and customers were asked to respond by April 1, 2026. (royalcaribbeanblog.com)) Royal Caribbean said the move reflects continued strength in the UK & Ireland market and that Freedom of the Seas will replace Liberty of the Seas in Southampton, effectively upsizing the line’s European summer capacity for 2027. (cruisecritic.com)) Trade coverage and industry analysis flagged that removing Freedom’s Miami summer program transfers a concentrated block of weekly cruise calls and associated on‑shore spending away from Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Aruba and Curaçao ports, even as rebookings onto Wonder, Adventure and Jewel could redeploy some passenger volume back onto Florida–Caribbean routes. (theicrc.org))