Following up on its strategy to draw in first-time and younger, time-pressed customers—and to wow them with its best ships, its beautiful private islands and two new beach clubs—Royal Caribbean’s 2026-2027 lineup is heavier than ever on Short Caribbean.

Only one thing will be missing. This week the cruise line also announced it will continue to skip San Juan, Puerto Rico, where ongoing port issues make it impossible for the biggest ships to berth.

The short-cruise lineup, though, will grow by a whopping eight ships, for a total of 11, sailing two to five nights from November 2026 and April 2027. They are available for booking effective Feb. 27.

• From Port Canaveral, Utopia of the Seas will offer three- and four-night cruises to The Bahamas.
• Harmony of the Seas’s four-night cruises to the Bahamas and five-night cruises to Cozumel, Mexico; all will include stops at Perfect Day at CocoCay. There’s also a two-night sailing.
• Explorer of the Seas will offer four-night sailings to the Bahamas and five nights to the Dominican Republic, Labadee, and Cozumel.
• From Fort Lauderdale, Oasis of the Seas will offer three- and four-night cruises to The Bahamas and CocoCay.
• Vision of the Seas will sail three- and four-night cruises to Bimini, The Bahamas, and Grand Bahama Island.
• Grandeur of the Seas will sail three- and four-night cruises to The Bahamas, including Perfect Day and Key West.
• From Tampa, Rhapsody of the Seas will sail new four- and five-night itineraries.
• From Miami, guests can try three- and four-night cruises to the Bahamas and CocoCay on Wonder of the Seas through at least early 2027.
• Freedom of the Seas will sail on four- and five-night cruises to Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Labadee, Cozumel, Dominican Republic, and The Bahamas.
• And from Galveston, Texas, Liberty of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas will sail four- and five-night cruises to Cozumel, with the longer itinerary adding Costa Maya.

San Juan Dock Repairs Stretch to July

After months of skipping stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico, meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has been forced to cancel more visits to the capital city this spring and summer.

This week, guests on the May 3, June 7, June 21, and July 19 sailings of Icon of the Seas were advised the ship will be skipping the popular city “due to ongoing improvements to the pier infrastructure in San Juan” that will not be completed in time. Originally scheduled for completion in June, the repairs now are scheduled to extend into July.

Icon’s May and June sailings will stop in Ponce, Puerto Rico, instead of San Juan, and the July 19 cruise will stop in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten.

Guests with pre-paid shore excursions in San Juan will receive automatic refunds to their original form of payment, but no other compensation is being offered.

Symphony of the Seas also will skip San Juan; its April 6 sailing will stop at Nassau in the Bahamas instead.

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis and Icon Class ships have not been able to dock in San Juan since November 2024, when the largest pier, Pier 3-West, was damaged. Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, Disney Treasure, also was unable to stop in San Juan; it switched the stop on its Feb. 1 sailing from San Juan to Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, its private island.

The San Juan Cruise Port has filed a negligence lawsuit against MSC Cruises, whose ship hit the pier.

When a stick doesn’t work, reach for a carrot—and apparently that’s the smart new approach to its travel-agency partners at American Airlines. The carrier has followed up the recall of its highly unpopular NDC booking strategy by promising to pay 10% commission on NDC-enabled bookings of Main Plus, Main Select, and Flagship Business Plus ticket bundles through the third quarter of 2024.

Main Plus NDC bundles include a Main Cabin Extra or preferred seat and a checked bag. Main Select offer refundable fares, same-day flight changes, priority boarding, priority check-in and a choice of any seat in the main cabin at the time of booking, including Main Cabin Extra. Flagship Business Plus includes a business-class seat, access to a private check-in area, expedited security screening, Flagship First dining in a Flagship Lounge and a free third checked bag.

The news comes as a welcome bow to the role of travel advisors in the industry. Just two weeks ago, AA’s CEO Robert Isom canceled a set of proposed procedural changes that would have denied frequent-traveler points to travelers on bookings not made by preferred travel agencies through the NDC direct channel. In a quarterly call on May 29, Isom acknowledged that the changes—meant to push travelers and travel agencies to use direct channels instead of GDSs—had resulted in falling revenues and forced a cut in AA’s profit forecast.

By the next day, Vasu Raja, author of the stick approach, was gone—and Isom apparently already was reaching out to travel advisors, instead offering commissions to reward those who showed support.

The business travel blog The Beat first broke the story that several travel agencies, all of whom requested anonymity per their contracts with AA, received a memo from American Airlines introducing the program on May 30. It will last through the third quarter of 2024.

Oenophiles have two reasons to rejoice this week: May 25 is National Wine Day – and AmaWaterways is celebrating by rolling out a new French itinerary that includes visits to some of the country’s most distinguished wineries, plus the list of 70 hosted wine-themed departures that will make up its 2025 Celebration of Wine River Cruises portfolio.

The new Flavors of Burgundy will  be one of 21 itineraries in regions such as the Douro Valley in Portugal, the Wachau Valley in Austria and along the Moselle River in Germany. Sailing the Saône River between Lyon and Dijon, “France’s Culinary Capital,” on AmaCello and include wine tastings in Tournus, Mâcon and Lyon. Eight hosted itineraries will run in March, April, July, October and November of 2025.

Each hosted wine-themed cruise will include an expert – a vineyard owner, winemaker, certified sommelier or wine educator from North America or Europe – plus “enhanced epicurean experiences” and special wine-tasting events. North American Wine Hosts will bring their own wines on board to add a layer of diversity to the program.

“Delving into regional wine specialties throughout Europe enables our guests to gain a deeper appreciation for a country, its history, culture and people,” said AmaWaterways co-founder and executive vice president Kristin Karst.

AmaCello holds 140 passengers in 70 staterooms, most with a French balcony, and two single-occupancy staterooms that do not have single supplement fees. It launched in 2008.

When you get an email under the subject “In 5 to 10 years, forget southern Europe in summer,” you just have to read it.

Indeed, James Thornton makes some interesting—and timely—points in the message he sent me. “In 5 to 10 years, I think it will prove challenging to travel around southern Europe during July and August,” the Melbourne-based CEO of Intrepid Travel said. “Most people just won’t want to, it will be far too hot.”

Against the backdrop of heatwaves and fires in the Mediterranean countries, particularly in Athens and Rome, many tour operators are changing their itineraries, and travelers are planning more vacations in Read the rest of this entry »

The trend toward upgrading private islands has come to MSC Cruises, which last week advised guests and travel advisors that its Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in the Bahamas will be closed from April 7 to May 22, 2024 “in order to make necessary guest experience enhancements and support the island’s future growth plans.”

The closing will result in program shifts for MSC Seashore, MSC Seascape, MSC Divina, and MSC Meraviglia, including everything from the addition of new ports of call to cancellation of some itineraries. Some itineraries will stop in Nassau, Freeport in The Bahamas, or Isla Roatan in Honduras instead of Ocean Cay.

Guests on the impacted cruises have until July 31 to decide whether to stay with their existing reservation, move to another sailing without penalty, or cancel for a full refund.

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve opened in December 2019, but closed during the Covid shutdown from mid-March until summer 2021. One of the most beautiful of the private islands, its focus is not on thrills but rather on luxury and calm, including eight beaches, a spa, private cabanas, and an onsite kids program at the family-friendly Seakers Family Cove.