Are you a fan of Super short travel? You are about to receive an important new selection.
This week, Royal Caribbean announced that one of its giant Oasis-class ships will embark on short voyages year-round starting later this year — something no other vessel has done since their launch. here 14 years.
The world’s largest yacht brand says its 225,282-ton Allure of the Seas – the second in a series of five groundbreaking ships – will switch from operating seven-night sailings to three- and four-way sailings. night full-time on October 30th until at least early 2025.
So far, the ship and her four sister ships have spent most of the day making seven-night cruises.
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Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships are the largest and most comfortable ships in the world, and they are in high demand from cruisers. They are also among Royal Caribbean’s newest ships, along with the recently announced Quantum-class ships.
Traditionally, major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean have reserved their biggest and newest ships on seven-night sailings – a more lucrative market – and booked smaller and older ships on board. shorter trips.
Allure of the Seas will begin its short never-ending series of cruises in October with voyages from Port Canaveral, Florida, before moving to Miami as its hub in July 2024.
Related: An explanation of the 6 types of Royal Caribbean cruise ships
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The three- and four-night itineraries that Allure of the Seas will operate out of the two ports will have stops at Perfect day at CocoCayRoyal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. The trips will also stop at Nassau in the Bahamas.
Allure of the Seas is currently based in Galveston, Texas, for seven-night trips to the Caribbean.
As mentioned above, the Oasis-class ships are larger than any other cruise ship afloat, and for large ship lovers, there’s really nothing like them.
Each Oasis class ship has three separate main pool areas, a kids play area, a surf simulator, miniature golf, a basketball court, and even a zip line. And that’s just on their top deck.
Inside the ships you’ll find more lounges, bars, restaurants and shops than you can imagine, plus huge casinos, spas and galleries with shows in style. Broadway. They even have an indoor ice rink, just in case you want to bring your Michelle Kwan in.
There are also giant waterslides on four of the five ships. Alas, the Allure of the Seas is the only Oasis-class ship that is missing. Royal Caribbean announced plans to add water slides to Allure of the Seas a few years ago, but the plans were shelved after the COVID-19 pandemic halted cruises for more than a year. .
Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean cruise ships and itineraries
While cruise lines typically take older, smaller ships on shorter voyages, Royal Caribbean has experimented with including some of its newer and larger ships on such itineraries in recent years, although they have stopped deploying Oasis-class trains for the routes.
For example, in 2019, the line deployed its newly refurbished and still relatively large Navigator of the Seas to Miami for a short run – a remarkable move at the time.
Generally cheap and easy to customize, short trips out of Florida strongly appeal to the local market not looking for anything too fancy. They’re just out for a quick, inexpensive getaway.
That said, short excursions out of Florida are also popular among first-time excursions from around the country who want to try out excursions without committing too much. They are also attractive to millennials, as they are suitable for short stays.
Related: Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society Loyalty Program: The Ultimate Guide
As Royal Caribbean president and CEO Michael Bayley told me in an interview around the time of Navigator of the Seas’ rollout to Miami, those two groups are increasingly important to impress if you’re one The cruise line wants to grow its business. You want them back. That prompted Royal Caribbean to rethink its short-term strategy.
“We suddenly thought to ourselves, ‘wait a second, we’ve put our oldest, smallest ships in this short cruise space’ and why are we doing this?” Bayley said.
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