Final month there was fairly the uproar concerning the lack of longer sailings obtainable on Oasis-class ships when Royal Caribbean launched deployment schedules. I broke down the information for each Oasis-class voyage over the subsequent two years to see what’s actually happening.
Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships are one of many largest success tales within the cruise trade. The cruise line broke its personal file for the world’s largest ship when Oasis of the Seas debuted in 2009, and the category held the title for 15 years till Icon of the Seas was in-built 2024.
However the ships usually are not simply huge. They’re additionally very talked-about. Royal Caribbean followers love these ships, and they’re excellent for households as properly, since there’s one thing for everybody.
However after current schedules rolled out, some veteran cruisers weren’t excited concerning the variety of 3-4 day sailings and obvious lack of 7-day or longer sailings on these beloved ships.
I Analyzed Each Oasis-Class Crusing By means of 2027
So, I began digging into Royal Caribbean’s plans for its Oasis-class ships. I pulled up the crusing dates, ports, and period for each Oasis-class cruise from now till April 2027, so far as the present schedule goes.
I put all six vessels in a ramification sheet, taking a look at Concord, Utopia, Oasis, Symphony, Marvel, and Attract—accumulating information on all 870 sailings.
My objective? To determine if the discuss quick cruises taking up is true. It’s—however not completely.
Whereas quick journeys dominate the variety of sailings, the true story lies within the days sailed. After crunching the numbers, I discovered 49% of their time goes to three–5-day voyages. Longer sailings nonetheless grasp on, although, and never each fan is cheering the shift.
Brief vs. Lengthy: The Days Sailed Breakdown
Out of 870 sailings, 673 (77.4%) are 3–5 days, and simply 93 (10.7%) are 7-day. However counting sailings alone skews it—shorter journeys pile up quicker and you may have two in a single week versus a single week-long cruise.
So, I calculated the full days sailed as properly: 4,732 throughout all ships. Right here’s the way it splits:
Brief Cruises (3–5 days): 2,410 days, 49%. Almost half their time—fast escapes to locations like CocoCay.
Longer Cruises (6+ days): 1,312 days, 26.7%. An honest share, principally 7-day itineraries.
2-day Journeys: 10 days, 0.2%. Uncommon one-offs.
That 49% for brief cruises is huge—it’s what caught my eye first. However 26.7% for longer journeys reveals Royal Caribbean hasn’t totally deserted the week-long crowd I do know loves these ships.
Whereas a 3-day cruise is nice for a fast (and cheaper) getaway, it’s exhausting to actually benefit from the dimension and splendor of an Oasis ship in lower than 7 days.
The Ships: Which Ships Are Providing Brief or Longer Cruises
I broke it down by ship—sailings, days sailed, and ports—to see which of them are driving this development:
Utopia of the Seas (Port Canaveral):
183 sailings, 733 days.
All Brief: 91 3-day sailings (273 days), 92 4-day sailings (368 days)—100%.
Longer: None.
What I See: Utopia’s all-in on quick from Port Canaveral. CEO Michael Bayley calls it a “recreation changer,” and I can see why—it’s constructed for 3- and 4-day demand.
Marvel of the Seas (Port Canaveral, then PortMiami):
183 sailings, 712 days.
Largely Brief: 91 3-day sailings (273 days), 87 4-day sailings (348 days)—621 days complete.
Longer: 5 7-day sailings (35 days).
What I See: Marvel dips into 7-day early in 2025 from Orlando, then shifts to PortMiami in August for 87.2% quick days.
Oasis of the Seas (Port Everglades and Cape Liberty):
148 sailings, 832 days.
Brief: 62 3-day sailings (186 days), 36 4-day sailings (144 days), 2 5-day sailings (10 days)—340 days.
Longer: 23 6-day sailings (138 days), 13 7-day sailings (91 days), 9 8-day sailings (72 days), 1 9-day crusing (9 days)—310 days.
Plus: 2 quick 2-day journeys (4 days).
What I See: Oasis balances the durations. It’s obtained 3-day followers lined however retains longer choices alive on the unique Oasis-class ship.
Concord of the Seas (Galveston, Barcelona, then Port Canaveral):
134 sailings, 876 days.
Brief: 18 4-day sailings (72 days), 31 5-day sailings (155 days)—227 days.
Longer: 19 6-day sailings (114 days), 58 7-day sailings (406 days), 6 8-day sailings (48 days), 1 13-day cruise (13 days)—581 days.
Plus: 3 at 2 days (6 days).
What I See: Concord gives longer itineraries—66.3% of its days, principally 7-day—till it joins Orlando’s quick recreation in August 2026.
Attract of the Seas (Rome, Barcelona, Port Everglades, PortMiami):
112 sailings, 789 days.
Brief: 2 3-day sailings (6 days), 2 5-day sailings (10 days)—16 days.
Longer: 18 6-day sailings (108 days), 79 7-day sailings (553 days), 10 8-day sailings (80 days), 1 13-day (13 days)—754 days.
What I See: Attract of the Seas is the long-cruise standout on this class —95.6% of its days, 553 of them 7-day. Brief’s barely a footnote.
Symphony of the Seas (Cape Liberty, Galveston, PortMiami):
110 sailings, 790 days.
Brief: 8 5-day sailings (40 days).
Longer: 16 6-day sailings (96 days), 78 7-day sailings (546 days), 5 8-day sailings (40 days), 3 9-day sailings (27 days)—709 days.
What I See: Symphony sticks to longer sailings—89.7% of its days are spent on longer voyages.
The Push: Why 49% Brief?
Royal Caribbean examined this with Attract of the Seas doing 3- and 4-day runs from Port Canaveral—a success with new cruisers. I watched Utopia of the Seas take it full-time, and it’s paid off. The cruise line’s CEO says it’s drawing millennials and first-timers like loopy.
Now, Marvel (87.2% quick days), Oasis (40.9%), and later Concord (25.9%) are piling in. Collectively, Utopia and Marvel account for 1,354 of the two,410 quick days—56.2%. It’s about fast turnarounds, CocoCay stops, and hooking newbies with a style of the Oasis-class.
The Pushback: Followers Miss Longer—and Quieter—Journeys
Not everybody’s pleased with this shift towards shorter sailings, and I perceive why. Some Royal Caribbean followers on Fb say quick cruises—particularly 4-day journeys—are simply too quick to benefit from the ship.
Others level out that flying in for these fast journeys will get dear, a frustration I’ve felt planning my very own cruises.
There’s additionally grumbling that quick sailings flip Oasis-class ships into extra of a celebration environment—extra noise, much less calm. On-line, Royal followers argue they’d by no means do lower than 7 days if journey’s concerned. With 7-day journeys down to simply 13.2% of days sailed (651 complete), it’s clear why those that desire a week-long escape aren’t thrilled with the short-cruise development.
Backside Line
Right here’s what I’ve discovered: 49% of Oasis-class cruises are quick—Utopia and Marvel lead and Oasis and Concord take part as properly.
However Attract and Symphony nonetheless provide loads of longer cruises with most of their sailings being week-long durations.
Nonetheless, the numbers communicate for themselves: 49% of Oasis-class sailings at the moment are quick, a transparent reflection of Royal Caribbean’s imaginative and prescient for the category. The technique is to supply quick cruises for the brand new era, longer for the traditionalists.
The one query is: will this delicate stability maintain, or will a brand new schedule past 2027 cater to a brand new kind of cruise fanatic? We will see.
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