Royal Caribbean has presented its 2028-2029 season in Europe, with seven ships in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the Canary Islands. For the first time, the cruise line will keep a ship in Europe all year: Rhapsody of the Seas will sail in the Mediterranean in summer and to the Canary Islands in winter. Voyages last from 3 to 12 nights. According to the cruise line, bookings open on 15 October 2026, after a preview for members of its Crown & Anchor Society loyalty programme.
Rhapsody of the Seas, all year in Europe
Rhapsody of the Seas will sail 7- to 12-night voyages from Athens (Piraeus), Barcelona and Lisbon. From May to October 2028 she will sail 7-night voyages to Turkey and Egypt, with overnight stays in Alexandria and Istanbul, and to the Greek Islands, with calls at Santorini.
From November 2028 she will switch to 9- to 12-night voyages to the Canary Islands, Portugal, Morocco, Cyprus, Malta and Greece. Calls include Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Casablanca, Tangier and Alexandria, again with an overnight stay. The season also brings Royal Caribbean back to Heraklion (Crete) and Cagliari (Sardinia), where it has not called for more than ten years.
The other six ships
- Explorer of the Seas, from Ravenna (Venice): 7-night voyages to the Greek Islands and Croatia from May to October 2028. All of them stay in Santorini until the evening, and some call at Kotor (Montenegro).
- Freedom of the Seas, from Southampton: 3- to 9-night voyages from May to October 2028 to the Norwegian fjords, Copenhagen, Bruges (Zeebrugge), Bilbao, Paris (Le Havre) and Lisbon.
- Jewel of the Seas, from Copenhagen and Stockholm: 7- to 11-night voyages in the Baltic from May to August 2028, with calls at Helsinki, Visby (Sweden), Gdansk (Gdynia) and Klaipeda (Lithuania). With this ship Royal Caribbean returns to Copenhagen and Stockholm.
- Liberty of the Seas, from Barcelona, Athens (Piraeus) and Rome (Civitavecchia): 7- and 8-night voyages from May to October 2028 to the Greek Islands and the Western Mediterranean, with calls at Provence (Marseille), Sicily (Palermo) and Cagliari. In Santorini she will stay until the evening, with new excursions to the prehistoric site of Akrotiri, Fira and the black sand beach of Perivolos.
- Mariner of the Seas, from Barcelona, Lisbon, Athens (Piraeus) and Ravenna (Venice): the ship returns to the Mediterranean with 7-night voyages to destinations such as Palma de Mallorca, Porto (Leixões) and Dubrovnik.
- Odyssey of the Seas, from Rome (Civitavecchia): 7-night voyages to the Greek Islands from April to October 2028, with calls at Ephesus (Turkey), Mykonos and Santorini, where she will stay until the evening.
Royal Beach Club Santorini
On the Greek Islands voyages, passengers can book the Ultimate Santorini Day, a full-day excursion that combines visits to Oia and Fira with a stay at Royal Beach Club Santorini, the cruise line’s beach club on the island. The club has an open-air market with products from local businesses, such as produce from Nomikos Estate, ouzo and tsikoudia from the Canava Lyngos distillery and wine from Santo Wines. Some voyages stay in port until later in the evening.
Royal Beach Club Santorini. Photo: Royal Caribbean.
