Key Aspects:
- Royal Caribbean has announced when the first deployments and itineraries for the 2028-2029 season will be released for bookings.
- Alaska’s 2028 season will be the first available beginning the week of September 28, 2026, followed by part of the European season (week of October 12) and the 2028 7-night Caribbean summer season (week of November 2).
- Other sailing regions will be released at a later time, including Australia, the Bahamas, Hawaii, Bermuda, and more.
Experienced cruisers know planning and booking early is the best strategy for securing one’s preferred itinerary, favorite ship, and most desirable stateroom options. Royal Caribbean is making that planning a bit easier by announcing its schedule for 2028-2029 deployment plans.
Because cruise line deployment plans are released, in general, about two years prior to the sailing date, guests are now looking forward to learning which Royal Caribbean ships will be sailing in what regions from summer 2028 and into winter 2029.
The schedule has been made available to travel agents and shared on Facebook, including the following release dates:
- 2028 Alaskan Season – Week of September 28, 2026
- 2028 European Season (Part 1) – Week of October 12, 2026
- 2028 7-Night Summer Caribbean Season – Week of November 2, 2026
The Alaskan Season includes all Royal Caribbean cruises in the Last Frontier for Summer 2028. The season typically begins in early May and runs through mid- to late September.
For the 2028 European Season, not all itineraries may be released at the same time. The cruise line may split the deployment announcement by region, such as northern Europe, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean, or some ships may not be announced at the planned date as further itineraries are refined and confirmed.
This split might especially apply to the seventh Oasis-class ship and the fifth Icon-class ship, both of which are expected to debut in 2028. It is possible that at least one of them may enter service in Europe, but those details have not yet been confirmed.
The first of the 2028 Caribbean summer sailings to be released will be the weeklong itineraries. Shorter sailings will be announced at a later time.
To be clear, the announcement dates only refer to the “Week of” the specific dates. This does not mean that all itineraries will be released on those days, only that Royal Caribbean is targeting that week for bookings to become available, but it might be later in the designated week and not only on the listed date.
It is also possible that some limited bookings may become available prior to those dates as the cruise line’s booking engine is updated with new offerings. There could be glitches and gaps, but the full collection of listed itineraries ought to be available for bookings by the end of the stated weeks.
When Will Other Cruises Be Released?
There are many sailing regions and top itineraries not yet included in this deployment update calendar: Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Bermuda, Hawaii, Mexican Riviera, Bahamas, Canada and New England, shorter Caribbean cruises, and specialized sailings like transits through the Panama Canal, one-way repositioning voyages, and both transatlantic and transpacific cruises.
At this time, Royal Caribbean only notes that those remaining deployment plans are “coming soon.” These itineraries will cover sailing dates from Fall 2028 through Winter 2029.
Read Also: What Are the Different Royal Caribbean Ship Classes?
Bearing in mind that itineraries are generally released two years ahead of departure, these remaining deployment plans are likely to be announced before the end of 2026 or early in 2027, but the cruise line has not confirmed an exact release date.
Itineraries Can Always Change
Savvy cruise guests may look forward to planning their cruises for 2028 and into 2029, but they also know that itineraries and even ship deployments can and do change.
While simple itinerary changes like a swapped or cancelled port can happen for a wide range of reasons from berth availability to storms to unexpected technical issues, deployment swaps can also happen.
For example, Cruise Hive reported in September 2025 that four Royal Caribbean ships were swapping homeports: Radiance of the Seas swapped with Rhapsody of the Seas and Vision of the Seas swapped with Brilliance of the Seas.
The impacted cruises for those swaps were sailings in 2026 and 2027. Booked guests were contacted at the time with their options.
Cruise lines will make such swaps for different reasons. Changes in dry dock planning, the popularity of select itineraries, homeport construction plans, and other factors might all influence ship changes long after itineraries are announced.
