Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas has been a massive hit for the cruise line, and to be fair, it isn’t because of the ports it visits. In simple terms, when cruisers book a sailing on Icon, the ship is the primary destination.
Sure, many still look forward to visiting Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay private island, as well as some of the other Caribbean ports it sails to, but there are far more cost-effective ways to get there on other Royal Caribbean ships. Cruisers are willing to pay a massive premium to sail on Icon in order to experience the ship. Plain and simple.
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Because of this, Icon of the Seas doesn’t have particularly unique itineraries. It generally sails 7-day cruises, alternating between Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. There are currently 110 Icon of the Seas sailings available to book through April 2027, and between all 110 of them, they only stop at 9 different ports. Nearly 100 of the trips are the exact same Eastern and Western itineraries. In short, there isn’t much variety.
The same can be said for Star of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s second Icon-class ship, which is set to launch in late Summer 2025.
Star of the Seas will be homeported in Port Canaveral, and like Icon, will alternate 7-day Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. And all of the published itineraries visit some combination of the same 9 ports Icon currently has on its schedule.
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Image source: Royal Caribbean
Legend of the Seas will have more variety
To be fair, there are some practical limitations when it comes to the Icon-class ships’ itineraries. Because of their size, there are some ports they simply cannot visit, as there is no dock that can accommodate them.
But that isn’t stopping the third Icon-class ship, Legend of the Seas, from adding some variety.
For one thing, Legend will be homeported in Europe initially in Summer 2026 and will then move to Fort Lauderdale in November. This alone adds some interesting itineraries, such as 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Rome and Barcelona.
Aside from its initial European cruising season, there are some unique itineraries aboard Legend of the Seas that U.S. cruisers might be interested in.
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3 unique itineraries cruisers may want to look into
First is a 13-night transatlantic cruise that will reposition the ship to its Fort Lauderdale homeport. It departs Barcelona in late October 2026, visits three ports in Spain, and spends nine full days at sea before arriving in Florida on Nov. 7. This could be a great option for a cruiser who wants the time to truly enjoy all of Legend’s onboard amenities.
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Second, Legend’s first sailing after it arrives in Fort Lauderdale will be a quick 3-night Perfect Day Getaway Cruise, featuring a day at Perfect Day at CocoCay as well as a day at sea to enjoy the ship. One of the biggest reasons I don’t do more 3-day cruises is the lack of a sea day, so this could be appealing to many people who can’t commit to a longer cruise.
Finally, for the New Year’s holiday week at the end of 2026, Legend of the Seas will offer an 8-night Southern Caribbean sailing, which isn’t a particularly unique idea. After all, the general cadence will alternate between 6-night Western Caribbean and 8-night Southern Caribbean itineraries while sailing from Fort Lauderdale.
However, what makes this holiday sailing unique is that it features an overnight visit to Aruba. Legend of the Seas will arrive in Aruba at 8am on Dec. 29 and won’t depart until 4pm the following day.
The bottom line is that Legend of the Seas will have far more variety in its menu of sailings than either of its sister ships. If you want a cruise where the ship and its ports are both equally appealing, you might want to check out Legend of the Seas’ itineraries, which are now available for booking on Royal Caribbean’s website.
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