Final month there was fairly the uproar in regards to the lack of longer sailings out there on Oasis-class ships when Royal Caribbean launched deployment schedules. I broke down the information for each Oasis-class voyage over the following two years to see what’s actually occurring.
Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships are one of many greatest success tales within the cruise business. The cruise line broke its personal document 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 inbuilt 2024.
However the ships aren’t simply huge. They’re additionally highly regarded. Royal Caribbean followers love these ships, and they’re good for households as nicely, since there’s one thing for everybody.
However after current schedules rolled out, some veteran cruisers weren’t excited in regards to 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 way 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 diffusion sheet, taking a look at Concord, Utopia, Oasis, Symphony, Surprise, and Attract—accumulating knowledge on all 870 sailings.
My objective? To determine if the speak about quick cruises taking on is true. It’s—however not totally.
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 cling on, although, and never each fan is cheering the shift.
Quick 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 overall days sailed as nicely: 4,732 throughout all ships. Right here’s the way it splits:
- Quick Cruises (3–5 days): 2,410 days, 49%. Practically half their time—fast escapes to locations like CocoCay.
- Longer Cruises (6+ days): 1,312 days, 26.7%. A good share, largely 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 exhibits 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 measurement and splendor of an Oasis ship in lower than 7 days.
The Ships: Which Ships Are Providing Quick 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 Quick: 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 “sport changer,” and I can see why—it’s constructed for 3- and 4-day demand.
- Surprise of the Seas (Port Canaveral, then PortMiami):
- 183 sailings, 712 days.
- Principally Quick: 91 3-day sailings (273 days), 87 4-day sailings (348 days)—621 days whole.
- Longer: 5 7-day sailings (35 days).
- What I See: Surprise 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.
- Quick: 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 coated however retains longer choices alive on the unique Oasis-class ship.
- Concord of the Seas (Galveston, Barcelona, then Port Canaveral):
- 134 sailings, 876 days.
- Quick: 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, largely 7-day—till it joins Orlando’s quick sport in August 2026.
- Attract of the Seas (Rome, Barcelona, Port Everglades, PortMiami):
- 112 sailings, 789 days.
- Quick: 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. Quick’s barely a footnote.
- Symphony of the Seas (Cape Liberty, Galveston, PortMiami):
- 110 sailings, 790 days.
- Quick: 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% Quick?
Royal Caribbean examined this with Attract of the Seas doing 3- and 4-day runs from Port Canaveral—successful 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, Surprise (87.2% quick days), Oasis (40.9%), and later Concord (25.9%) are piling in. Collectively, Utopia and Surprise 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 proud of 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 ambiance—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 only 13.2% of days sailed (651 whole), it’s clear why those that need a week-long escape aren’t thrilled with the short-cruise development.
Backside Line
Right here’s what I’ve realized: 49% of Oasis-class cruises are quick—Utopia and Surprise lead and Oasis and Concord take part as nicely.
However Attract and Symphony nonetheless provide loads of longer cruises with most of their sailings being week-long durations.
Nonetheless, the numbers converse 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 technology, 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 sort of cruise fanatic? We will see.
