While there are not going to be any Royal Caribbean cruise ships operating outside of Singapore, you might be wondering where the rest of the cruise ships are located.
Royal Caribbean's cruise ships are in a state of warm layup around the world in strategically located areas to be near resupply ports.
This allows the ships to easily get into port to offload waste, bring on new supplies, and sometimes exchange out the skeleton crew working onboard.
During this period of no cruises, the ships primarily stay in place, but a few have changed locations from time to time.
This information was gathered, and accurate, as of April 27, 2021.
CocoCay
- Symphony of the Seas
- Oasis of the Seas
- Independence of the Seas
- Allure of the Seas
- Explorer of the Seas
- Freedom of the Seas
- Mariner of the Seas
- Navigator of the Seas
- Liberty of the Seas
St. Maarten
- Enchantment of the Seas
- Brilliance of the Seas
- Rhapsody of the Seas
- Vision of the Seas
- Grandeur of the Seas
- Adventure of the Seas
Barbados
- Serenade of the Seas
Southampton, England
- Jewel of the Seas
Gibraltar
- Anthem of the Seas
Cadiz, Spain
- Harmony of the Seas (in dry dock)
Limassol, Cyprus
- Odyssey of the Seas
Singapore
- Quantum of the Seas
- Radiance of the Seas
- Ovation of the Seas
- Voyager of the Seas
- Spectrum of the Seas
What are cruise ships doing while there aren't any cruises?
Quantum of the Seas is the only Royal Caribbean cruise ship operating right now, but the rest of the fleet is being manned by a skeleton crew while they wait to restart sailings.
This is referred to as "warm lay up", and it means the ship is operational and ready to quickly resume cruises again once they are given the go-ahead to do so.
By keeping the ships in warm lay up instead of cold lay up, they can more quickly get back into service when the time is right. The downside to warm lay up is it costs Royal Caribbean more money to keep the ships operating in this state.
Read more: What does it mean when a cruise ship goes into cold lay-up?
During the cruise industry shutdown, most ships remain in place unless there is a compelling need to move, such as a dry dock.
If you track cruise ships on the internet, you might see one ship occasionally come into port to receive new supplies and unload waste. In the United States, PortMiami has been the most commonly used destination for ships nearby to resupply.
When will Royal Caribbean ships sail again?
Currently, only Quantum of the Seas is the only ship sailing, but more ships are preparing to restart operations.
Five ships will restart sailings this summer from outside the United States in June and July 2021.
- Adventure of the Seas from Nassau, Bahamas in June 2021
- Vision of the Seas from Bermuda in June 2021
- Odyssey of the Seas from Haifa, Israel in June 2021
- Anthem of the Seas from Southampton, England in July 2021
- Jewel of the Seas from sail Limassol, Cyprus in July 2021
The rest of the fleet is shutdown through the end of June 2021, although more cancellations are likely.
Royal Caribbean is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to receive permission to start cruises again.
During Royal Caribbean Group's fourth quarter 2020 earnings call with investors, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley reported Royal Caribbean has been in "regular communication" with the CDC and expects to get technical instructions on what each ship needs to do in order to prepare itself for test cruises.
Test cruises will be the opportunity for cruise lines to demonstrate they can operate in a safe manner through a variety of new protocols.
The reality is no one really know when exactly cruises will start, and that means Royal Caribbean's ships will remain idle around the world until the company is ready to start operations up.
When they do start cruising again, do not expect all 26 ships to resume sailings immediately. Royal Caribbean has said repeatedly it expects to start with a few ships that can sail to its private destinations first, and then expand operations from there.
Royal Caribbean Group CFO Jason Liberty noted the company could add a second ship outside of the U.S. soon, "We are already operating Quantum of the Seas in Singapore, and our second ship in the water could also be outside of the US."
The best expectation is for a handful of ships beginning at first, with a phased approach to bringing the entire fleet back.
