Royal Caribbean is dropping a Starbucks cruise ship collection that you always wanted.
The Starbucks "Been There" mugs is a fun way to commemorate a visit to a specific place, and pretty soon you'll be able to get one for the coffee stores you visit on Royal Caribbean's ships too.
Royal Caribbean has featured licensed Starbucks locations on its ships for over a decade, but there's never been a mug you can buy for the ships that have a location.
That's about to change this summer when the coffee giant and cruise line put forward their own Starbucks merchandise.
A total of 10 mugs will become available, one for each ship that has a free-standing Starbucks kiosk onboard.
- Icon of the Seas
- Wonder of the Seas
- Odyssey of the Seas
- Symphony of the Seas
- Harmony of the Seas
- Oasis of the Seas
- Mariner of the Seas
- Navigator of the Seas
- Allure of the Seas
- Utopia of the Seas
While Starbucks drinks are served on many more ships, only a ship with an actual Starbucks kiosk will have a Been There mug.
The design of the mugs are not copies of each other. Each of the mugs has on the mug the sort of activities and signature features of the ship.
For example, you'll find Spotlight Karaoke on the Oasis of the Seas mug, and iFly on Odyssey of the Seas.
This is consistent with the Been There mugs, which depict landmarks from the city or location the Starbucks kiosk is located in.
Royal Caribbean doesn't have a firm date set for the mug, but expects them to launch sometime in late summer.
The plan is for these to be available no later than the end of August, although ships still in Europe may have a delay and the mugs might not become available until the ship returns to the United States.
Royal Caribbean Director of Beverage Operations, Ed Eiswirth, talked about the design and launch of these mugs, "We're planning on having him in on ships in August."
"They all have specific iconic photography for each ship, so they're all slightly different."
The expected price for each mug is $16.95, and it will not be included with any Royal Caribbean drink package (which is the case with all Starbucks kiosk offerings).
Mr. Eiswirth also confirmed that only each ship will have their specific mug, so if you want to collect them all, you'll have to go on each of the ten cruise ships.
Royal Caribbean fans excited for the new mugs
If early reactions are any indication, these Royal Caribbean "Been There" mugs will be quite popular.
Photos of the mugs first appeared on the Royal Caribbean Dining Facebook group, and excitement for the new launch was near unanimous.
"I’m sooooo excited!," shared Darren Wolner. "I’ve been hoping for this forever! I have more “Been there” series mugs then I care to admit."
" I collect these for different land based locations so this will be cool," Rob Johnson added.
"Oh my goodness, just picked up Miami and Orlando ones in April and now I need these," is what Clare Kinnear posted, and it is the sort of sentiment many readers had of happy to see this, but also thinking about what's needed to collect them all.
"I have a huge Starbucks mug collection. This is bad 😂😂 I’m excited for this," is what Ashley Harbridge shared, probably while taking a break from planning her next Disney World trip.
Kelly Bellovary, wrote likely what Royal Caribbean wants to hear, "Now we have to plan more cruises!"
Over 10 years in the making
Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to launch a ship that had Starbucks onboard.
The Oasis Class ships introduced the concept with Allure of the Seas had the first "Starbucks At Sea".
The partnership was a response to cruise ship passengers that wanted signature made-to-order espresso beverages and Frappuccino blended beverages while on vacation.
Since then, Royal Caribbean has steadily offered Starbucks on most of its new ships, as well many refurbished ships.
Most ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet do not have a kiosk, but do serve Starbucks beverages from the ship's proprietary coffee house.
