It looks like Royal Caribbean may be gearing up to announce a second cruise ship will be deployed to the west coast.
Royal Caribbean had originally planned to announce its 2025-2026 deployments from Los Angeles this week, but the cruise line delayed that deployment until the week of February 26, 2024.
In the meantime, the Port of Los Angeles schedule for 2025 shows there will be two Royal Caribbean cruise ships based there.
Quantum of the Seas is listed as scheduled to depart from Los Angeles across dates in the last part of 2025. The 2026 schedule is not available yet.
RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Ron Hiller shared his findings with us. Based on what we can tell from the port schedule, Quantum's first cruise out of Los Angeles will be October 2, 2025 and offer a 4-night sailing. Quantum then has an array of 3, 4, 5 and 6 night cruises for the rest of the year.
Read more: Mexican Riviera cruise guide
Logically, it makes sense Quantum of the Seas could fit into the west cruise market. She's already scheduled to offer cruises to Alaska in 2025.
Navigator of the Seas is also on the schedule, and will continue its normal schedule.
Royal Caribbean has not confirmed or announced anything yet, so this is all speculation. In the past, port schedules have been good indicators of what Royal Caribbean intends to do.
Official confirmation could come at some point during the week of February 26, with it likely occurring midweek based on when other deployments have been published.
Adding a second cruise ship to the west coast market is a strong indication of the cruise line's commitment to the market.
Royal Caribbean was absent from the LA cruise market for ten years, due to violence in Mexico and dwindling profits. However, they resumed sailing from there in 2022 with Navigator of the Seas.
New deployments for 2025-2026 have been slowly coming out since November 2023, and there are just a handful of deployments left. Cruise fans can't help but wonder where the remaining ships that have not been deployed will end up.
Quantum of the Seas was one such ship, but Wonder of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas two other notable ships missing from the schedule.
Short Caribbean deployment also delayed
Initially, Short Caribbean cruises in 2025 and 2026 were scheduled to launch around the same time as those from Los Angeles; however, they got pushed back a week.
Short Caribbean was delayed before the Los Angeles deployment was, and now both are scheduled for the week of February 26.
These voyages are ideal for those seeking a shorter getaway or who might be new to cruising and cannot commit to the idea of spending a week on a ship.
Short Caribbean itineraries refer to primarily weekend cruises, as well as 3-, 4-, and 5-night cruises. Typically it's from ports such as Tampa, Miami, and Port Canaveral.
Currently, the only sailing to the Caribbean that's fewer than 5 nights is onboard Allure of the Seas from Galveston. This cruise departs in March 2026 and costs $749 per person, before taxes and fees.
Read more: Is it worth it to book a short 3-night cruise?
Upcoming deployments
The remainder of the deployment schedule is as follows:
- Week of February 26: Los Angeles & Short Caribbean
- Week of March 11: China
- Week of April 8: Australia
- Week of May 13: Singapore
It's important to remember that the sailings could be released at any point within that week; they're not bound to be published on the first day of the listed week. In addition, the deployment schedule can be changed at anytime.
Anything beyond early 2026 will be released in the next deployment cycle, which typically commences in November.
