Plans for Royal Caribbean building a new, smaller ship design are still very active and in the design phase.
Breadcrumbs of information have leaked out from the cruise line for more than a year of a project to design the next ship class.
Referred to as Project Discovery, there isn't a whole lot available on what it entails because technically Royal Caribbean hasn't officially announced it.
Instead, we've gotten tidbits mentioned by executives.
While sailing on Ovation of the Seas during a preview event for Royal Caribbean's new west coast deployment, we got confirmation that the project is indeed still in the works.
Vicki Freed is Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President of Sales and Trade Support & Service, and she hosted a question and answer session with travel advisors onboard.
The first question asked was about what the status of the Discover Class ships is, and Ms. Freed did not hesitate to confirm the project is still happening.
"The Discovery Project is our next new class of ships, following the Icon of the Seas, and the Star of the Seas, and the Legend the Seas. And we're in the design process now," she said in response to the question.
"We meet on a regular basis with the architects, with the designers...the ops team and the hotel operations, food and beverage. And so it is a top secret design at this point."
While nothing about that is news, it simply confirms the project is still moving forward.
She then went on to say, "It's an exciting project. It'll be a new class of ship.
"In true Royal Caribbean style, it will be special, it will be innovative. And I think it'll be something that'll be a home run from the beginning."
It's the first mention by an executive in a number of months on the subject of the project, and it's clear work continues on it.
In the meantime, there's been no order placed for a Discovery Class ship, and if it's still in the design phase, approval by the Royal Caribbean Group Board of Directors would still need to happen first.
How small is small
The key word with the Discovery Class ships is "smaller".
Later in the session, Ms. Freed would not give any hints on the ship size.
"The Discovery Class will be a smaller ship than Icon. That much we can tell you," she said when another question came up about the future of cruise ship size came up.
Because the entire project has been mired in rumors, details are subject to interpretation.
During Royal Caribbean Group's second quarter 2024 earnings call, Royal Caribbean Group President and Chief Executive Officer said Royal Caribbean is mindful that its smaller vessels are becoming outdated.
"We're looking potentially at smaller ships will probably replace some of those older ships," Liberty said, touching on the cruise line's next project."
"It's a little bit less about the sourcing market. It's more about where those ships can go. It's getting them into maybe some of the more unique and bespoke destinations and further diversify our footprint around the world."
That statement is saying the priority is being able to offer cruises to certain ports of call that perhaps larger ships cannot access. Today, the Royal Caribbean ships that can reach those kinds of ports are the smaller ones that are aging.
The remaining Vision Class ships were built in the 1990s. Grandeur of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's oldest vessel, entered service in 1996.
But there's confirmation or indication a new class would be the same or similar size to the Vision Class. In fact, they could be significantly larger than the Vision Class.
Bigger ships in LA?
While we're in the depths of the rumor mill, another interesting response caught my attention.
A travel advisor asked if Royal Caribbean had any plans to bring an Oasis Class ship to the Los Angeles market or have plans for building a new homeport in the Southern California market.
It's common to get questions from travel advisors about their home markets, and this one came from an agent in Visalia, California.
Immediately, Ms. Freed shot back, "I cannot answer that question. But thank you, Susie from Visalia."
