Icon Class in Europe: Royal Caribbean shares first Legend of the Seas itineraries, details

USA Today

18-02-2025

Icon Class in Europe: Royal Caribbean shares first Legend of the Seas itineraries, details
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Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, world's biggest cruise ship
Here's what guests can expect from Royal Caribbean's highly-anticipated new ship, Icon of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean International's third Icon Class ship, Legend of the Seas, will debut in 2026.
The ship will feature over 40 dining options, a water park, an adults-only area, and other attractions similar to its sister ships.
Legend of the Seas will also continue the tradition of having a Chief Dog Officer onboard.
Royal Caribbean International is bringing its Icon Class to Europe.
Legend of the Seas, the third ship in the record-breaking series, will set sail from Barcelona, Spain, in 2026, the cruise line announced Tuesday. While the world's biggest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, debuted in the Caribbean – as will forthcoming sister vessel Star of the Seas – Legend will launch with seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises.
'Icon's been so successful, and we know all of our guests around the world, specifically in Europe, have been waiting and asking, when will they get their opportunity to see and try an Icon class ship,' the line's Chief Marketing Officer Kara Wallace told USA TODAY.
Here's what guests can expect.
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When will Legend of the Seas debut?
The ship will launch in July 2026.
What else can guests expect?
After its summer cruises in the Mediterranean, the ship will head to the Caribbean. Starting in November 2026, Legend will offer six-night Western Caribbean and eight-night Southern Caribbean sailings from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
While there will be some 'twists' onboard from previous Icon Class ships – to be announced later – Wallace said 'the biggest difference for Legend of the Seas will truly be in the places that it goes.'
Following European destinations like Spain, France and Italy, the Caribbean itineraries will include stops in Oranjestad, Aruba; Falmouth, Jamaica; Willemstad, Curacao and more. The ship will also visit the line's private Bahamas destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
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Like previous Icon Class vessels, the ship will have more than 40 dining and beverage options, a Category 6 water park, an adults-only Hideaway area with a suspended infinity pool and other attractions.
'So, being able to offer more variety in the ports of call, while also having that variety in terms of all of the things that you can do on board, is really what will make this the ultimate family vacation,' Wallace said.
Legend shares its name with a previous Royal Caribbean ship that stopped sailing for the line in 2017, partly because the innovations of the Icon Class were informed by those that preceded it.
'So it is an homage to all of the ships that came before it, but also fits really, really nicely with the Icon and Star series of names,' she said.
One of those innovations will return for certain: Wallace confirmed that, like Icon and Star, Legend will feature a Chief Dog Officer onboard. 'It wouldn't be an Icon Class if there weren't a Chief Dog Officer and a dog to make the ship feel like a family and a home,' she said.
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When will Legend of the Seas open for bookings?
Members of Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program can book beginning on Wednesday. Reservations will open to the general public on Thursday.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [e-mail].