Grandeur of the Seas will sail from Cartagena, Colombia, and Colón, Panama, in 2026 and 2027.
Originally, Jewel of the Seas was set to offer Southern Caribbean cruises from Latin America. However, Royal Caribbean decided to swap the ship.
Now, Jewel of the Seas will sail from Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while Grandeur of the Seas will depart from Cartagena, Colombia, and Colón, Panama.
Royal Caribbean let impacted guests know about the deployment change in an email.
"Our original plan for Grandeur of the Seas was to offer a Summer 2026-2027 season with sailings departing from Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beginning May 2, 2026, through April 17, 2027," it reads.
"Instead, Grandeur of the Seas will offer sailings from Cartagena, Colombia, and Colon, Panama, and Jewel of the Seas will offer the sailings from Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. As a result, your cruise has been redeployed. The good news is, your sailing and itinerary will remain intact, just on a different ship."
Those impacted have three options:
- Automatically move to the same sailing onboard Jewel or Grandeur of the Seas
- Re-book any other Royal Caribbean International sailing
- Receive a full refund of any paid portion of the cruise fare
Photo by Bill Raffel
Guests don't have to take any action if they decide to stick with the same sail date and itinerary. Royal Caribbean will automatically move them to a like-for-like stateroom, and the original stateroom category price will be protected.
If the booking was already paid in full, they'll provide a refund of the difference within 14 business days.
Moving on, Royal Caribbean will waive non-refundable deposit change fees for those who want to re-book another cruise. However, guests are responsible for the difference in cruise fare, taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items (like drink packages, Wi-Fi, and shore excursions).
Finally, if there's not a suitable replacement, impacted passengers can request a full refund of any paid portion of the cruise fare, along with non-refundable deposits and pre-paid amenities. Airfare booked through Royal Caribbean's Air2Sea program will also be automatically refunded.
Although they note that they will issue the refund within 14 business days, some international banking and financial institutions may have a processing time of about 30 business days.
If the cruise aboard Jewel or Grandeur of the Seas was booked using a Future Cruise Credit, Royal Caribbean will refund any new funds paid above the certificate amount and reinstate the original certificate.
Guests have until September 10, 2025, to let Royal Caribbean know of their decision. That said, those who wish to remain on the same sailing date and itinerary don’t need to take any action; the switch will automatically happen.
The deployment swap means that Grandeur of the Seas will offer longer cruises in 2026 and 2027
Originally, Grandeur of the Seas was supposed to sail on shorter voyages to The Bahamas and Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale and Tampa in 2026 and 2027.
Now, she'll offer weeklong cruises to the Southern Caribbean from Latin America, calling at ports like Oranjestad, Aruba, and Willemstad, Curaçao.
Similarly, Jewel of the Seas will offer a variety of cruises, ranging from short 3-night getaways to longer 8-night holiday sailings.
Although both ships are older, Grandeur takes the cake. Launching in 1996, she's not only Royal Caribbean's oldest ship, but she's also the smallest in the fleet. Comparatively, Jewel of the Seas set sail in 2004.
Grandeur measures around 73,817 gross registered tons (GRT), while Jewel of the Seas comes in at around 90,090 GRT.
Read more: Royal Caribbean Ships by Size - Largest to Smallest
