Royal Caribbean has announced more schedule changes for Spectrum of the Seas, with a number of sailings seeing significant changes that eliminate planned stops in Japan.
The impacted sailings are for upcoming departures from Shanghai, China that originally were scheduled to visit ports in Japan. Passengers have been informed their their itineraries are changing just a few weeks before the sailing begins.
The reason for the changes? It stems from growing geopolitical friction between China and Japan and recent travel guidance from Chinese authorities advising against travel to Japan.
As part of our ongoing itinerary planning process, we’ve modified our upcoming sailing. We’re excited to bring you this refreshed experience and appreciate your understanding, as itinerary planning is an ongoing process that requires cruises to have a certain level of flexibility.
Impacted cruises are sailings between May 2026 and April 2027, and the result has been some sailings shortened, changed routes, or swapping out to alternative ports. All of the sailings are for Spectrum of the Seas.
Spectrum can accommodate over 4,200 guests at double occupancy and operates year-round in Asia with deployments out of Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Emails sent to passengers by the cruise line say the changes as part of "ongoing itinerary planning."
Email copy provided by reb6
Some of the itinerary changes are comprised of conventional port swaps, but on longer sailings that were scheduled to be Japan-centric, the sailings have had to be restructured or truncated.
Among the Japanese ports removed from multiple itineraries are Okinawa, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, and Kumamoto. In their place, Spectrum of the Seas is now scheduled to call on South Korean destinations such as Busan, Jeju, Seoul, and Yeosu, depending on the specific sailing.
However, not every single sailing to Japan has been changed.
Compensation and options
Depending on how drastic the changes have been to the itinerary, there are different compensation being offered.
This includes partial refunds, onboard credit, and reimbursement of change fees for associated flights and ground transportation, where applicable.
Guests may also have the option to rebook onto alternate departures that more closely resemble their original itinerary, although space is limited.
More changes after initially announced last month
Today's round of itinerary changes follows similar itinerary updates that occurred in December 2025.
More than a dozen scheduled sailings of Spectrum of the Seas out of Shanghai between January and April 2026 were updated, removing planned visits to Japanese ports in favor of alternate destinations, primarily in South Korea such as Jeju Island, Busan, and Seoul (Incheon).
While Royal Caribbean did not explicitly cite the geopolitical situation, the timing of these adjustments coincides with rising tensions between China and Japan and related travel advisories.
Affected guests received notifications outlining specific port swaps and updated departure details, with the cruise line describing the changes as part of its "ongoing itinerary planning process."
Itineraries originally calling on destinations like Okinawa, Ishigaki, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Kagoshima were altered to avoid Japan, reflecting the concerns with travel between the two countries.
Continuing trouble between China and Japan
The issue at hand began in late 2025 when diplomatic relations between China and Japan deteriorated sharply following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments in parliament about the possibility of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces taking action if China were to attack Taiwan.
The subject of Taiwan and it's sovereignty as it relates to mainland China has been a third rail topic for decades.
China views Taiwan as part of its territory and strongly opposes any suggestion of external military involvement.
Japan's remarks were interpreted in Beijing as crossing a diplomatic "red line," sparking widespread protests from Chinese officials.
