Royal Caribbean finally revealed plans it will build a new set of cruise ships, known as the Discovery Class, but don't believe what you've read online.
Our concept for what a Discovery Class ship might look like
The announcement confirms the ship order and when the first two ships will arrive. Other than that, there's no other confirmed information.
Not only are cruise fans curious what this new type of cruise ship will look like, but so is Wall Street.
During Royal Caribbean Group's fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday, a question was raised about if the Discovery Class would indeed be smaller.
"[The] industry chatter is that it's going to be much smaller than the Icon, Oasis, and a lot of other ships you've done."
Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley answered the question without sharing anything new about the project, however, he did say there's a lot of "inaccurate" information swirling online about it.
A game changer
Mr. Bayley's response primarily danced around the question, as the company is not prepared to reveal any other details yet.
But he did shoot down the notion that the rumor mill has it all right.
"Many of the assumptions that are currently out there in social media, in terms of size, capacity, etc, probably, it's fair to say inaccurate."
He's likely referencing guesses and statements related to the ship's size, destinations, or homeports.
"Just as Icon was introduced and kind of changed the game, Discovery is going to do exactly the same thing," he explained.
"We are really excited with the innovation, creativity and the kind of product that we've now created with Discovery."
But he said more will come soon, "We have a promotional campaign that'll be ready to go soon, and we'll be very excited to visit multiple cities and start talking about Discovery."
Here's what executives have said about Discovery Class ships so far
Nearly everything the public knows about Discovery Class ships stems from statements made by crew members, ship Captains, and even cruise line executives.
Michael Bayley spoke at two different events in 2025 in which is seemingly confirmed a few details about the Discovery Class. That is, assuming what he said at the time is still part of the plan going forward.
At a trade event on in June 2025, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President of Sales and Trade Support & Service was standing next to Mr. Bayley when she confirmed Discovery will be smaller than Icon Class ships.
"The Discovery Class will be a smaller ship than Icon. That much we can tell you."
Mr. Bayley was far more forthcoming in September 2025 on the President's Cruise when he mentioned two key facts about the ship.
First, they hope it will sail to different places. "We want the ship[s] to be able to really focus on...the more exotic itineraries," Bayley said.
"[Discovery ships] would...come in and start replacing the older hardware that currently operates in many of those itineraries," Bayley added.
Second, he said it would be small enough to fit in the Panama Canal.
"It'll go through the Panama Canal, which we think will be a real positive because it'll be able to go to Alaska in the summer, and it can get back into the Caribbean," Bayley said.
There have been many more rumors and comments shared by ship Captains and other crew members during Q&A events held onboard.
First ship coming in 2029
Royal Caribbean Group placed an order for two new Discovery Class ships, with the option for more in the future.
The first will debut in 2029, followed by a second in 2032. The ships will be built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France.
Nothing else substantive was shared as part of the announcement, such as ship size, dimensions, or any other details.
"We are really looking forward to sharing more details about Discovery, but we're not planning on saying much about it today or in the next couple of months," Mr. Bayley said during the earnings call.
