What Ship Will replace the Harmony in Galveston in 2026?

[TX_Cruiser]

I notice Harmony is headed over seas in 2026 which leads to my question...What Ship Will replace the Harmony in Galveston in 2026?

[JFCruise]

I'm also interested in knowing what Ship is going to Galveston after Harmony, but my 3 minute detective work gave me nothing. The only repositioning cruise (right now) scheduled for March '26 is Harmony going to Barcelona.

Now, if you are interested in my baseless guess (which, why?) - I'd say it is probably going to be another Oasis class ship.

[smokeybandit]

Maybe Icon 3 goes there?

[Lucky]

I thought I read a post a few weeks ago that someone from Royal Caribbean let it slip that the third Icon-class ship would be going there. Personally, I'd like to see a Quantum-class ship.

[steverk]

If we're going to list what we would like, I'll order Icon 3 doing 7 night Sunday to Sunday.  A Voyager class doing 7 night Saturday to Saturday visiting other ports than Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya. And a third ship doing 4 &5 day cruises during the week. 

Oh! And I'd like fries with that! 

[Lovetocruise2002]

I wonder about this one too. Not because I have any desire to sail from Galveston, but because I am more interested in what will remain in Florida or NJ. 

At the moment, HM leaves Galveston on March 16, 2026. Is Icon 3 due to come out by then? I really have no clue. But if not, I would guess that some large Oasis class ship would have to come and take its place.

Icon is in Miami until April 2026, Star will be in PC until April 2026, OA is in PE until April 2026, WN/UT are heavily rumoured to be doing short sailings so I doubt we will see those go to Texas. That leaves the mystery of where AL and SY will be. Both those ships cannot remain in NJ for the winter. Any Oasis class ships leaves NJ by October.

AL has already been to Texas, could they move SY there? Selfishly, I hope not. I still want to sail her one more time. But could it be possible? Well...what would the other options be?

[Cakemeister]

Have they even cut steel on Icon 3 yet? March 2026 seems like a tight deadline. If it took 900 days to build Icon, and they started today, the ship wouldn't be ready until May of '26.

[Mike45orlando]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I wonder about this one too. Not because I have any desire to sail from Galveston, but because I am more interested in what will remain in Florida or NJ. 

At the moment, HM leaves Galveston on March 16, 2026. Is Icon 3 due to come out by then? I really have no clue. But if not, I would guess that some large Oasis class ship would have to come and take its place.

Icon is in Miami until April 2026, Star will be in PC until April 2026, OA is in PE until April 2026, WN/UT are heavily rumoured to be doing short sailings so I doubt we will see those go to Texas. That leaves the mystery of where AL and SY will be. Both those ships cannot remain in NJ for the winter. Any Oasis class ships leaves NJ by October.

AL has already been to Texas, could they move SY there? Selfishly, I hope not. I still want to sail her one more time. But could it be possible? Well...what would the other options be?

So Allure to Galveston.  Why not Wonder?  Would they really keep Wonder and Utopia doing 3/4 days in Port Canaveral with Star doing 7 days.

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 minutes ago, Mike45orlando said:

Would they really keep Wonder and Utopia doing 3/4 days in Port Canaveral with Star doing 7 days.

I hope not...but rumour has it that they will have both ships doing 3/4 nights after Star comes out.

6 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

Have they even cut steel on Icon 3 yet? March 2026 seems like a tight deadline.

Exactly. That is also why I don't think HM will be replaced by Icon 3, not yet (like by March 2026) anyway.

[Mike45orlando]

We will see very soon.

It appears that 3 and 4 night cruises out of Port Canaveral combined are more profitable than a single 7 night cruise.

I was speculating that Wonder would move to Galveston because of the new terminal or maybe Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

 

 

 

 

[happy cruisers 2]

On 12/1/2023 at 6:49 AM, steverk said:

A Voyager class doing 7 night Saturday to Saturday visiting other ports than Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya.

Any ideas why Royal doesn't offer more varied routes than this?  We have family members who are "loyal to Carnival" and they get much more exciting cruises out of Galveston than we do on Royal Caribbean.  Recently they had a 14-night cruise that went to places such as Grand Turk, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and St. Croix, leaving from and returning to Galveston.

[steverk]

7 hours ago, happy cruisers 2 said:

Any ideas why Royal doesn't offer more varied routes than this?  We have family members who are "loyal to Carnival" and they get much more exciting cruises out of Galveston than we do on Royal Caribbean.  Recently they had a 14-night cruise that went to places such as Grand Turk, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and St. Croix, leaving from and returning to Galveston.

They did more varied cruises when Liberty was in Galveston. 

Therefore,  I believe the number of ports that can handle an Oasis class is small and the number within a 7 day sail of Galveston is even smaller. 

That said, there are efforts to improve things.  Belize has an on again off again port expansion under construction and Royal is going to try 8 night cruises to Perfect Day at CocoCay. 

[happy cruisers 2]

2 hours ago, steverk said:

Therefore,  I believe the number of ports that can handle an Oasis class is small and the number within a 7 day sail of Galveston is even smaller. 

I figured the ship size has to have something to do with it.  Sure wish there were more long sailings out of Galveston -- like 10 to 14 days.

[Zambia-Zaire]

I prefer Royal build a private port area (like Labadee) in the Tampico, Mexico area, to boost and increase Western Caribbean sailing..... and maybe partner with Corpus Christie to build an attractive cruise port & entertainment district, for arriving passengers.... possibly, the same for Mobile, AL.

[JasonOasis]

10 hours ago, happy cruisers 2 said:

Any ideas why Royal doesn't offer more varied routes than this?  We have family members who are "loyal to Carnival" and they get much more exciting cruises out of Galveston than we do on Royal Caribbean.  Recently they had a 14-night cruise that went to places such as Grand Turk, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and St. Croix, leaving from and returning to Galveston.

There are only so many ports in the Caribbean and Mexico that can accommodate an Oasis Class ship.  With Harmony being in Galveston you are kind of stuck with the same ports on every cruise given Galveston's location, however I have seen a few Galveston cruises on Harmony with stops at Coco Cay.   They do have some long cruises 10 and 11 nights on Jewel of the Seas in 2024 that goes to some great ports, perhaps 2025 will see the arrival of another mid-size ship that will have some longer cruises out of Galveston.

However to answer the question that was asked by the op, I think its entirely possible Royal puts Icon 3 or moves Icon OTS to Galveston in 2026.

[Plumlee2028]

In the Winter, Royal has been adding Jewel or other Radiance class ships recently for longer trips.  Carnival has three ships year round (and four in winter now).  Their three ships do 4/5 sailings on one, 6/8 day sailings on one, and 7 night on the third.  The fourth in the winter is doing longer sailings.  Harmony has started doing some 6/8 night alternating trips so that the 8 nights can head to the Bahamas.  Carnival's 7 night variety will decrease when their new larger ship, Jubilee, replaces Vista later this month.  

[TXcruzer]

5 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

I prefer Royal build a private port area (like Labadee) in the Tampico, Mexico area, to boost and increase Western Caribbean sailing..... and maybe partner with Corpus Christie to build an attractive cruise port & entertainment district, for arriving passengers.... possibly, the same for Mobile, AL.

No one is going to spend money on a cruise stopping in Corpus Christi or Mobile

[Cakemeister]

7 hours ago, happy cruisers 2 said:

I figured the ship size has to have something to do with it.  Sure wish there were more long sailings out of Galveston -- like 10 to 14 days.

There were a few on Jewel and Radiance this year. I recall 10 days being the longest one. I went on a 9-day cruise on Radiance in February. I'd like to see a Voyager-class ship do these longer trips. Then we can have a big-boy ship do the usual Sunday-to-Sunday Cozumel-Costa Maya-etc. cruise and another ship doing the 4-5 day cruises. 

[Zambia-Zaire]

3 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

No one is going to spend money on a cruise stopping in Corpus Christi or Mobile

Can't completely disagree more... city, state, & cruise lines invest, they will come.

[TXcruzer]

18 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

Can't completely disagree more... city, state, & cruise lines invest, they will come.

Come for what? Mobile is a failed embarkation point A continental US stop offers nothing the average cruiser wants. Port Canaveral, without access to Orlando would be unwanted (as it is a large percentage of the cruisers out of NY/NJ don’t get off the ship). Even Key West for all its charm was not an overly popular stop. 

[Zambia-Zaire]

1 hour ago, TXcruzer said:

Come for what? Mobile is a failed embarkation point A continental US stop offers nothing the average cruiser wants. Port Canaveral, without access to Orlando would be unwanted (as it is a large percentage of the cruisers out of NY/NJ don’t get off the ship). Even Key West for all its charm was not an overly popular stop. 

Look, you looking at what it is today. I'm looking at what it can be if these municipalities partner with cruise line to develop area for the future. Cities can benefit long term for locals by creating entertainment areas while cruiselines can help by investing in the ports and some of the venues that cater to cruising & the local community. Your point is only valid to today's conditions... as it stand.

[Doug_Texas]

We are in Texas and sail out of Galveston often.  The majority of sailings on RCL are Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Honduras.  There are a few variations on a theme like Progresso Mexico or sometimes a Grand Cayman but mostly limited ports.  NCL and Carnival have more variety.  We are retired and care a lot about ports which is why we’ve been flying elsewhere to get on RCL sailings.  Every time I make mention of desire for port variation out of Galveston I’m told either the ship is the destination or I need to go to Celebrity.  I would very much like more variety from Galveston from RCL - and it doesn’t need to be more Oasis sailings.  Love Freedom and Voyager class ships.  Agree Corpus and Mobile are non-starters.

[steverk]

14 minutes ago, Doug_Texas said:

We are in Texas and sail out of Galveston often.  The majority of sailings on RCL are Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Honduras.  There are a few variations on a theme like Progresso Mexico or sometimes a Grand Cayman but mostly limited ports.  NCL and Carnival have more variety.  We are retired and care a lot about ports which is why we’ve been flying elsewhere to get on RCL sailings.  Every time I make mention of desire for port variation out of Galveston I’m told either the ship is the destination or I need to go to Celebrity.  I would very much like more variety from Galveston from RCL - and it doesn’t need to be more Oasis sailings.  Love Freedom and Voyager class ships.  Agree Corpus and Mobile are non-starters.

I certainly agree about the lack of port variety from Galveston.  If you watch, you can get some variety,  especially if you're willing to do a relocation cruise.  The ports get more attractive when Royal brings in a Radiance class ship in the winter. Hopefully,  they will continue this practice. 

Please recognize that this problem is not unique to Galveston though. People in California get tired of Ensenada and Mazatlan.  People in Florida get tired of Coco Cay and Nassau.

I don't have a great, permanent solution.  There are only so many ports of call within a reasonable sailing.  Giant ships reduces the number further,  but even if we sailed small yachts, I would probably get tired of the ports.

[TXcruzer]

15 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

Look, you looking at what it is today. I'm looking at what it can be if these municipalities partner with cruise line to develop area for the future. Cities can benefit long term for locals by creating entertainment areas while cruiselines can help by investing in the ports and some of the venues that cater to cruising & the local community. Your point is only valid to today's conditions... as it stand.

Agree to disagree. 
 

There is nothing they could build or develop in an American coastal city, that would make enough people pay a cruise fare to experience.  All the same laws, taxes, and duties one has at home-it’s not an attractive proposition; hence it doesn’t really exist. 

[Zambia-Zaire]

6 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Agree to disagree. 
 

There is nothing they could build or develop in an American coastal city, that would make enough people pay a cruise fare to experience.  All the same laws, taxes, and duties one has at home-it’s not an attractive proposition; hence it doesn’t really exist. 

The greatest percentage of cruise are cruising because of a port... given most has visit numerous of ports time & time again. It's not about building a must-see attraction that people have to visit like Icon otS... which is the attraction. It's about providing, as several of posters have conveyed, some variety of choices in ports. Adding new ports to an itinerary, that off some level of entertainment, attraction, experiences, scenery, excursions, and food & alcohol establishments is not a non-starter, imo. Cruisers are not going to not take a cruise because Mobile or Corpus Christie is on the itinerary. I see no one not making bookings because Progresso, MX is on the itinerary... come on. There's opportunity & potential with such a symbiotic investment from both side...cruise lines & municipalities.

[ScottD]

16 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

Agree to disagree. 
 

There is nothing they could build or develop in an American coastal city, that would make enough people pay a cruise fare to experience.  All the same laws, taxes, and duties one has at home-it’s not an attractive proposition; hence it doesn’t really exist. 

People cruise to Maine and Boston regularly out of NJ... and Port Canaveral (although that's not really the destination, but a stop on the way to the actual ports) 

[steverk]

11 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

Cruisers are not going to not take a cruise because Mobile or Corpus Christie is on the itinerary. 

Some will, especially if it's an embarkation port, but it's a numbers game. Mobile and Corpus don't have major airports.  That makes them drive in ports. If you live nearby you might make it a point to sail out of them, but the number of people that would fly there is very small. 

Are there enough locals to support a ship? It's hard to say. Mobile had Carnival's oldest and smallest ship. When it was scrapped, Mobile shut down.  Is that because Carnival was done with the ship and didn't have anything comparable to  put in Mobile? Was it that Mobile didn't work out? Both? Hard to say!

What does Mobile say about Corpus? I'm going out on a limb and saying not much. Unlike Mobile, Corpus is the closest port to Austin and San Antonio.  Both have more than a million residents and are growing fast. Does that make Corpus viable for a small ship like Vision? IDK but I doubt Royal tries it.

As a side note, back in 2000, I went on a Carnival cruise out of Galveston.  Carnival had just opened the port to cruise ships. (Yes, the building had been there for nearly a century,  but it hadn't been used for more than a gambling ship in decades) When I talked to a supervisor at the port, Carnival expected Galveston would forever be just a drive in port with minimal growth potential. But, look at it now!

[Cakemeister]

A feasibility study was done in 2020 for a possible cruise terminal in Corpus. No dice. San Antonio's airport is about 2.5 hours by car and the Corpus airport is too small. 

Port Commission receives news about becoming a cruise ship port | kiiitv.com

My problem with Corpus is that it's even farther away from the eastern Caribbean and so itineraries would be even more locked onto Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan than Galveston cruises are.

But I would sail out of Corpus since it would save a couple of hours driving and I don't even leave the ship anyway.

[Zambia-Zaire]

Hmmm??? I never implied Corpus or Mobile should be a disembarking port... simply another port stop along the way, to add variety to itineraries... coupled with a development of a private port similar to Labadee, Haiti, in Tampico, MX area.

[steverk]

26 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

Hmmm??? I never implied Corpus or Mobile should be a disembarking port... simply another port stop along the way, to add variety to itineraries... coupled with a development of a private port similar to Labadee, Haiti, in Tampico, MX area.

As interesting as those ports may be, I doubt it will happen. Tampico rejected the idea of a cruise port about a decade ago. Unless they reconsider, that just isn't going to happen.  Without Tampico a stop in Corpus or Mobile would be out of the way of a required foreign port stop.

[Scatmanjack]

So Progreso Port cannot handle the larger vessels?

 

We've stopped there with smaller RCCL vessels and enjoyed it...

 

Agree that Galveston needs variety... 

[WAAAYTOOO]

We called on Progreso a few months ago and that's when we finally decided to go to Chitzen Itza.  Still a long bus ride but sans the ferry.

[steverk]

1 hour ago, Scatmanjack said:

So Progreso Port cannot handle the larger vessels?

 

We've stopped there with smaller RCCL vessels and enjoyed it...

 

Agree that Galveston needs variety... 

I don't know if Progresso can handle a really large ship.  Last time I was there, it was on Adventure, so it can take a Voyager class.  That's the largest I've ever seen.

Given the length of the pier, it must be really shallow water. I suspect the draft of the ship would be the limiting factor.

[TXcruzer]

12 hours ago, ScottD said:

People cruise to Maine and Boston regularly out of NJ... and Port Canaveral (although that's not really the destination, but a stop on the way to the actual ports) 

Yes, en-route to a desirable location, New England. A stop in Mobile or Corpus makes an already mundane Galveston itinerary even more so; again in my opinion.

[billdauterive]

4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We called on Progreso a few months ago and that's when we finally decided to go to Chitzen Itza.  Still a long bus ride but sans the ferry.

How long was the bus ride from there?  Chitzen Itza is still something I need to do but I have ZERO desire to take the ferry from Cozumel.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 minute ago, billdauterive said:

How long was the bus ride from there?  Chitzen Itza is still something I need to do but I have ZERO desire to take the ferry from Cozumel.

It was still 1.5 hours each way (ugh) but at least it wasn’t 1.5 hours PLUS that horrible ferry ride.  It was well worth the time spent getting there.  I won’t do it again but I’m glad I did it once.

[Doug_Texas]

Corpus and Mobile are terrible for either a stop or embarkation.  I’ve been to both many times and wouldn’t get off a ship in either place.  It would be like Miami cruises adding Jacksonville (though JAX is much nicer than Corpus or Mobile).  RCL has been slowly restarting New Orleans which is at least an interesting and entertaining place, and the cruise terminal is right by the French Quarter.

I think RCL has been trying to figure out what to do with Galveston sailings.  There is no Cococay to replicate south Florida but fares and occupancy rates paired with the new terminal make the future attractive.  We kind of need 10 night sailings to get to decent places which probably means continued small ship long Caribbean with Oasis class still being Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan for 7 night.

[steverk]

9 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

I think RCL has been trying to figure out what to do with Galveston sailings.  There is no Cococay to replicate south Florida but fares and occupancy rates paired with the new terminal make the future attractive.  We kind of need 10 night sailings to get to decent places which probably means continued small ship long Caribbean with Oasis class still being Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan for 7 night.

I agree.  We can see some of Royal's strategy already. 

• Harmony is going to start doing some alternating 6 & 8 night itineraries out of Galveston.  The 6 night goes to Cozumel, Roatan and Costa Maya.  The 8 night gets to Coco Cay.
• Voyager does alternating 4 & 5 night itineraries hitting Cozumel and Costa Maya on the 5 night.
• A radiance class vessel frequently comes to Galveston for longer itineraries to other locations.
• Belize City is working on a port expansion to accept Oasis class ships.  If this is ever completed, it could add an additional stop for Harmony.

IMO this is a start and shows that Royal sees the issue and is trying to find ways to address it. 

Some other things I'd like to see them do:

• Develop more ports closer to Galveston.  Campeche seems like a good choice but is only suitable for small ships that can tender.  It has a cruise port already. For attractions, it has not 1, but 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I read a report that Campeche sent a delegation to Miami to talk to Royal, NCL and Carnival about going there. I'd say there's a good chance this will become at least an occasional stop out of Galveston in the next few years. As mentioned earlier, Tampico is also attractive, if they ever decide they want a cruise industry. 
• Station a Voyager or Freedom class ship in Galveston doing 7 night cruises to Jamaica and the Cayman islands.

[billdauterive]

3 hours ago, steverk said:

Station a Voyager or Freedom class ship in Galveston doing 7 night cruises to Jamaica and the Cayman islands.

Absolutely!  If they would just add this to what they're currently offering, *chef's kiss*

[DonR]

I would also like to see a smaller to mid-size ship doing the Grand Cayman / Jamaica route again. I did it twice on Liberty and absolutely adored Jamaica. 

Of course I would also love to see the Passenger Vessel Service Act repealed or the flagging requirements modified so that we could leave Galveston do a day or even over night in New Orleans hit Key West and maybe Panama City  or Tampa in between in between then cruise on back to Galveston. I'm sure I am dreaming on that one though.

I am interested to see what kind of Impact a 4th terminal and a lower cost carrier like MSC will have in Galveston as well.