Royal Caribbean drops popular cruise departure port
One East Coast cruise port is surprisingly absent from Royal Caribbean’s future cruise schedules.
Over the last few months, Royal Caribbean has been releasing itineraries for its winter 2026-2027 cruises from North American ports in waves.
From Mexican Riveira cruises from California featuring a new port of call to more opportunities for short Caribbean getaways from Florida and Texas, the new itineraries offer a variety of appealing cruise vacation opportunities.
Related: Royal Caribbean passengers angry over major change
Passengers are excited to see some new cruises departing from San Diego and New Orleans pop up on the schedules, but as Royal Caribbean shuffles ship deployments, it appears to be discontinuing cruises from one key port too.
As Royal Caribbean deploys Mariner of the Seas to sail new western Caribbean cruises from New Orleans beginning in November 2026, a popular East Coast port is losing its only Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
The newest winter 2026-2027 cruise schedules show Vision of the Seas sailing new cruises to The Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale beginning in October 2026, leaving a void behind in the mid-Atlantic region.
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Baltimore loses its Royal Caribbean cruise ship
For the last few years, Vision of the Seas has sailed a variety of itineraries from Baltimore, offering residents of the mid-Atlantic region opportunities to cruise to the Southeast Coast and The Bahamas, the southern Caribbean, Bermuda, and Canada and New England.
Although many passengers would expect another ship to replace Vision of the Seas as it heads to Fort Lauderdale in October 2026, Royal Caribbean cruises from Baltimore drop off the schedule altogether in November 2026.
Replacing a cruise ship in Baltimore is not easy for Royal Caribbean because many of the cruise line’s large ships can’t fit under Baltimore’s bridges. This may be a contributing factor in the lapse in service from the popular port.
Related: Royal Caribbean has bad port news for passengers
Between October 2026 and April 2027, all of the other Royal Caribbean ships that could fit under Baltimore’s bridges have already been deployed elsewhere, according to RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com. Social media rumors suggested Grandeur of the Seas would replace Vision of the Seas in Baltimore, but Royal Caribbean confirmed Grandeur will sail from Tampa in 2026-2027.
That doesn’t mean cruises from Baltimore won’t return in the future, but for now, it appears that they’ll be on hiatus beginning in mid-October 2026 until at least April 2027.
During that time, the only cruise port in the mid-Atlantic region offering Royal Caribbean cruises will be Cape Liberty, New Jersey.
Royal Caribbean did not return a request for comment on this issue.
Carnival Cruise Line offers alternative cruise options from Baltimore
Luckily, Royal Caribbean’s exit from Baltimore doesn’t mean all cruises from the port are coming to an end.
Carnival Cruise Line is offering a variety of Bahamas cruises from Baltimore on Carnival Pride during the winter 2026-2027 season. Carnival’s Bahamas cruise itineraries from Baltimore feature visits to the cruise line’s new private destination, Celebration Key, along with other Bahamas ports of call.
Related: Popular US port to add new fee for cruise passengers
Baltimore cruisers even have the opportunity to join Carnival to celebrate its 55th birthday on a special sailing in March 2027 featuring celebratory cruise ship meetups at sea. Two Carnival Journeys cruise itineraries from Baltimore also offer mid-Atlantic cruisers the chance to explore the southern Caribbean on longer 14-day sailings.
While Carnival welcomes Royal Caribbean cruisers to sail from Baltimore aboard Carnival Pride, the void left by Vision of the Seas at the port also creates an opportunity for another cruise line to take Royal Caribbean’s place. Perhaps Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean’s premium sister cruise line, will homeport one of its smaller ships in Baltimore in the future.
Celebrity Cruises did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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