Royal Caribbean cruise line plans major ship upgrades

Every new Royal Caribbean ship class sets a higher bar. 

In some ways, that changes passenger expectations, especially if they'd sailed on a new (or even newer) ship first.

If someone has their first sailing on Icon of the Seas — or even Wonder of the Seas, its predecessor as the world's largest cruise ship — that can skew the cruiser's expectations. Ideally, at least for Royal Caribbean (RCL) , passengers would take their first cruise on a midsized ship. 

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Those ships, the ones in the Freedom and Voyager classes, have many, but not all, of the features found on Oasis, Quantum and the new Icon-class ships. If you sail on Independence of the Seas, for example, you get a handful of premium added-fee restaurants including Izumi Sushi & Hibachi, Giovanni's Table and the Chops Grille steakhouse as well as Playmakers Sports Bar.  

Independence, a Freedom-class ship that had its maiden voyage in 2008, also offers the Perfect Storm waterslides, a splash park and a FlowRider surf simulator. Basically, the ship gives you a taste of what's offered on the bigger classes, but not everything.

Many of those features were added in 2018 when Independence of the Seas got a huge overhaul as part of Royal Caribbean's "Royal Amplified" program. 

That program, which was canceled during the pandemic, gave Royal Caribbean a way to refresh its older ships and make them more reflective of its newest ones.

Royal Caribbean plans more than maintenance

While Royal Caribbean suspended the Royal Amplification program in 2020 during the pandemic and has not brought it back, it has improved its ships. Explorer of the Seas, for example, added a pair of waterslides during its 2024 dry dock.

A dry dock is a period where a ship leaves service so the operator can do routine maintenance that can't be done with passengers onboard. It's usually mundane work like having rooms painted, replacing carpets, and fixing other problems. 

Ships generally have a dry dock — a literal period when they're taken out of the water — about once every five years. In most cases, these aren't promoted by the cruise line as they're an effort to spruce up the ships and maybe sneak on something new, as was the case with Explorer.

Royal Amplification, however, was a much bigger deal. When a ship got "Amped," it generally added restaurants, bars, and entertainment features, while also getting its pool deck overhauled and updated.

When Royal ended the program, a number of ships were scheduled to be Amped, Now, while the name hasn't returned, Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley made clear that its spirit was being brought back.

Royal Caribbean intends to 'Amp' more ships

Royal Caribbean had not commented on its plans to update older ships — until the cruise line's fourth-quarter-earnings call.

Bayley said Allure of the Seas, which is currently sailing short itineraries out of Port Canaveral, Fla., would get the updates that it was scheduled for before the pandemic. 

"We're always modernizing. We have Allure coming up and the actions we took on Oasis. Some of the learnings on Icon is going to be in the modernization of Allure of the Seas," he said.

Allure of the Seas will likely see its Sabor Mexican restaurant in its Boardwalk neighborhood become the cruise line's Playmakers Sports Bar. Bayley did not specify the changes to come, but he doubled down on the idea that lessons learned from Icon would be incorporated.

"We're always updating our ships to make sure those ships stay relevant," he added. 

"It doesn't move like the [capital-spending] number potentially, or maybe it's not as exciting today as we're talking about Icon and Hideaway, etc. But we're always investing and bringing a lot of the learnings, probably not just on an experience standpoint but also on a sustainability standpoint so that our fleet stays relevant and competitive." 

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