All Four Icon Ships, One Summer: Royal Caribbean Opens Summer 2028 Bookings With 11 Ships Sailing

If your family plans vacations a long way out, Royal Caribbean just gave you a lot to look at. The line has opened bookings for its summer 2028 season, running from April through October 2028, with 11 ships sailing to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and beyond. Bookings opened on November 5, with Crown and Anchor Society loyalty members getting first access before general booking opened later that same afternoon.

The headline is a genuine first for the line. For the first time, all four Icon Class ships will be sailing in the same summer season. Until now, cruisers who wanted the biggest, newest Royal Caribbean experience had to go to whichever single port the newest ship happened to call home. In summer 2028, there will be an Icon Class option in four different homeports, three in Florida and one in Texas.

Here is how they line up. Hero of the Seas, the fourth Icon ship, will sail from Miami after its summer 2027 debut, offering seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises to ports such as Philipsburg in St. Maarten and Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, with a stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay on every itinerary. Legend of the Seas will sail from Fort Lauderdale starting in April, on six- and eight-night cruises visiting places like Cabo Rojo in the Dominican Republic and Oranjestad in Aruba, plus CocoCay. Star of the Seas stays at Port Canaveral on seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings, calling at Samana, San Juan, Charlotte Amalie, Cozumel, and CocoCay. And the ship that started it all, Icon of the Seas, will continue sailing from Galveston after its 2027 move there, on six- and eight-night Western Caribbean cruises to Roatan and Cozumel.

The other seven ships make the season feel even bigger. From Miami, Symphony of the Seas will sail six- and eight-night cruises to Willemstad in Curacao and Falmouth in Jamaica, and Royal Caribbean says new experiences are coming to Symphony as part of its Royal Amplified refurbishment program, though the details have not been announced yet. Harmony of the Seas, which finished its own five-week Amplified refurbishment in May 2026, will sail seven-night cruises from Port Canaveral, including Nassau, where guests can buy access to Royal Beach Club Paradise Island. Brilliance of the Seas will offer six- and seven-night sailings from Tampa to Belize City and Grand Cayman, a smaller-ship option for travelers who prefer that pace.

Beyond Florida, Enchantment of the Seas will sail seven-night Southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan, reaching Tortola, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Barbados without the extra sea days a mainland departure needs. In the Northeast, Vision of the Seas will sail five- to nine-night cruises from Baltimore to Bermuda, Martinique, and Antigua, while Oasis of the Seas and Independence of the Seas will sail from Cape Liberty in New Jersey, with Oasis on seven-night Caribbean sailings and Independence ranging from Canada and New England to Bermuda and the Eastern Caribbean on four- to nine-night trips.

What does booking this early actually buy you? Mostly choice. Summer school-holiday weeks sell first, and the cabins families want most, the ones that sleep three or four, connecting rooms, and suites near the action, are limited on every sailing. Booking early also spreads the planning out: you lock the ship and date, then watch for price drops and add excursions and extras over time. The trade-off is patience, and keeping an eye on details that can still change, like exactly what Symphony’s new Amplified features will be.

Four Icon ships, four homeports, one summer. If a mega-ship Caribbean cruise is on your family’s wish list for 2028, the map just got a lot more convenient.

Source: Cruise Hive — read the full story here.