Royal Caribbean is working on wider and lower ships

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley said the line is working on wider, shallower ships for destinations with bridges that make it difficult for large cruise ships to access cities like Baltimore or Tampa.

He also said that such a ship could be part of the Discovery class, although he believes that it is not so easy to make a ship wider and lower, “but we constantly look at the possibility of placing ships in those places. So, perhaps the Discovery class has the great solution for that,” said Bayley, as reported by Travel Weekly.

Bayley has been discussing its plans for Icon-class ships in Galveston, where it wants to “go big” in Texas. The shipping company has two ships of this class in development and expects Star of the Seas to be ready by the summer of 2025.

As reported by REPORTUR.usalthough mega-cruises have been a hit in recent years for Royal Caribbean, with the Icon of the Seas becoming the best-selling ship in the company’s history, Bayley announced in March that they would focus on smaller, more profitable ships. (Royal Caribbean’s pivot to smaller, more profitable ships).

Another reason for the change of course is that Royal Caribbean’s smaller ships are already old and need to be renovated. They also have the option of operating itineraries outside the Caribbean, which means higher fares and greater customer satisfaction, explained Jay Schneider, director of product innovation for Royal Caribbean Group.