Royal Caribbean will cruise from Barbados again in summer 2022/23

Royal Caribbean will cruise from Barbados between November, 2022 and April, 2023 with seven- and 14-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean aboard Rhapsody of the Seas.

Rhapsody of the Seas will replace Grandeur of the Seas, which is scheduled to cruise from Bridgetown, Barbados during the coming 2021/22 cruise season.

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Rhapsody of the Seas’ itineraries and ports of call will alternate between Caribbean Island Hops and Caribbean Adventures, as well as a longer 8-night Caribbean Holiday and the longest cruise, a two-week Ultimate Caribbean itinerary.

Royal Caribbean Barbados itineraries for 2022/23:

7-night Southern Caribbean Island Hop: Visiting Scarborough, Tobago; Port of Spain, Trinidad; St. George’s, Grenada; Kingstown, St. Vincent; Roseau, Dominica; and Castries, St. Lucia

7-night Southern Caribbean Adventure: Visiting St. George’s; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; and Port of Spain.

8-night Southern Caribbean Holiday: Visiting Scarborough, Port of Spain, Castries; Fort-de-France, Martinique; Roseau, St George’s, and Kingstown.

14-night Ultimate Caribbean: Visiting St. George’s, Kralendijk, Willemstad (overnight), Cartagena, Colon, Puerto Limon, Oranjestad (overnight), and Port of Spain.

The 2022/23 Caribbean cruise season out of Barbados will mark Royal Caribbean’s second season homeporting in Bridgetown.

The cruise line announced earlier this month that it will homeport in the island nation’s capital for the first time, part of a wider move by cruise lines to homeport in the Caribbean for the coming cruise season.

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Major North American lines have been forced to homeport in the Caribbean due to the ongoing uncertainty over when cruises might resume from US ports.

So instead of selling Caribbean cruises sailing from Miami and other ports on the Gulf coast, they’re selling fly-cruise packages to sail from Caribbean ports themselves.

It’s a practice that has long been employed by British cruise lines, with Rhapsody of the Seas being joined in port in Barbados during the 2022/23 winter season by P&O Cruises’ Britannia and Fred Olsen Cruise Line’s Braemer.

Seabourn will also be sailing out of Barbados aboard Seabourn Ovation, along with Silversea Cruises with Silver Moon, while TUI Cruises will homeport Mein Schiff 2 in Bridgetown as well.