At the beginning of 2025, cruisers knew that eight new shipbuilds were on the horizon for seven of the major cruise lines–MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Disney Cruise Line.
To date, three of those eight ships have successfully debuted and are in their inaugural year of sailing. MSC Cruises’ World America was christened on April 9, 2025, and sailed her first public cruise from Miami, Florida, on April 12, 2025. Norwegian Cruise Line’s brand new Prima Plus Class Norwegian Aqua began sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida, on April 26, 2025. Tony was onboard and gave us this great ship tour. Just a couple weeks ago, Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas also was christened and debuted from Port Canaveral. Tony B was onboard for her christening and brought us another great ship tour.
Still to come are Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady, Princess Cruises’ Star Princess, Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Xcel, and Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Destiny and Disney Adventure.
Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady made her world debut in Portsmouth, UK, but will debut from New York City in just a couple days, September 5, 2025. She will sail a series of inaugural cruises to Bermuda and the Caribbean, before repositioning to PortMiami in October. In April, she will reposition to California for inaugural cruises from Los Angeles, and then, in May, she will be the first Virgin Voyages ship to offer cruises to Alaska from Seattle.
Star Princess is the second of Princess’ Sphere-class ships and looks to take popular venues and make them bigger. Her initial delivery was delayed to September 26, 2025, which canceled her first nine sailings. She is set to debut on October 4, 2025, from Barcelona, Spain.
Next up will be Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Xcel. She will sail an exclusive 4-night preview cruise on November 9, 2025. She will be christened on November 16, 2025, followed by her official maiden voyage on November 18, 2025. She will sail a series of 7-night Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale before repositioning to Europe for a summer of Mediterranean cruises. Guests will find several new onboard experiences aboard the cruise line’s fifth Edge-class ship.
Disney Cruise Line will debut two new ships at the end of the year. Disney Destiny will debut from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on November 20, 2025, and Disney Adventure will debut from Singapore on December 15, 2025.
Disney Destiny will celebrate both “Heroes and Villians” as she sails 4- and 5-night cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean. Her itineraries will include stops at Disney Castaway Cay or Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Disney Cruise Line has revealed several details about the third Wish-class ship including the characters on her stern.
Disney Adventure, who recently began her sea trials, will debut as Disney Cruise Line’s largest ship. Captain Mickey and Captain Minnie will grace the stern of the World-class ship as she brings the magic of Disney to Asia for the first time. The ship will sail 3- to-5-night “cruises to nowhere” allowing its passengers to experience all the ship has to offer.
Looking ahead to 2026, cruisers can expect to see a second Prima Plus class ship from Norwegian Cruise Line, a third Icon-class ship from Royal Caribbean, and another World-class ship from MSC Cruises.