Hi and welcome back to Byte Size Cruises! If this is your first time here, we are glad to have you along for the journey. We are a travel agency out of Philadelphia, PA and we specialize in ALL things cruising! If you enjoy cruises or if you're interested in learning more about cruise vacations, you're in the right place. Our goal here is to bring you the best and most up to date information so you can plan and go on an amazing cruise vacation! AND, we hope you will fall in love with cruising as much as we did.
There are some big things coming in 2025 to the high seas! Today we are going to be talking about all of the new cruise ships coming next year. As we head in to the fourth quarter here of 2024, it's always fun to look ahead at the new and exciting things to come in the new year. If you want to check this post out on our YouTube channel, click here.
If you're interested in cruising on one of these brand new ships next year, we highly recommend you book your cruise NOW. These itineraries are selling out very quickly and if you wait there very well might not be space left. Let's get into the list!
1. The Celebrity Xcel. This is the first cruise ship coming out from Celebrity that is methanol capable, so it will be able to use three different types of fuel. This ship will launch in November of 2025, so we are still over a year away from its debut, and it will be sailing in Florida and the Caribbean. We are scheduled to be on this ship in about a year and a half and we can't wait to check it out! It will have a redesigned garden upstairs and a new Grand Plaza.
If you haven't been on a Celebrity cruise since they introduced these Edge class of ships, we highly recommend it. It feels like you are in a high-end resort hotel and the ships overall are beautiful.
2. Royal Caribbean, Star of the Seas. This will be the second in the Icon class of ships and will be the LARGEST ship in the world. On this ship, they are updating things from the original Icon ship, including restaurants and amenities available on board. This ship will be launching in August of 2025 (less than one year away!) and will be sailing in the Eastern and Western Caribbean and all of the itineraries stop at Perfect Day.
3. The Norwegian Aqua. This ship is an interesting case study on NCL listening to feedback from its cruisers on the Viva in the Prima class of ships. When the Viva first came out, NCL got a lot of negative feedback on the design of the ship, the size, etc. Now, the Aqua will be in the Prima Plus class of ships and is launching in March of 2025. It will be doing an initial transatlantic from London to Boston and then it will be in Florida, the Caribbean, New York and Bermuda. We will be on this ship in August of next year!
The Aqua is a larger ship than the Prima class and there is a new aqua coaster that is featured on this ship. They are making more outdoor space available to cruisers on this ship, which promises beautiful views.
4. The Star by Princess. This ship will launch in the Fall of 2025. This is the second iteration of this ship coming out after the Sun by Princess launched recently in the Sphere Class. We have seen several construction delays with this ship and will be one of Princess's largest ships. It is going to be doing Europe, the Caribbean, and then going to Alaska in the spring of 2026. There will be some brand new things to see and do on this ship! The Piazza is completely redesigned and it will have the largest casino at sea for Princess.
5. MSC World America. We are SO excited about this ship and looking forward to checking out all the fun features. This is an Oasis class ship with lots of different zones. There's going to be a water park and tons of specialty dining. This ship will launch in April of 2025, coinciding with the launch of the new terminal in Miami. This ship is going to be huge (among the largest 10 in the world).
6. The Disney Adventure and Disney Destiny. TWO new Disney ships for 2025! On the Disney Adventure there will be themed zones, such as the Marvel Land and ToyStory Place and the Disney Imagination Garden. There will also be Jungle Book themes. The Disney Adventure will be sailing in Asia.
The Disney Destiny will be in South Florida and will have a Heroes and Villains theme. There's going to be a Grand Hall inspired by Black Panther, an Atrium in the style of Wakanda, and more. Marvel fans, you will love this ship!
The final three cruise ships launching in 2025 are all ultra luxury brands. We have the Oceania Allura, the Viking Vesta, and the Ritz Luminara. All of these ships are going to feature suites exclusively and almost a one to one (cruise staff to passenger) ratio. The Viking Vesta will be much smaller, and far more intimate. All of these ships are fancy, very focused on relaxing and the ultimate in class and service.
These are our TOP 10 cruise ships for 2025! Are you thinking of cruising on one of these ships next year? Let us know! We would love to hear from you. Comment below!