New York City's Port Cape Liberty Updated Schedule Released

Royal Caribbean recently released their updated schedule for Port Cape Liberty for the Summer of 2026 to the Spring of 2027 and I’m not entirely sure how I feel yet about it. Currently, there are three cruise ships, Symphony, Odyssey and Liberty of the Seas doing trips to Bermuda and the Bahamas primarily with some additional ports in the Caribbean peppered into some itineraries. They Also have some fall New England and Canada cruise in the fall time.

While I wasn’t sure what to expect, I am disappointed on two fronts. First, Cape Liberty is losing both Symphony and Liberty, and be swapped in is Oasis and Independency of the Seas. These are the same class of ships (Symphony and Oasis are both Oasis class ships, and Liberty and Independent are both Freedom class ships), and they have marginally different features. You could make the argument that both Oasis and Independence are better seeing that they have been amplified (Royal Caribbean’s team for upgraded or refurbished) more recently. This is a plus in the market and though these ships aren’t drastically different from the counterparts, thy do have some upside to people that are tied to one port and might think going on the same ships over and over is boring.

I guess what I am really disappointed at is that Port Liberty didn’t get one of the newer ships in the fleet. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting an Icon class ship, though that would be nice. I was really hoping for either Wonder of the Seas or keeping Odyssey in port during the summer month itineraries. Oasis and Independence of the Seas look like good ships, I’m just partial to the newer ships with all the bells and whistles.

Also, Symphony of the Seas is my favorite ship to date (and I have been on Icon), so I am a little bummed that is it going all the way to Galveston, which not a very accessible port for where I am located in the country.  So most likely I am going to give Oasis a shot. It does seem that Oasis does have some upside to it. The ship was amplified in 2019 and has a BBQ restaurant that isn’t available on any other Royal Caribbean ship so that is a bonus to check it out. Also, and this is just a preference thing, Oasis has Giavonni’s table which I like better on other Royal ships then compared to Jamie’s Italian which is on Symphony.

Independence was also recently amplified and this does seem to be a decent upgrade to Liberty. Both are Freedom class ships but some updates and added venues make Independence more desirable for me. I love Playmakers to go with the kids and have them play games while I can get a decent beer and that was something I was missing on Liberty. Also, I love fish and chips and they have a quick service place on the pool deck, aptly named Fish and Chips that I am looking forward to trying out.

The biggest disappointment for me is that they really didn’t change the itineraries. And I’m not exactly sure what I am looking for but they really are the exact same ones that were available in 2024 and 2025. I would love to see a 5- or 6-day Bermuda and Coco Cay itinerary, really anything to spice things up. Also, I love going to Coco Cay and Nassau with the bigger ships, but I just see Port Canaveral as a throw away port on the longer cruises out of Cape Liberty. I would like to see them swap out Miami or Fort Lauderdale as a stop to some itineraries again to just mix things up for us New Yorkers.

Am I completely off base? Let me know in the comments.