Royal Caribbean Reduces Mexican Itineraries in Favor of Asia-Pacific Region
by Dori Saltzman
Ovation of the Seas. Photo: Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean is expanding its 2027 Asia-Pacific sailings at the expense of several itineraries originally scheduled to visit Mexico from the West Coast.
As part of the deployment adjustments, both Navigator of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas are being moved – to Asia and Australia, respectively.
Ovation of the Seas will begin operations out of Brisbane starting November 2027, offering four-night sailings to Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday Islands, as well as three- to eight-night unspecified “adventures.”
Navigator of the Seas will move to Singapore in October 2026 and offer two- to five-night getaways to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, remaining there for a full year, rather than returning to Los Angeles in the spring of 2027 as originally planned.
The redeployment away from Mexico comes as the second phase of the increase in the Mexico passenger cruise tax went into effect on Aug. 1 and as Royal Caribbean continues to pursue approval for Perfect Day Mexico after it was rejected by Mexican officials in May.
During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said they continue to “maintain a constructive dialogue with community leaders and public officials” to “develop a tourism destination” in Mexico.
Part of this dialogue includes a new webpage created to answer questions about the proposed Mahahual project including such themes as “How does Royal Caribbean listen to the local community?” and “How is Royal Caribbean addressing environmental concerns in Mahahual?”
And in July, Royal Caribbean announced it would develop a new Mahahual K’iin Community Center that will have facilities for education, recreation, cultural programming, and local gatherings.
