Royal Caribbean Names New Chief Dog Officer, Dolly
If you're booking the Hero of the Seas' debut, expect the ship to enter service in August 2027 sailing seven-night Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries out of PortMiami, with stops at Perfect Day at CocoCay. Meanwhile, the Legend of the Seas is running Western Mediterranean cruises through Italy, Spain and France until it repositions to Fort Lauderdale in November for Caribbean sailings. Check itinerary listings for either ship depending on your travel window.
Naming a ship's dog after Dolly Parton right after her passing is a cheap, effective PR move — it costs Royal Caribbean nothing and guarantees a wave of social shares off Bayley's announcement alone. The bigger story here is the fleet math: Hero of the Seas is the fourth Icon-class ship, building on Icon of the Seas (2023) and the newly launched Legend of the Seas, with three more Icon-class ships slated through 2030 per Cruise Industry News. That's a lot of 250,800-ton capacity hitting the Caribbean and Bahamas market, PortMiami and Fort Lauderdale in particular. If I were booking, I'd watch Legend's November reposition to Fort Lauderdale as a signal of pricing pressure on Caribbean itineraries once Hero comes online in 2027. The dog is cute; the orderbook is the real leverage point.