Royal Caribbean Sends Mariner to Europe for Summer 2027
The program includes a seven-night Barcelona cruise in late July timed to the 2027 total solar eclipse, whose path of totality crosses Gibraltar and North Africa.
Royal Caribbean International has scheduled the 139,863-GT Mariner of the Seas for a summer 2027 Mediterranean and Western Europe program, with departures planned from Portugal, Spain and Italy after the ship completes a winter season from New Orleans. The Voyager-class vessel is due to reposition to Europe in late April and begin seven- to 10-night cruises in early May.
The redeployment replaces Mariner’s previously planned Southampton season, now assigned to Freedom of the Seas, and moves the ship into a program stretching from Iberia and Morocco to the Adriatic and Aegean. The schedule also includes a Barcelona sailing timed to the 2027 total solar eclipse.
Lisbon and Barcelona anchor the Iberia program
From Lisbon and Barcelona, Mariner is scheduled to offer nine-night open-jaw cruises covering Portugal, Morocco and Spain. Calls include Tangier, Casablanca, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Porto, with some sailings also visiting Funchal, Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Madeira and Canary Islands portion of the program.
Royal Caribbean also plans departures from Civitavecchia and Ravenna for Eastern Mediterranean, Adriatic and Aegean itineraries. The 3,348-passenger ship last underwent a major refurbishment in 2018; the Voyager-class vessel measures about 1,020 feet in length and carries more than 1,600 passenger cabins.
Solar-eclipse sailing adds a timed itinerary
A seven-night sailing from Barcelona in late July 2027 is built around the solar eclipse, with calls at Casablanca, Tangier, Gibraltar, Cartagena and Palma de Mallorca. The eclipse’s path of totality crosses the eastern Atlantic, southern Spain, Gibraltar and North Africa before continuing east, putting Tangier and Gibraltar among the named places on the path.
Southampton swap remains part of wider 2027 reshuffle
Mariner had initially been scheduled to operate from Southampton in summer 2027. In April, Royal Caribbean announced that Freedom of the Seas would take over those U.K. itineraries, which include Scandinavia, the North Sea and Western Europe; Freedom had previously been scheduled for Miami cruises.
The change was followed by another redeployment in which Royal Caribbean canceled Symphony of the Seas cruises from Galveston and shifted that ship to summer itineraries from Port Everglades. No starting fares or executive statement accompanied the deployment.
Mariner is scheduled to close its European season with a late-October trans-Atlantic crossing. The ship is then set for a new winter season from New Orleans in 2027-28.
