A diverse crop of new ships will set sail in 2024, including intimate yacht-style vessels to never-before-seen mega ships from luxury players like Silversea and Cunard. There will be plenty of bells and whistles expected of these brands, including restaurants from top chefs, but also a few features new to the industry (think glass domes on the hull). Some are sister ships to those already on the waters, but with enough points of difference to feel like something entirely new—including the soon-to-be-sailing largest ship in the world, from Royal Caribbean, of course.
Ships aside, cruises will be taking us deeper into places only lightly touched by international travel next year, too. Australia’s Kimberley region, one of Conde Nast Traveler's Best Places to Go in 2024, is the focus for new expedition sailings from Seabourn, while Lindblad ships will hit up the little-traveled equatorial islands of the Mid-Atlantic on a crossing from Brazil to the Azores.
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The Ships
Queen Anne
Cruise line: Cunard
Cunard’s new ship Queen Anne, launching in May, will be the line’s 249th ship since 1840. Queen Anne will be helmed by Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge, Cunard’s first woman captain, who has spent time in command of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. The ship will have double the number of Britannia Club staterooms than the other ships in the fleet, and new renditions of the Cunard favorites—sumptuous restaurants with Art Deco styling, reimagined wellness facilities, and refreshed, classically modern palettes in stateroom design. She will sail mostly in Europe, including around the British Isles as well as through the fjords of Norway.
Disney Treasure
Cruise line: Disney Cruise Line
Set to embark its first passengers in late 2024, Disney Treasure incorporates many features from the earlier sister Disney Wish, with some brand-new additions for its first new ship in a decade. A new Mexican restaurant, Plaza de Coco, inspired by the movie “Coco” will be exclusive to the ship, and two bars themed for Disney Parks attractions: the Jungle Cruise-themed Skipper Society, and Periscope Pub—a nod to “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” A new production show “Disney: The Tale of Moana” will also debut with the ship.
Silver Ray
Cruise line: Silversea
Set to launch in the Mediterranean in Summer 2024, Silver Ray is the second Nova Class ship for Silversea, and is being billed as one of the most eco-friendly luxury ships to enter the market with fuel cell and shore power technology that will allow it to be emission-free while in port. Onboard, public spaces and guest suites are designed to make optimal use of natural light, while guests will have eight dining options to choose from, ranging from a casual grill and pizzeria to La Dame, a French fine-dining restaurant.
Sun Princess
Cruise line: Princess Cruises
Princess launches the new Sphere Class with Sun Princess—the line’s largest ship yet. Princess will introduce a new class of suites called—The Reserve Collection, which will eventually replace Princess Club throughout the fleet. There’s also a new stateroom category: Cabana cabins, which have a convertible space between the veranda and the cabin that can be used as an outdoor cabana or enclosed to create extra cabin space. The ship’s three-story Piazza will be enclosed in a glass sphere in the center of the ship, giving the space an airy feel with omnidirectional natural light. The ship’s first sailings are slated for the Mediterranean in February 2024.
Icon of the Seas
Cruise line: Royal Caribbean
This is an eye-popper. Launching a new class of ships, Icon of the Seas will be the world’s largest cruise ship capable of carrying 7,600 passengers. The ship’s focal art piece will be the 82-foot AquaDome on the bow, which will house the ship’s AquaTheater for aquatic stage productions capped by a 50-foot waterfall. Also new to Icon are Royal Caribbean’s first food hall-style dining concept, the first swim-up bar, the largest pool and waterpark at sea. Icon will homeport in Miami with its first sailing in January 2024.
Ilma
Cruise line: Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
Ritz-Carlton’s second yacht in the fleet is even larger than the Evrima, which launched the brand in 2022. The yacht will have 224 suites—each with private terraces—a Ritz-Carlton Spa and a Ritz Kids program venue. Guests will also enjoy a marina-style watersports platform and a nearly one-to-one ratio of onboard staff members to guests. Planned to split its time between the Mediterranean and Caribbean, the yacht is slated to set sail in September 2024.
Celebrity Ascent
Cruise line: Celebrity
The fourth in Celebrity’s designer Edge-class, Celebrity Ascent launches in late 2023 with a host of refinements on what is now a well-wrought model. Le Voyage, the signature Daniel Boulud restaurant introduced on Celebrity Beyond, is completely redesigned with dramatic architecture in an intimate space. Also all-new in design are the ship's casino and art gallery, plus the addition of a 24-seat outdoor terrace to Blu, the clean-cuisine restaurant exclusive to Aqua Class guests, and a new plant-based tasting menu at Eden Restaurant.
The Itineraries
The Kimberley
Cruise line: Seabourn
From May through August, 2024, Seabourn Pursuit will sail between Darwin and Broome, Australia, in a lonely region of the continent’s northwest coast known as Kimberley, famous for technicolor contrasts between blue ocean and multicolor terrain in all forms—from sandstone peaks to coral reefs and towering waterfalls. Guests might visit a pearl farm, or be immersed in abundant wildlife at all turns.
Islands of the Atlantic Ridge
Cruise line: Lindblad Expeditions
In October 2024, National Geographic Endurance will embark on an epic 24-day sailing from Salvador, Brazil, exploring clusters of equatorial islands en route to the Azores. Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores are all on the itinerary, with terrain ranging from volcanoes to verdant jungles. A highlight of the trip will be the mid-ocean St. Peter and Paul Archipelago, an outcropping of rocks home to seabirds and endemic reef fish that can be found nowhere else on earth.
