Table of Contents

• Carnival
• Princess
• MSC
• Royal Caribbean
• Virgin Voyages
• Universal Studios
• Disney
  
  

2025 is going to be a HUGE year for travel. From Carnival Cruise Line to Universal Studios, we’ll get into a few of the launches. We’ll start with the cruise announcements.

Carnival

First up we have Carnival, one the most popular cruise lines, known for their fun ships and affordable prices. They are launching a new private island, Celebration Key, in July 2025! Celebration Key will be the largest private cruise destination in the cruise industry.

It will have fresh water lagoons, a 10-story high sandcastle, and 5 portals: Paradise Plaza –  the first portal you’ll be in as you enter the island, Calypso Lagoon – an adult-friendly portal with full service restaurants and slightly more relaxed atmosphere, Starfish Lagoon – the family-friendly portal with fun activities for all ages, Pearl Cove Beach Club – an adult-only private beach club, and Lokono Cove – the retail portal to buy items from local Bahamian artists and craftsmen.

Find out more information on Carnival’s website.

Solar Eclipse Cruise (2026)

Even though it’s not in 2025, I still wanted to mention Carnival’s 11-Day Eclipse cruise they announced a couple of weeks ago that will set sail out of Dover, London in August 2026! While this cruise is mostly sold out (there are still some suites left), this is just one of a few solar eclipse sailings from other lines like Princess Cruises and Virgin Voyages (we’ll get into Virgin later).

Princess

Speaking of Princess, they have a launch of their own. Princess Cruises, known to be the best cruise line for destinations, is launching their brand-new ship, Star Princess in October 2025. It will be similar to its sister ship, Sun Princess, in features like the Cabana Mini-Suites and the Sanctuary Collection which brings more luxurious accommodations to your cruise if you select a Sanctuary Suite.

Star Princess will set sail on October 4^th, 2025 out of Barcelona on an 11-night voyage in the Mediterranean. Eventually, it will make it’s way over to the U.S. in November 2025 for Caribbean cruises and by May 2026 it will start it’s Alaskan sailings (with Princess usually having the best itinerary for Alaska)!

MSC

With 24 ships embarking on unique and exciting itineraries around the world, MSC is adding a 25^th ship, MSC World America.  World America is powered by LNG, a fuel that reduces emissions making it more sustainable for the environment.

It has five main dining rooms, two buffets, six specialty restaurants, and 20 bars & lounges. It also has an 11-deck high dry slide in their promenade, an aquapark with a VR slide, and they’re bringing back their SportPlex, an area for bumper cars, roller skating, and…well, sports, which is also located on MSC Meraviglia, MSC World Europa, and MSC Euribia to name a few.

This beautiful ship will call Miami it’s home and sail around the Caribbean.

The inaugural sailing will be on Saturday, April 12, 2025. It’s a 7-night sailing that goes to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and MSC’s island the Bahamas – Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean has had big launches this year with the world’s largest ship, Icon of the Seas, that launched in January and their newest Oasis class ship, Utopia of the Seas that just recently launched in July. Adding on to the Icon class, they’re launching Star of the Seas! Star of the Seas will be the new largest cruise ship in the world, with its gross tonnage coming in at 250,800 compared to Icon’s gross tonnage coming in at 248,663.

With a water park, seven pools, and 10 whirlpools, there’s no shortage of splash opportunities. Additionally, Star will have AquaDome performances and Royal Caribbean’s biggest ice arena, Absolute Zero, not to mention their Broadway-style entertainment.

Star of Seas will set sail in August of 2025 out of Port Canaveral (Orlando) heading to Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas – CocoCay, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten for a 7-night cruise.

Royal Beach Club

In addition to their new ship, Royal Caribbean is also launching a beach club. Sailings to Paradise Island Beach Club in the Bahamas is projected to start in the Summer of 2025. Different from a private island, the Paradise Island Beach Club is owned and operated by Bahamians, generating several jobs to boost their local economy. They’re also focused on sustainability with zero waste-to-landfill and finding ways to minimize impact to marine life. For more information, view the beach club website.

Royal Caribbean also plans to launch another Royal Beach Club in Cozumel, Mexico in 2026.

Virgin Voyages

New Lady Ship

The adults-only cruise line is launching their 4^th ship, Brilliant Lady in September 2025! The ship layout is similar to her sister ships, but her itineraries are the stars.

Brilliant Lady will have 4 inaugural (or as they say, “MerMaiden”) sailings. That’s right; four, cuatro, quatre, 네. The first will be out of New York on September 5^th, 2025 heading to Bermuda; the second is October 17^th out of Miami sailing to St. Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, and their private beach club in Bimini, Bahamas; the third is in April sailing out of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara and San Diego (both in California) and Ensenada in Mexico; the fourth MerMaiden voyage date has not been announced quite yet but it will include sailings to Alaska out of Seattle!

Be sure to check back here for an update of the fourth MerMaiden sailing date or reach out to me if you’d like more information.

Marvelous Voyages

On top of their new ship launching in 2025, they also have “marvelous” itineraries planned in 2025-2026 called their Marvelous Voyages. These voyages include a one-way cruise from Miami to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal, and two solar eclipse cruises in August 2026 (I’m particularly excited about these).

See all of the Marvelous Voyages on Virgin’s website.

Since we’re on the topic of Virgin Voyages, I have a group cruise planned on their first ship, Scarlet Lady, for my fellow Capricorns and their friends and family. If you’re interested, you can find the Capricorn Virgin Voyages Birthday Bash on my site.

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I know we just went through a lot of cruise announcements so now we’ll get into the theme park announcements!

Universal Studios

Steering away from cruises for a moment, Universal Studios in Orlando also has some big travel news.

They are opening a brand-new park: Universal Epic Universe! This park will feature five worlds including Celestial Park, Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon’s Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic!

Celestial Park

With Celestial Park being your main point of entry, you’ll go through a portal to be transported to the other four lands. It will be grand and have a futuristic feel. Before you go through the portals, you have to ride the dual-launch roller coaster Stardust Racers!

Dark Universe

Want to see what the dark side is about? Head over to Dark Universe to try and escape Dr. Frankenstein’s Monster or turn into a monster yourself at Darkmoor Monster Makeup Experience. If you want the spookiness of Halloween all-year round, this is the world for you.

How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

Did your kids (or you) watch How to Train Your Dragon and want to become a dragon riding Viking? You might get close to the experience at the Isle of Berk.

Hop on Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, a coaster that will have you soaring with the dragons or watch how Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, and Gobber encounter an untrainable dragon in a fun show.

Super Nintendo World

Want play Mario Party for real but don’t live close to California or Japan? You can head to Orlando to experience Super Nintendo World.

Enter Donkey Kong’s Golden Temple on Mine-Cart Madness or ride the Mario Kart Coaster to try and defeat Team Bowser!

In addition to the rides, you can purchase a Power-Up Band and play different challenges through the Super Nintendo area. Download the Universal Orlando Resort app to keep track of your score.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

Last but certainly not least, we have the third Wizarding World in Orlando, the Ministry of Magic. Land in 1920s Paris and find the fantastic beasts. Then, time travel to the 1990s to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the British Ministry of Magic where Dolores Umbridge is on trial.

Stop by Café L’air De La Sirène for some French goods and butterbeer after you test out your wand on different interactive areas.

New Hotels

Along with the new park, they will have an in-park hotel called Universal Helios Grand Hotel located in the Celestial Park area. There will also be two other new hotels that will be release earlier in 2025:

• Universal Stella Nova Resort – January 21^st, 2025
• Universal Terra Luna Resort – February 25^th, 2025

Epic Universe should be opening its doors around fall in 2025 so be on the lookout for an official launch date and let me know when you’re ready to book!

Disney

With D23 that happened back in July, there were not only plenty of films that were announced and being worked on but also quite a few updates to their parks and cruise line.

The Parks

Disneyland in California will be celebrating its 70^th anniversary in 2025 so there’s bound to be various events, foods, and souvenirs surrounding the celebration, similar to what they had for Disney World’s 50^th anniversary (which seemed to go on for 2 years).

In the summer of 2025, Disney World’s Magic Kingdom will introduce a new nighttime parade featuring the Madrigals from Encanto along with many other beloved Disney characters. Magic Kingdom will also have an updated Pirates of the Caribbean Tavern and lounge.

They will also be starting construction on two Cars-themed rides and a Villains Land in Magic Kingdom!

Test Track at Disney World’s EPCOT will be reopening with a whole new vibe in 2025, and Disneyland Paris will have a new nighttime spectacular starting in January.

Disney Cruise Line

Going back to cruising, Disney Cruise Line has a few plans in the future that will be exciting for the cruising-love Disney fans.

Disney Destiny

Disney Destiny is one of Disney’s newest ships that will be setting sail on November 20^th, 2025 out of Ft. Lauderdale heading to the Caribbean.

This ship is all about heroes versus villains from not just Disney but Pixar, and Marvel. There’s themed dining for Lion King and Marvel which is something Disney is the best at and they’re also bringing back a revamped, live musical of the guy “who put the ‘glad’ in ‘gladiator”, Hercules!

There’s also a new water coaster, the AquaMouse, as you join Mickey and Minnie going up Villain Mountain.

Bookings for Disney Destiny open to the public on September 12^th but if you’re a Disney Castaway Club member you’ll be able to start booking earlier. Contact your travel advisor (or me) if you’re interested!

Disney Adventure and 4 More!

In addition to Disney Destiny, the cruise line is set to launch Disney Adventure in 2025 as well. Disney Adventure is a ship that will be setting sail out of Singapore making room for some exciting itineraries in Southeast Asia! The ship will have themed dining, entertainment, and a Disney Imagination Garden. The inaugural sailing date has not been announced yet but make sure to sign up with Disney for updates on Disney Adventure.

There will also be 4 other new ships Disney will launch between years 2027-2031!

Whew! I think that’s most of the fun announcements for the next year in the travel world. Which one are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments!